Adan Z. rolls up his sleeve and a long scar on his forearm becomes visible. “The one on the shoulder is even worse,” says the 26-year-old, adding that his arm was broken three times. And then he puts his hand to his left chin and says: “That’s how far I was trapped in the machine.” The accident happened while he was working at a company that produces plastic films. A defect in the machine caused his arm to be pulled into the gravure printing machine, he says. The company bosses apparently have a different opinion.
It’s about a company on the southern tip of Munich, a global company. The technical plant manager Volker W. and the general manager Stefan F. appear in court as defendants with three lawyers. They remain silent and, after a legal discussion, they also reject the court’s proposal to pay the injured party compensation of 20,000 euros. Both men had lodged an objection against the public prosecutor’s penalty order for negligent bodily harm. It states that the accident could have been prevented if sufficient protection and safety measures had been taken.
Adan Z. was hired as a temporary worker in October 2020. On the very first day, he testified in the trial, he was supposed to sign papers stating that he had been instructed on the machine. “I refused at first.” There was no actual briefing. He watched – and then did it.
Until that fateful November 9th. He should change the rolls on the gravure printing machine where PVC films are rolled up. To do this, he pressed the pause button and activated a clutch lever. Normally, if there is a wrinkle in the film, it is normal to smooth it out when restarting. But the machine didn’t start. “Many people knew that the clutch often doesn’t work.”
He pressed the button a second time, stroked the film, and the rollers moved “suddenly quickly.” His hand was dragged along “because the film was a bit sticky” and his entire arm was up to his neck in the machine for two revolutions before the trainee pressed the emergency button. He was operated on for seven hours, says Z. The next day he received a call from the company. No well wishes. “I was informed that I was terminated.”
“With us you don’t have to strip anything off,” explained a technical employee of the company on the witness stand on Monday. There were no problems with the clutch. It is clear that you are not allowed to reach into the rollers, he explains. Then he admits that wrinkles in the film can be smoothed out. He trained Z. on a similar machine. The accident machine from the 1960s has now been decommissioned. Adan Z.’s “mentor”, who is said to have instructed him on the machine in question, was then supposed to testify. He refuses to testify; according to the Code of Criminal Procedure, he is allowed to do so if he runs the risk of incriminating himself. Like the previous speaker, he appears with a lawyer, “the company pays for him,” he says.
The court wants to hear an expert on the next day of the trial.