The Madrid County Court has confirmed a three month prison term for the coach and chief executive of Tramasa SL, a water treatment company, for failing to provide adequate training and for not warning a worker about the risks. The worker died while removing an ultraviolet lamp at a defense facility.
In a decision released on March 14 and accessible through Europa Press, the court upheld the ruling of Criminal Court No. 16 in Madrid. The case concerns incidents at the San Pedro military base in Colmenar Viejo, a municipality northwest of Madrid that houses the defense ministry’s military pharmacy center.
At the base, medicines for the Spanish army are produced using purified water stored in a tank and circulated through a system that includes pressure equipment with ultraviolet lamps positioned along the axis of a steel cylinder that houses the circulating water.
In October 2017, following a equipment failure, a company worker who served as the workshop manager attempted to repair the system. His task required advancing to remove the lamp so that its properties could be measured and adjustments planned for the future.
Died while removing the lamp
The worker began to dismantle the lamp’s electrical components and remove the base. At that moment, an unstable arm and the pressurized water caused the lamp to eject, striking the worker in the chest and causing immediate death.
The court noted that the deceased did not have training in maintaining UV lamps and was not informed of the danger involved in removing the lamp while the system was active.
The decision further found that the technical director and the chief executive failed to fulfill their duties to ensure worker safety. They did not produce a risk assessment for the maintenance task and did not provide the operator with essential information on how to complete the job safely.
The manager instructed that maintenance work should halt and the power supply be disconnected before any intervention on the UV lamps. The ruling concluded that this lack of precaution placed the worker in serious danger, culminating in the fatal accident described.
Overall, the court’s judgment underscores the critical obligation of employers to implement comprehensive safety protocols, conduct proper training, and communicate explicit risk information before any high-risk maintenance tasks are undertaken, especially in settings where hazardous equipment operates under pressure and handles critical infrastructure. This case emphasizes the need for robust safety culture within industrial operations linked to defense facilities and public health responsibilities.