THE company that supplied liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to El Pecos restaurant in Maraval, when a deadly explosion occurred in 2015, has been ordered by the High Court to pay compensation to a lorry man who suffered significant injuries in the incident.
The order was made by Justice Ricky Rahim yesterday after he found that North Plant LPG Co-operative Society was liable for the injuries suffered by lorry man Gregory Maicoo.
Approximately a dozen people were injured in the explosion that ultimately resulted in the death of the restaurant’s accountant, John Soo Ping Chow, four months later at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, USA.
In his ruling, Justice Rahim ordered that Maicoo receive $160,000 in general damages plus interest due to North Plant’s negligence.
In addition to that, the judge ordered that the $20,140.11 Maicoo previously received as workmen’s compensation ought not to be deducted from the court-ordered sum.
The company was also ordered to pay his legal cost.
Maicoo was burned to the face, scalp and hands.
He had filed a personal injury claim against the company arising out of the explosion during the delivery of gas to the restaurant on February 5, 2015.
Maicoo’s job had included him travelling on the truck accompanying a colleague in reeling and unreeling the gas hose.
He claimed that the company breached its duty of care to him by failing to supply a functional hose and it was this failure that led to the explosion, he claimed.
In his judgment, Justice Rahim agreed with Maicoo’s contention, saying the company failed to use standard operating practices and procedures in delivering the gas and also failed to take all reasonable and effective measures by supervising or ensuring a safe system of work.
A fire investigation report revealed there was a leak in the delivery line of the gas truck.
At the trial, the company insisted it had maintained the trucks and that apparatus were inspected each morning before being sent out for deliveries.
It had also denied liability for Maicoo’s injuries, given that safety meetings were regularly held and he was provided with personal protective equipment (PPE).
However, based on North Plant asserting daily inspections of equipment were carried out and the damage to the hose close to the nozzle may have occurred during earlier deliveries that day, the judge said the case was also dependent on whether the company’s agent was negligent in turning on the flow valve when it was unsafe to do so.
He said it was not only foreseeable but also obvious to the company’s agent that turning on the gas before connecting the hose would result in combustion in the corridor of the business place.
“The court, therefore, finds that the acts were so closely connected with the employment and business of the defendant employer that the defendant must bear the liability for the acts. The court will therefore impute liability on the basis of the doctrine of vicarious liability,” said the judge.
Maicoo’s evidence at trial was that on the day in question, the driver of the truck parked in close proximity to the restaurant’s gateway to gain access to its gas tank.
He said the pump on the truck was engaged and he began unreeling the hose while waiting to get access to the gas tank.
However, before he could connect the nozzle, he noticed “a white cloudy, misty smoke, smelling of gas, rapidly escaping from the hose about 10-11 feet from the nozzle.”
The corridor was soon filled with gas and he immediately ran to a nearby sink but there was no water.
He covered his face with his hands and soon after, there was an explosion and he was surrounded by fire. His hair was burnt, as were both his hands, and said he felt as if his entire body was on fire.
North Plant’s attorneys contended that even if it was liable in negligence, Maicoo was only entitled to damages for the burns to his hands, because he did not evacuate the building when he smelled the gas, and could have avoided his injuries.
“The duty to mitigate cannot apply in these circumstances, as they were urgent emergency circumstances in which the claimant’s life and well-being were put at immediate risk.
“He was, therefore, only expected to do what he may have been able to do with immediate dispatch given the dire circumstances. It is his evidence that he applied his training by attempting to wet a rag to place it on his face but that there was no water in the pipe. In the court’s view, he, therefore, did the next and only action available to him which was to stoop down close to the sink and cover his face. For this he cannot be faulted,” stated the judge.
Maicoo was represented by attorney Ancil Moses, while attorneys Kelvin Ramkissoon and Nizam Saladeen appeared on behalf of North Plant.
The wife of a medical doctor was killed in a vehicular crash in Chaguanas early Friday morning.
Two girls, Aleah Ali and Leah Orosco, have been found.
Residents of San Fabian, Gasparillo, are calling for urgent repairs to their roadway as t…
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley departs today or a private trip to Barbados where he will spe…
Moses Pesnell is expected to appear virtually before a Sangre Grande magistrate on Friday ch…
On February 17, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers at an express consignment …
Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.