Apprentice Nearly Loses His Arm — Trainer Takes Case to Federal Court

Here's what it's all about

• A 15-year-old polymechanic apprentice suffered serious injuries in a workplace accident involving a milling machine and had to drop out of his apprenticeship.
• The apprentice trainer was convicted of negligent infliction of serious bodily injury because he had failed to ensure that a qualified professional provided the required supervision.
• The Federal Supreme Court upheld the ruling. The court found that the accident was foreseeable, particularly given the trainee's inexperience.

Summary created with

A workplace accident at an industrial plant in the Brugg district of Aargau continues to occupy the courts to this day. In early 2019, a 15-year-old first-year polymechanic apprentice got his glove caught in a running milling machine. His arm was pulled in, and the teenager suffered severe lacerations to his hand and forearm. He was forced to drop out of his apprenticeship. This is reported by the “Aargauer Zeitung”.

The district attorney's office accused the apprentice trainer of failing to supervise the apprentice adequately. On the day of the accident, the trainer was not present in the apprentice workshop.

Instead of assigning a qualified employee, he had instructed fourth-year apprentices to supervise the beginners. At the end of 2022, the Brugg District Court sentenced the man to a suspended fine and a monetary penalty for negligent infliction of serious bodily injury. He must also pay the court costs and damages to the former apprentice. The Higher Court upheld the verdict.

Was the accident foreseeable?

The instructor took the case to the Federal Supreme Court and sought an acquittal. He argued that he could not be accused of negligent conduct. However, the Federal Supreme Court has now dismissed the appeal.

According to the ruling, the instructor had instructed the apprentice to work on the milling machine the day before his day off. “During his absence, in accordance with youth labor protection regulations, he was only permitted to allow the apprentices to work on the milling machine if their constant supervision by a qualified professional was ensured,” the Federal Supreme Court is quoted as saying by the “Aargauer Zeitung.”

The Federal Supreme Court also debated whether the accident had been foreseeable at all. Both the district court and the higher regional court had already concluded that it was.

The rule requiring apprentices to be supervised at all times by a qualified professional until the end of their second year of training is intended to prevent precisely such accidents. Furthermore, the young people had reportedly worked on the milling machine for the first time just one day before the accident and were therefore inexperienced.

Safety regulations were disregarded

There was also discussion about whether the 15-year-old should have known that gloves must not be worn when working on rotating machine parts. The instructor told the court that he was “100 percent convinced” of this. Although the Higher Court had already found the victim to be partially at fault, there was no question of him having knowingly endangered himself—which would have exonerated the instructor.

The Federal Supreme Court also concurs with this assessment. The instructor “should have anticipated, given the apprentices’ lack of experience and incomplete training on the milling machine, that they might fail to comply with safety regulations without constant supervision by a qualified professional.”

In addition, he was aware that the teenager only “mostly” followed the safety regulations. According to his own statements, he had already had to warn the trainee about this several times before the accident.