The story of the ThyssenKrupp stake

ThyssenKrupp is a German company, the most important company in Europe in the steel sector. Among the many companies it controls is Acciai Terni, whose factories in Terni and Turin in 1994 were privatized and purchased partly by Italian entrepreneurs and partly by ThyssenKrupp. Yesterday, the Assize Court of Turin sentenced ThyssenKrupp CEO Harald Espenhahn to 16 and a half years of imprisonment, accused of voluntary murder. Cosimo Cafueri, safety manager, Giuseppe Salerno, manager of the Turin plant, Gerald Priegnitz and Marco Pucci, members of the company's executive committee, were sentenced to 13 years and 6 months for manslaughter and manslaughter (with conscious guilt) and omission of accident prevention precautions. Daniele Moroni, member of the company's executive committee, was sentenced to 10 years and 10 months. Everything for what happened on the night between 5 and 6 December 2007.

The accident
Shortly after one in the morning, on line 5 of the Turin steel mill, seven workers are hit by a spill of boiling oil, which catches fire. Colleagues call the firefighters, the ambulances of 118 arrive at 1.15, the injured are transferred to the hospital. At 4 in the morning the first worker dies, his name is Antonio Schiavone. In the days that follow, from the 7th to the 30th of December 2007, the other six people will be seriously injured by boiling oil: their names were Giuseppe Demasi, Angelo Laurino, Roberto Scola, Rosario Rodinò, Rocco Marzo and Bruno Santino. Of the workers involved in the accident, the only survivor and eyewitness is called Antonio Boccuzzi: he has been working for Thyssen for 13 years, he is a trade unionist for UILM, his role will be central in reporting the company's faults.

The complaints
The unions immediately report the inadequacy of the safety measures in the factory. The testimonies of Boccuzzi and the other workers who rushed to the scene of the accident speak of discharged fire extinguishers, isolated telephones, malfunctioning hydrants, the absence of specialized personnel. Not only that: some of the workers involved in the accident had been working continuously for twelve hours, having accumulated four hours of overtime. The Thyssen plant in Turin was in the process of being disposed of: it emerges that for some time the company has not invested adequately in safety measures, in training courses. This is the story of the accident - and of what did not work - made the day after by Antonio Boccuzzi.
The company's reaction
ThyssenKrupp denies having any responsibility and shows from the first moment a rather hostile attitude towards the judiciary and public opinion, shaken by the seriousness of the accident. He accuses the dead workers of having caused the accident with their distractions and even with "blame", then corrects himself and speaks of "errors due to unfavorable circumstances". During the investigation, the Guardia di Finanza seized from Harald Hespenhahn, managing director, a confidential document in which it was read that Antonio Boccuzzi - who meanwhile continues to tell what he saw in the newspapers and on TV - "must be stopped with legal actions". The document heavily criticizes the Turin prosecutor, Raffaele Guariniello, and the then Minister of Labor Cesare Damiano, on whom he cannot rely because he is on the side of the workers.
The indictment, the trial
The investigations close in a relatively short time, the prosecutor requests the indictment for six executives of the German company and the judge of the preliminary hearing accepts the thesis of the accusation: the alleged crime is voluntary murder with possible fraud and arson . Arson and negligent manslaughter with conscious guilt for the other defendants, managers of the Turin plant. This is because, it was read in the device, "while representing the concrete possibility of the occurrence of even fatal accidents, as they are aware of more facts and documents" and "accepting the risk of the occurrence of even fatal accidents on line 5", the managers would have "Caused" the death of the seven workers by omitting "to adopt technical, organizational, procedural, fire prevention and protection measures". It goes to trial in January 2009. During the hearings other details of the operation of the plant emerge. A worker says that the factory was cleaned only in connection with visits from the ASL. Another worker says that the plant stopped only in the event of production problems, otherwise it was done with the line in motion. Other witnesses said that the fires on line 5 were very frequent but workers were asked to use the alarm button as little as possible.

Compensation for damages and judgments
On 1 July 2008 ThyssenKrupp paid almost 13 million euros to the families of the seven workers killed, and they pledged not to become a civil party. Yesterday the first instance sentence of the second assize court of Turin arrived. As we have said, ThyssenKrupp CEO Harald Espenhahn, accused of voluntary murder, was sentenced to 16 and a half years in prison. Cosimo Cafueri, safety manager, Giuseppe Salerno, manager of the Turin plant, Gerald Priegnitz and Marco Pucci, members of the company's executive committee, were sentenced to 13 years and 6 months for manslaughter and arson (with conscious guilt) and omission of accident prevention precautions. Daniele Moroni, member of the company's executive committee, was sentenced to 10 years and 10 months.

Today the ThyssenKrupp plant in Turin no longer exists. It was closed in March 2008 with an agreement between ThyssenKrupp, trade unions, local institutions and ministries of Labor and Economic Development, ahead of schedule.