Eastern Hospital to challenge findings on worker’s fatal accident

Riga East Clinical University Hospital will challenge the State Labour Inspectorate’s conclusion that failures to implement occupational safety measures led to an employee’s death in an accident in April, LSM reported.

The hospital says the inspectorate did not fully consider information and explanations it had previously provided, including documents on compliance with workplace safety requirements and the cause of the accident. Hospital board chair Vadims Beļuns said the hospital received the investigation documents only the day before and needed to review them before commenting on the findings.

The hospital cannot provide further details while criminal proceedings are ongoing. It said it would continue cooperating with investigators and taking steps to protect staff and visitors. Since the accident, it has carried out unscheduled checks of all automatic doors and lifts, reassessed workplace risks, provided repeat safety briefings and made psychological support available to staff.

The hospital said it could not disclose whether compensation had been paid to the employee’s family.

The employee was found dead at work on April 27. Latvian Television reported that she was trapped in a door in the hospital’s Radiology Department after the safety systems failed. Police opened criminal proceedings over an alleged breach of occupational safety rules resulting in a person’s death. The State Labour Inspectorate concluded that the employer was responsible.