Textile proprietors found guilty

07 July 2003 00:00  [Source: ICB]

A court in Alicante, Spain, has handed out prison sentences to eight factory owners and a factory inspector, following six deaths and 62 cases of serious illness among textile workers during the 1990s.

Three dye additive suppliers - Bayer, ICI and Solvay, called as witnesses in the case, were exonerated from any responsibility.

The case involved six textile companies at which dyes and additives were sprayed on to polyester fabrics.

The court blamed the companies' owners and the city inspectors for the workers' illnesses. It ordered the Valencia regional government and the insurance company La Union Alcoyana to pay E4.13m in damages and E72.12 day's illness in compensation to each worker, after finding eight of the 11 defendants guilty.

Juana Llacer, proprietor of the Ardystil textiles plant that gave the case its name, got a six-year sentence. A labour inspector received six months.

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly