Fall through stripped formwork: foremen convicted, formworkers acquitted

22/05/2026 · Federal Supreme Court · La Côte (VD) · Seriously injured · 6B_940/2024

What happened A labourer fitting a railing at the slab edge stepped onto a formwork panel whose props had already been removed. He fell about 4.25 m.

What the court decided First instance convicted only the formwork foreman; the appeal court convicted all four; the Federal Court acquitted the two formworkers and upheld the site foreman's and formwork foreman's convictions.

Why Responsibility lay with the supervisors who had to coordinate work and order safety measures. The subcontractor's responsibility does not relieve the main contractor's foreman.

• Site foreman, main contractor: convicted of serious bodily harm by negligence and breach of building rules, 80 day-fines of CHF 40 (total CHF 3,200), suspended. Let stripping start before the edge railing was up, without safety measures or instructing the workers.
• Formwork foreman, subcontractor: convicted of serious bodily harm by negligence and breach of building rules, 120 day-fines of CHF 40 (total CHF 4,800), suspended. Gave formworkers only a general order to strip, with no safety instructions.
• Formworkers (2 people): acquitted of serious bodily harm by negligence and breach of building rules. Acquitted by the Federal Court; civil claims against them go back to the cantonal court.

Edge protection first, then strip. Whoever strips formwork closes the zone and tells every trade.

Source: entscheidsuche.ch (FR)