Staffing agency liable for posted worker crushed by 1.5-tonne element

A staffing agency cannot contract away its safety duties for workers it posts abroadTeismai: the agency remains the employer with full safety obligations even where the host company breached its ownTeismai. The Lietuvos vyriausiasis administracinis teismas confirmed this on 23 September 2026Teismai, upholding the State Labour Inspectorate's findings against UAB Lka solutionsTeismai (formerly UAB Marino personalas) after a posted worker was left with 100 percent loss of working capacityTeismai.

The worker, hired under a temporary employment contract in November 2022, was posted from January 2023 to the German user company LF ModulBau GmbHTeismai. A 1.5-tonne floor element lifted by two cranes fell on himTeismai: the German investigation found it had been rigged with disposable lifting straps and fixed with a 20 x 40 mm wooden batten instead of the required 40 x 55 mm oneTeismai, which snapped under the weight. The initial Lithuanian investigation blamed only the host; the VDI's supplementary investigation added the agency's own failuresTeismai — inadequate internal safety control, crane-lifting work done by untrained and uninstructed agency workers, and no properly issued personal protective equipment such as a safety helmet, with no control over its use.

The staffing company argued the 2022 staffing contract had transferred all safety responsibility to the German host, that the host's breaches alone caused the accident, and that the worker had confirmed receipt of protective equipment by text message. The court rejected each point.Teismai Under Article 38(2)(1) of the Darbuotojų saugos ir sveikatos įstatymas the agency as employer performs all employer duties under the statute, subject only to that article's specificsE TAR; the host's list of duties is exhaustive and additional, and Article 38(2)(6) holds the host responsible expressly without prejudice to the employer's liability. Neither that statute nor other worker-safety legislation allows statutory duties to be transferred to a third party by contractTeismai. A host's breach may matter in a compensation dispute between the companies, not in the accident investigation.

The facts supported the findings: the protective-equipment issue sheet carried no worker signature, and the worker later stated he had received nothing; no evidence showed the host had instructed the worker on the specific hazards before work started, as the contract itself required. That the German inquiry focused on the host did not bind the VDI, which alone assesses the Lithuanian employer's duties under Lithuanian law.

The appeal was dismissedTeismai, the first-instance judgment left unchangedTeismai, and the staffing company must pay the injured worker 726 Eur in appellate costsTeismai. The ruling is not subject to appeal.Teismai Legal basis: Ruling No eA-471-463/2026 of 23 September 2026 of the Lietuvos vyriausiasis administracinis teismasTeismai, applying Articles 11(1), 19(2)(3), 25 and 38(2) of the Darbuotojų saugos ir sveikatos įstatymas.