Friday, March 29

At least 32 workers affected by food poisoning at the Cosentino headquarters


Since Tuesday, food poisoning has affected at least 32 workers at the Cosentino headquarters in Cantoria (Almería), four of whom have been transferred to the Huercal Overa Hospital. Company sources indicate that the illness, which causes vomiting and diarrhea, is due to a batch of tuna in poor condition that, moreover, was not properly cooked.

The Junta de Andalucía allowed the plan against silicosis to expire without meeting its objectives

Further

The poisoning occurred in the canteen, where a subsidized menu by the company is offered daily. Some 600 people make use of this menu every day. Not all those who have eaten tuna have become ill, according to a Cosentino spokesman, who gives the figure of 32 affected. However, sources from the Inmaculada de Huercal Overa Hospital increased this figure to 48, and it is possible that it will continue to rise overnight.

The company’s medical services have sent an alert asking the workers who consumed it to go to the health services if they observe symptoms such as irritation, skin rashes, diarrhea or vomiting.

Several photographs that this medium has received show a row of eight ambulances prepared to provide service. Two videos show a medical helicopter taking off and flying over the headquarters of the business giant, although union sources emphasize that it has been a preventive mobilization.



Billing record and legal problems

Cosentino is a multinational company with origin and headquarters in Almería dedicated to the production of stone surfaces, mainly dedicated to the kitchen. It closed 2022 with a turnover of 1,711 million euros, 22% more than in 2021 and exceeding 1,000 million for the third consecutive year. It is currently introducing a new Dekton manufacturing line and plans to open its first factory in the United States.

His aspiration in the coming months is also to be listed on the IBEX. However, in recent months it has been in focus due to silicosis generated by its best-known product, Silestone, in cutting and polishing workers who do not take adequate protection measures.

This problem, about which this medium has been reporting in depth since 2019, was recognized on January 30 by Francisco Martínez-Cosentino, founder and president of the company, before a court in Vigo. In a judgment of conformity, the court sentenced him for a crime of reckless injury. Cosentino paid 1.1 million euros to the five workers from Vigo who contracted silicosis after years of manipulating their countertops, but it has been signing confidentiality agreements with affected workers for years in exchange for financial compensation.

The sentence considers it proven that Francisco Martínez-Cosentino, who supplied the Vigo marble factory since 1990, was aware, “at least since the year 2000, of the risks and danger involved in handling” the product, since several of his employees had contracted silicosis in the Almería factory.

The silicosis epidemic still has fuzzy outlines, due to the lack of methodological tools that make it possible to accurately measure how many people it affects. It is known that there are hundreds of people affected in marble factories in Chiclana (Cádiz) or Montemayor (Córdoba) who cut the Silestone without any protection. In the last three years, Cosentino, which ensures that it has significantly improved its prevention methods, has registered more than a hundred cases.

Since the beginning of the last decade, almost 1,900 cases of silicosis have been registered due to the cutting and carving of these products in CEPROSS, dependent on Social Security. However, this registry does not collect cases from all the sources that can declare the disease (for example, mutual insurance companies or court rulings), thus offering an incomplete picture. In June, Cosentino faces a new criminal trial, this time in Bilbao.



www.eldiario.es