so, they farmed it out to the lowest bidder and probably didn't do any due diligence on checking if the company could do it safely. therefore they can wash their hands of it when shit hits the fan? i think in most countries when a company offloads dangerous work to a sub contractor the parent company bears a bunch of responsibility too.

just as an example, i work for a primary contractor that has a contract with a big ISP here, we're doing the fibre install. my company also sub contracts to other companies to do the install. recently someone slipped on some ice when she walked into one of the sub contractors work area. the area was pylonned and there were signs, but there was no sign for pedestrian diversion. so she's suing the company i work for, and the isp company is also liable for some of the damages too.

same thing if while drilling someone hit's a buried line, it isn't just the sub contractor that's responsible alone. otherwise every company would just offload dangerous work or work that has high risk off to some smaller company and when that smaller company cuts corners they're off the hook.