Pages On: Employer Negligence

Injured road worker awarded £8000 in compensation

Posted: 26 April 2016

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Foot Injuries, Workplace Injuries

A 35-year-old road worker from Chesterfield was awarded £8,000 in compensation by his employer, Carillion plc, following a serious injury to his ankle. Dean Ness had been working night shift on an unlit stretch of the A52 at Spondon in Derby, placing traffic cones for work about to be commenced on the central reservation. He jumped out of the truck and twisted his ankle on a kerb that he hadn’t seen in the pitch dark. It was heard that this employer had been warned on several occasions of the dangers of working on…

Employer’s ‘duty of care’ for working in cold weather

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Workplace Injuries

When working for an employer, it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that working conditions are safe and secure for employees. This is particularly important if the job entails working outside, and especially so in cold weather conditions. Official Health and Safety regulations dictate that employers must provide a ‘duty of care’ towards their staff, including providing adequate protective clothing and equipment. All steps must be taken to protect workers from carrying out duties in inclement weather, and thorough training must be provided if equipment is involved. Working in cold…

Hospital maintenance staff exposed to asbestos

Posted: 25 October 2015

Posted in: Asbestos Exposure, Employer Negligence, Industrial Deafness and Disease

A recently released report has found that maintenance staff at a leading cancer hospital, the Christie hospital in Manchester, were exposed to dangerous airborne asbestos levels. Asbestos Contracting Limited (ACL) carried out the review after it was commissioned by the hospital. It made a number of worrying findings, which included the fact that around 20 members of hospital staff were exposed to the toxic fiber. After the review was completed in August, it gave evidence for several failings. It stated that the Christie had failed to comply with Control of…

Asbestos victim wins right to compensation

Posted: 30 July 2015

Posted in: Asbestos Exposure, Employer Negligence, Industrial Deafness and Disease

Retired electrician Albert Carder has been awarded the right to claim compensation after being exposed to asbestos while working at Exeter University over 20 years ago. Now 85-years-old, it was ruled in the High Court yesterday that Mr Carder could claim compensation after being exposed to the potentially fatal substance between 1980 and 1994. Mr Carder’s barrister, Harry Steinberg, described the case as “quite shocking”. It was heard in London’s High Court that Mr Carder was recently diagnosed with asbestosis. He suffers with chronic respiratory problems, and depends on oxygen…

Soldier wins £275k in compensation

Posted: 20 July 2015

Posted in: Armed Forces Injuries, Employer Negligence, Workplace Injuries

A soldier has been awarded £275,000 in compensation after having cold water thrown over him, triggering a severely debilitating condition. 27-year-old father-of-two Barney Tipping had been one of 26 soldiers who suffered severe heat exhaustion and dehydration during a several-hour march in Kenya in 2007. During the hike, he was told to remove his shirt and a container of cold water was thrown over him – a decision made that goes against Army guidelines. The impact of the cold water sent Mr Tipping into a shock and he was airlifted…

Doctor claims damages from NHS

Posted: 16 July 2015

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Public Transport, Spine & Back Injuries

A doctor from Bristol has claimed damages from the NHS after suffering a “serious spinal injury” on a boat trip seven years ago. Dr Kathleen Feest had been involved in a team building exercise alongside 10 other colleagues when the accident happened. The party had been on a 9m inflatable boat, called the Celtic Pioneer, which left Cardiff Bay for an hour-long trip to the Bristol Channel. Dr Feest claims that she suffered a severe back injury while on the boat trip in August 2008. She is now suing the authority…

Steel firm fined over worker’s amputated toes

Posted: 3 December 2014

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Foot Injuries, Workplace Injuries

A steel firm has been fined after a worker was crushed by a metal-shaping machine and had to have three toes amputated. The worker, from North Ormesby, had been working with a metal press when it fell onto his foot on 17 March. His employer, SM Thompson Limited, had allowed these highly dangerous practices to go unchecked for the last decade. Following a recent investigation, the firm admitted a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) breach and was fined £7,500.  It was also made to pay £1,120 in costs. The 25-year-old worker suffered…

Injured engineer wins compensation

Posted: 29 November 2014

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Head and Brain Injuries, Neck Injuries, Workplace Injuries

A maintenance engineer who suffered a severe brain injury at work has received ‘significant’ compensation from his former employer.  65-year-old Tom Williams had to have part of his skull removed after he was tasked to remove a pillar from the ceiling of the engineering stores at Manor Bakeries Ltd in Moreton to create a new walkway in the building. Mr Williams fell into a coma after the top section of the structure fell from the ceiling, hitting him on the head. It was heard that Mr Williams’ employers had failed…

Factory worker wins compensation

Posted: 2 October 2014

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Hand Injuries, Workplace Injuries

A factory worker from Gloucester has been awarded accident compensation after he suffered a serious wrist injury while working with old pipework.  53-year-old Oil Tank Supplies Limited worker, Terry Behan, received £12,000 in compensation after the company admitted to breaching the health and safety at work act. Mr Behan had been replacing old pipework on an oil tank when the accident happened. After he removed the old piping, him and another colleague realised that they had been provided with the wrong metal rings to connect the new piping. Because of this,…

Stained glass restorer fined over lead poisoning

Posted: 7 February 2014

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Industrial Deafness and Disease, Workplace Injuries

The owner of Lincolnshire Stained Glass has been fined after one of his employees was found to have five times the normal amount of lead in his blood.  Employee David Doherty, from Lancashire, had been working for the specialist stained-glass company for five years before doctors diagnosed him with lead poisoning. An investigation carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that none of the employees were protected from the dangers of lead poisoning. Mr Doherty said that he had been experiencing waves of nausea, a lost appetite…

Esso fined for sailor death

Posted: 17 December 2013

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Faulty Work Equipment, Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death

Esso has been fined £100,000 after a member of staff was crushed to death under a fuel hose, an accident described as “wholly avoidable”. The company has admitted to health and safety failings and has been ordered to pay an additional £50,000 in costs.  40-year-old Juan Romero died in August 2008 when a corroded bolt gave way, allowing a pipe and its crane to fall and crush the worker at Fawley marine terminal in Southampton. The seaman, originally from Honduras, had been working on board the docked ship when the accident…

Foundry in court after worker suffers multiple injuries

Posted: 9 April 2013

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Foot Injuries, Hip Injuries, Leg Injuries, Workplace Injuries

A Derbyshire foundry has been fined after an employee suffered multiple injuries when he was hit by a steel bar weighing 1.6 tonnes. The 61-year-old from Dronfield was working at the foundry when the nine-metre long bar, and the steel barrow it was travelling on, fell as it was being pushed from one part of the site to another by a tow truck. He broke both legs and his pelvis, crushed his right foot and also damaged his left knee in the incident. He had to have three operations and…

Safety manifesto to reduce workplace injuries

Posted: 14 March 2013

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Industrial Deafness and Disease, Workplace Injuries

At a time when the Government’s approach to health and safety reforms has been criticised for prioritising the reduction of red tape over the safety of Britain’s workers, trade union body the TUC has published details of its safety manifesto. The manifesto includes ten key recommendations that the TUC believes could improve the UK’s safety record, and prevent a good many of the 20,000 workplace-related injuries and deaths that it says occur in the UK every year. Regular safety inspections The TUC’s top recommendation to improve workplace safety is an…

Employers failing to protect computer users

Posted: 29 January 2013

Posted in: Employer Negligence

Recent research has found that employee health could be at risk because employers are not doing enough to protect them from the effects of poor computer use. According to the study by energiseYou, the large majority of employees score just 55% on the key drivers of smart computer use, which can have implications for their health. The research of over 2,000 employees also found that: Just 30% say that their working environment is suitable, e.g. comfortable lighting levels.Less than half say they stretch their neck, back and shoulders at least…

Too many workers still exposed to bloodborne viruses

Posted: 15 January 2013

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Industrial Deafness and Disease, Medical Negligence

Recent figures released by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) have revealed that there were 541 reports of needlestick injuries that exposed workers in the healthcare sector to patients carrying bloodborne viruses in 2011. This is double the amount compared to a decade ago (2002), when 271 exposures were reported. Since the HPA’s previous report, which presented data until the end of 2007, a further 2,039 occupational exposures to known bloodborne virus carriers have been reported in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Between 2008 and 2011 there were five patient to…

Construction companies fined over worker's six-metre fall

Posted: 18 December 2012

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Falls from Heights, Hand Injuries, Hip Injuries, Workplace Injuries

Two construction companies have been fined for serious safety failings after a Coventry worker suffered life-changing injuries when he plummeted more than six metres through a badly-covered hole in a floor. Contract worker Ian Howells punctured his lung, broke every rib on the left-hand side of his body, shattered all the bones in his left hand and fractured his pelvis in three places. This happened as he stepped onto what he thought was a pile of wood covered by plastic. He was bedridden for two months and was unable to…

Companies sentenced after worker's fatal fall

Posted: 30 November 2012

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Falls from Heights, Head and Brain Injuries, Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death

A major construction company and a concrete structures firm have been sentenced after a worker died following a fall from a height at a Swansea building site. A self-employed father of two, Russell Samuel, was contracted to work as a scaffolder at the Swansea site. He was dismantling a scaffold ladder access platform ready for the installation of the roof and staircase on the fourth floor, when he fell approximately 19 metres to the ground below, narrowly missing a carpenter who was working directly below. Mr Samuel suffered multiple injuries…