Work injury news
14/10/2008

Council fined for theatre fall

The Health and Safety Executive has fined a Carmarthenshire Council theatre more than £50,000 after a volunteer stage manager suffered work injury, including a fractured skull during rehearsals for a production there.

The accident occurred when the man was moving a chair about the stage to perform a lighting check and fell down a lift opening.

Remembering the workplace accident, the work injury victim, normally a fulltime teacher, commented, "I took a chair from the side and moved it to help with the lights. That's the last I remember."

The prosecuting solicitor outlined the reasons he believed a fine was appropriate. "The council did not take all reasonable and practical steps to ensure the health and safety of its employees or make sure equipment was maintained. The council fell well short of the standard it would have expected other businesses to have met," he said.

However, the QC defending the case argued that the injured man had made a full recovery and would be able to make a work injury claim with a personal injury lawyer. "The gentleman has made a reasonably full recovery and he himself described the accident as 'one big inconvenience'. The fact of the matter is he looks to have a civil remedy available to him if he wishes to make a claim for compensation," he said.

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