Work accident news
16/04/2007

Workers may still need personal injury solicitors in the future

The Health and Safety Executive is urging employers to train staff proficiently when using machinery in order to reduce the number of workplace injuries being sustained by members of staff who have subsequently contacted personal injury solicitors.

The warning has been issued to employees in light of a recent accident at work that left a worker paralysed after sustaining serious personal injuries in an accident that could have been prevented with the correct health and safety regulations in place.

Evidence given in court stated that the man was unloading a cement mixer at the back of a pick-up truck when a supervisor who hadn't been fully trained to operate the vehicle lifted the cement mixer with the worker inside. The worker was lifted into the air and consequently fell from a great height, suffering devastating personal injuries.

The worker's employer admitted breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined 15,000 with added costs of 7,500. It is not believed that the worker contacted personal injury solicitors to make a compensation claim.

An HSE inspector commented on the work accident and said, "This was a tragic set of circumstances which led to this accident but it demonstrates how important it is to be properly trained to use machinery."

According to statistics published on the HSE's website (www.hse.gov.uk), around 70 people are killed every year as a result of accidents at work and another 2,000 employees suffer serious personal injuries.

The HSE inspector added that future campaigns for training staff to use machinery could reduce the number of people having to contact personal injury solicitors to make accident claims.

She said, "HSE is also currently running a campaign in the dangers of falling from height, and this case once again provides a reminder that it can be extremely dangerous to fall even from a relatively low height."