Golfer takes a swing at an injury claim
It has been revealed that a golfer is suing his club for up to £50,000 in personal injury claim damages, stating he fell in a changing room shower because it was “too slippery.”
The retired 72-year-old claims that the golf club in East Sussex should have done more to protect members from the risk of a fall.
He states that the club was negligent and breached its health and safety duties by failing to ensure that the sufficient “anti-slip measures” were put into place.
Despite the huge compensation amount, the victim did not report the accident until two weeks later and did not seek immediate medical aid.
The claimant, from Wadhurst, East Sussex, states that he had to undergo a £5,000 private operation to repair damaged ligaments in his right shoulder and needed physiotherapy as a result of his slip in May 2008.
As a result the grandfather is suing the club between £15,000 and £50,000 in damages for personal injury and losses.
He commented: “I've played golf all my life but I haven't played golf since the accident. Well I tell a lie, I tried but it hurt me.
“I feel terrible that it's stopped me from playing golf. I'm retired and it's been my main hobby quite frankly. It's just extremely sad.
“We've got a property in Tampa Bay in America and we like to go out there and play golf but of course that's been ruined as well. It's spoiled my life quite frankly.
“The club say that I should have been a bit more careful when I stepped in the shower. They will say I'm a doddery old fool but that's not the case. I don't think it was my fault. I've not dared to think about how much compensation I could get.”
He alleges that the secretary of the golf club told him before his fall, that anti-slip tape will be installed into the shower room, following similar previous incidents. However, the club denies any public liability and views such cautionary measures as “excessive.”
Claim criticised
Simon King, the golf club's solicitor, said around 12,000 showers a year were taken in the men's changing rooms and occasional slips were unavoidable.
He stated: “When people use showers, they generally create wet surfaces which may also be soapy and/or to some extent unavoidably slippery.
“And this may have occurred either because of the claimant's own usage of the cubicle or because of the state in which it may have been left by a previous user.
“It is disputed that the shower cubicle was itself inherently slippery, this was not so. The defendant accepts that it is possible it may have been left by a previous user in a state such that soap, shampoo, was present within the cubicle.”
John Holden, president of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, also criticises the claim: “We need to move away from a 'where there's blame, there's a claim' culture to one where every individual is willing to accept some responsibility for their own safety culture and to manage the risks they face.
“We need to move towards a more risk intelligent society where people are aware of and can deal with the minor hazards all around us.”
Updated on 12/15/2009