Painter compensated after work injury
A painter employed by a motor manufacturer, has been awarded with thousands of pounds in compensation, after he suffered personal injuries from a work accident.
The man, who is in his forties and a member of the Unite trade union, needed to undergo two operations to correct a hernia following the incident.
At the time of the accident the man was moving a 12ft high and 30ft long walkway to access a work area.
The walkway was extremely heavy and on small wheels on a gridded floor, meaning the wheels would regularly jam in the floor and lock in place. The flooring was also uneven escalating the problem.
Issue pointed out by concerned workers
The problem had been highlighted to factory bosses over a period of three years, but throughout this time nothing had been done to correct it.
The painter, who had worked for the firm for 20 years, attempted to move the walkway in July 2007 and June 2008. On both occasions it jammed causing him to suffer a straining personal injury.
He developed an umbilical hernia which was operated on in November 2008 and he is currently recovering from a second operation he had to have due to complications.
After both operations, he needed to take almost three months off work.
When he realised he was going to need major surgery to fix his hernia, he contacted his union which instructed its injury lawyers to pursue a claim for compensation on the man's behalf.
Lawyers fight for compensation
The personal injury claim lawyers argued that the company should have acted quicker to either replace the flooring or the walkway to prevent the wheels from jamming.
The franchise admitted public liability and settled the claim out-of-court.
The employee said: "We complained time and again about the walkway and the problems it caused but nothing was ever done about it. We even suggested alternative walkways which could be used but we had to struggle on with the original piece of equipment."
He added: "I've now had a second operation on my hernia and I hope that will fix it but I am worried that I might strain myself and it happens again. I just hope this claim for compensation will make my bosses solve this problem once and for all."
Davey Hall, the regional secretary at Unite stated: "Too often our members are injured in workplace accidents where the employer had been warned that an accident was waiting to happen.
"There is no excuse for employers not taking all reasonable steps to correct health and safety concerns. Here ignoring the problem ended up with a loyal employee becoming seriously injured."
Nicola Waugh, a spokeswoman from the personal injury lawyers firm, concluded: "The man has had to take six months off work sick because his employer failed to listen to staff concerns. Caterpillar should have listened as well as carrying out proper risk assessments."
Updated on 5/29/2010