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Many workers are unfortunately injured at work through no fault of their own and often as a result of health and safety failings on the part of the employer. These injuries are sometimes relatively minor but on other occasions can be serious enough to be life changing or even fatal.
All injuries cause a degree of unnecessary pain and suffering, but one type of injury that can be potentially devastating for workers is a head or brain injury. Not only can these injuries result in serious medical ramifications but there are often physical, emotional and psychological consequences as well.
Unfortunately these types of injuries occur all too often in the workplace. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recently reported a case where a worker received a blow to the head while working on a construction site.
He worked for a joinery company and was helping to deliver and install doors and windows at the building site. During unloading he was struck on the head by a set of double doors, knocking him unconscious and leaving him with whiplash and headaches. He required physiotherapy for some time afterwards.
When the HSE investigated the incident, it found there had been several previous injuries to the company’s site workers during unloading and handling of heavy glazing units. The company had previously been warned by both HSE and their own safety consultant that they needed to implement a safe system of work for transporting, unloading and handling their products. However, the company consistently failed to properly investigate these incidents, didn’t ensure loads were secured safely, hadn’t clearly identified or marked the different weights of the glazing units and hadn’t monitored the availability of necessary equipment at delivery sites.
The company pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, was fined £300,000 and ordered to pay costs of £18,424.
The judge hearing the case apparently commented that “the culture of the business was at the route of the problem” and that “systemic management failings” were the cause of the breaches of the law and resulting injuries.
In a separate HSE case, a worker for a haulage company received serious head injuries after he fell onto a concrete floor while cleaning a roof.
A Mobile Elevated Work Platform (MEWP) had been hired for the cleaning, but when one of the drivers could not reach a section of the roof from the MEWP he got out and stood on the roof. He subsequently fell through a skylight and landed on a concrete floor 4.5 metres below.
He had to spend a month in hospital after sustaining significant injuries including a fracture to the base of his skull, multiple facial fractures, and whiplash. He also suffered damage to bones in both arms which needed pins and plates, as well as leg injuries.
HSE prosecuted the company for its failure to ensure that work at height was properly planned, appropriately supervised and carried out in a manner which was safe, so far as reasonably practicable.
It pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of The Work at Height Regulations 2005, was fined £215,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £10,622.
If you have sustained a work-related head injury and would like to find out more about claiming compensation, then contact our specialist personal injury lawyers today.
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