Accidents at Work

A production worker has been awarded £220,000 in compensation after an accident at work in which a defective drill broke her arm. Caroline May, 47, was unaware that the drill was broken. When she turned it on, it kicked back and...

A warehouse worker has been awarded £517,000 in compensation after he required a knee replacement following a workplace accident. Glyn Davies, 62, who worked for a motor manufacturer, was taking apart and re-erecting an industrial...

A freelance screen engineer who suffered serious leg injuries after being hit by a crane has been awarded £35,000 in compensation. Paul Bowling, 35, was working at Chester race course dismantling a large video screen. Each section...

With the current obsession in the media with knife crime, a sense of perspective may be restored by a new study which reports that injuries and fatalities at work may be significantly under-reported in official statistics and suggests that workers are...

A machine operator whose right thumb was badly injured at work has won £11,000 in damages. Gerald O’Reilly, 58, was working on a seaming machine – used in the manufacture of cans – when the accident happened. Mr...

A gas worker who was caught in a huge explosion while investigating a leak has won a £230,000 payout.   Danny McLeod, who worked for Transco, had been called out following reports of a gas leak near a pub in Norwich in 2003....

A woman who injured her back as a result of repeated heavy lifting at work has received £60,000 in compensation from her employer.   Ms Karen Coulthard, 45, worked as a stores assistant for the Ministry of Defence (MoD). In...

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has reminded employers of their legal duties with regard to manual handling, after an employee was injured when a 50kg sack of basmati rice fell onto the back of his neck.   The...

A social worker who suffered damage to her eyes when oven cleaner was sprayed in her face has won £7,000 in damages.   Rudi Meszaros, 33, was working at a residential home for young offenders when the...

A miner has been awarded £105,000 in compensation after a piece of rock fell and broke one of his vertebrae.   At the time of the accident Alun Finney, 55, was working at a coal face that was being prepared for charging and...

Many workplace accidents could be avoided if employers fulfilled their legal duty to ensure the safety of their employees.   A mill worker whose right hand was crushed has been awarded a five-figure sum in compensation following an...

A train driver who fell off a plastic chair in the staff room and was forced to give up work has been awarded almost £80,000 in compensation. Martin Syms, 51, was sitting on the chair during a tea-break at Cardiff Central station....

A security guard who suffered a broken collar bone and finger during a burglary has secured £13,000 in compensation. Gerard Darlington, 48, worked for the University of Manchester as a security supervisor. One night he...

A soldier who dislocated his shoulder after being ordered to ‘act like a psycho’ during a training exercise has been awarded £25,000 in compensation. Daniel Brosnan, 34, brought the claim against the Ministry of...

A London Underground train driver has been awarded damages for a back injury he sustained when his seat collapsed. The unnamed train operator was driving a train towards Earls Court. He was leaning forwards in the seat, with his right...

A jockey has won £85,000 in compensation after suffering a leg injury which put an end to his career. Andrew Ball was working at a stable yard when he was kicked by one of the horses and suffered a fractured tibia. In hospital,...

A man whose hand was severed by a two-tonne hammer has been awarded a six-figure sum in compensation for his injury. The accident happened when Bryan Banham, 31, was working at a building site carrying out work on the foundations of a...

A machine worker has been awarded £5,500 in compensation after suffering a serious injury to his finger. Ian Brown, 25, was working at a packaging plant, using a paper rolling machine, when the accident happened. He was trying to...

A council worker who fell from an unsecured ladder and broke both his feet has won £45,000 in compensation. Michael Morgan, 61, worked as a mason for Pembrokeshire County Council. He was working to install windows in a council...

A sound recordist, who is now in a wheelchair as a result of injuries sustained when he was hit by the arm of a wind turbine, has won the right to damages. Adam Jones, 45, was employed as a freelancer for the BBC during the making of a...

A groundsman has won compensation after he lost his arm while trying to remove grass cuttings from a tractor mower. Roger Adams worked for North West Kent College. The mower he was using became blocked with grass and his arm was severed...

A recent case illustrates the point that where a personal injury claim is anticipated, it is important to commence the claim promptly and not to adopt a ‘wait and see’ attitude. It involved a serviceman who was partially...

A former maintenance worker who had part of his leg amputated after an accident at work has won nearly £1 million in compensation.   Matthew Watton was working on a construction...

Figures released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reveal that 124 people were killed at work in...

Two people who suffered falls at work have received substantial amounts in compensation.   Robin Watkins, 46, works for Birmingham...

A former Securicor employee has been awarded damages of £32,250 in compensation for injuries he suffered in a van accident at work. Vishal Gopaul, 32, who worked in Securicor's cash...

A steelworker who miraculously survived the explosion of a steel blast furnace has won a six-figure sum in compensation.   Peter Clement, 54, worked for Corus at their Port Talbot steelworks. In 2001 he was only ten...

A kitchen assistant who was injured when she was startled by a faulty drinks machine has been awarded a total of £60,426 in compensation.   The accident occurred while Helen Given, 61, was working in the kitchen of James...

A worker on a North Sea oil platform who fell from a bunk bed has won a six-figure sum in compensation. Robert Robb, 41, was working for the oil service company Salamis as a scaffolder when the accident occurred. Before starting work on the night shift he...

A man who lost his sexual inhibitions after suffering a head injury at work has been awarded £3.1 million in the High Court. As a result of a personality change following the injury, his behaviour is frequently lewd, his marriage is in difficulties and...

A welder has received a £100,000 out of court settlement in compensation for a work accident which resulted in the amputation of his middle finger. Donald Ford was working for Langley Holdings Plc. as a welder when the accident occurred. He had been...

An 80-year-old man who fell at work and injured his shoulder has received £5,000 in an out of court settlement. John Moffatt worked part-time for Flex-Seal Couplings in Barnsley as a handyman. The injury has forced him to retire and left him with a...

A refuse collector who was seriously injured after the lorry he was in turned over has received £3.75 million in compensation.   Richard Taylor was just 19 years old when the accident happened in February 2005. The driver of...

A doorman who was kicked while he lay on the ground has been awarded compensation from his assailant. Harry Hindle was working as a doorman at Café Manyana in Preston when he refused entry to a group of young men. There was a scuffle during which the...

The Department for Transport’s annual road casualty statistics have, for the first time, recorded the purpose of the journeys of those involved in accidents. This has revealed that work vehicles were involved in over 54,000 crashes in 2005, the...

A man exposed to a noxious gas at work has received £1,200 in compensation from his employer. Tony Green, from Solihull, worked for a battery manufacturer in Birmingham as a stock controller. On the day of the incident, he went to help two colleagues...

A former policeman has received an estimated £2 million in compensation after suffering a stroke which ended his career. Detective Constable Donachie, 45, who worked for the North West Regional Crime Squad, suffered the stroke shortly after taking part...

Back injuries arising from accidents at work are among the most common workplace injuries and more than 1 in 4 of all reportable injuries are caused by manual handling.   A woman who was injured when she tried to move a quiz...

An ex-army man has received a £100,000 settlement in compensation for a leg injury sustained whilst on duty. Damian Thompson, from Morden, South London, claimed that the army ignored his repeated requests for treatment. He has been left with a...

A teenager has been awarded £2,000 in compensation after one of his fingers was crushed in an accident at work. Luke Peace, 19, was working as a junior clerk for Transtar International Freight Forwarders of Attercliffe, Sheffield, when the accident...

A recent survey found that one in ten people has been injured at work in the past five years. The most common accidents were slips, falls and trips, which were responsible for 33 per cent of all injuries. Kitchen accidents accounted for 19 per cent and...

A recent survey found that one in ten people has been injured at work in the past five years. The most common accidents were slips, falls and trips, which were responsible for 33 per cent of all injuries. Kitchen accidents accounted for 19 per...

A Royal Navy recruit who broke her ankle on an assault course has been awarded almost £200,000 in compensation. Sinead Dodds, 24, of Newtongrange in Midlothian, was only 11 days into her basic training when she followed a trainer's instruction to jump...

A West Yorkshire man who suffered work-related hearing loss has won more than £5,000 in compensation from his former employers. Eric Stonier worked as a butcher for companies in Manchester and Wakefield. During that time he was exposed to environmental...

A foundry worker exposed to loud, repetitive noises over a period of 35 years has received £5,500 in compensation for the resulting hearing loss he suffered. David Richards, 58, from Risca near Newport, worked in the now-closed St Gobain foundry from...

A surgeon who slipped on some spilt custard at the London hospital where he worked has been awarded £38,928 in the High Court. John Conti, 36, who suffered the accident in October 2000 at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, required reconstructive...

Two delivery drivers for the supermarket chain Lidl have been awarded undisclosed compensation after being hit on the head in separate incidents by the arm of a loading lift. The court heard that the accidents occurred as a result of a missing bracket on the...

A freelance editor for The Guardian newspaper has received £37,500 in damages after suffering excruciating elbow pain as a result of working at her computer.   Andrea Osbourne began working for The Guardian as a website...

The Court of Appeal has ruled against arguments put forward by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in its prosecution of Hatton Traffic Management (HTM) Ltd. following the death of two workers in an accident on the A66, near Scotch Corner. The men were...

Hand and arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) is a difficult issue in personal injury cases. It arises due to exposure to prolonged or repeated vibration, but the symptoms can come and go and typically there are short periods during which the symptoms are present,...