Accidents at Work

A man who suffered a broken leg in a workplace accident has agreed a £17,500 compensation settlement. The man was using overhead lifting gear to turn over a metal plate weighing approximately one and a half tonnes when the accident occurred. He was...

A rail worker whose wrist and arm were fractured in an accident at work has won £32,000 in damages. The unnamed man was injured when a cleaner lost control of a floor cleaning machine. The machine ran into one of his colleagues, who collided with some...

A welder who suffered a serious brain injury in a tragic workplace accident has won the right to compensation at the High Court. The accident happened when Mark Downs, 39, was walking along a designated walkway on the factory floor where he worked for Hadee...

A man whose back was seriously injured in a warehouse accident has won £25,000 in compensation. The man was using an order picking truck when the accident happened. His vehicle was stationary when one driven by a colleague smashed into him, resulting...

A police civilian worker who was shot during a firearms safety demonstration has won a six-figure sum in compensation. Keith Tilbury, 56, a 999 control room operator at the Thames Valley Police Headquarters in Oxfordshire, was attending a demonstration by a...

An electrical engineer who had his leg amputated below the knee after an accident at work has won £450,000 in compensation. Keith Waring was working up a 13-foot ladder removing external cabling from the side of a house when the accident happened. The...

A recent case serves as a stark reminder to haulage firms that do not take the health and safety risks posed by hazardous weather conditions seriously. An HGV driver suffered serious injuries when his lorry was blown over in high winds and, as a result, has...

A delivery driver who was forced to give up his job after suffering a back injury during the course of his work has won a £22,000 payout. When the accident happened, John Atkin was driving a van loaded with leaflets and newspapers. As he drove, the...

A man who fell into a skip and suffered serious brain damage has won a substantial amount in compensation. The accident happened at the premises where Idris Smith, 57, worked as a factory worker and truck driver. The fall caused an extensive skull fracture...

An office worker who suffered a blood clot after spending long hours sitting at her desk has received an undisclosed sum in compensation. Angela Lamberton, 53, worked for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in Leicester. She had suffered a previous blood clot for...

A waste disposal operative who lost all four fingers and the thumb from one hand in a horrendous workplace accident has been awarded a six-figure sum in compensation. The man, 49, was cleaning a machine used to separate waste when the accident happened. He...

A mechanic who developed severe pain throughout his body in the years after he cut his finger repairing a police car has been awarded £400,000 in compensation. Alexander Darg, 39, was checking a problem with an airbag in a police car at Limehouse...

A man who was injured in an explosion while receiving training as an electrician at a quarry has been awarded £17,750 in an out of court settlement. Steven Roberts was carrying out repairs on wiring at the quarry and had been given a volt pen voltage...

A teacher who was injured when she was assaulted by a pupil at a school for children with learning and behavioural difficulties has been awarded substantial compensation. Sharon Lewis was 26 when she was jumped on by a 13-year-old boy with a history of...

A cash machine maintenance worker who slipped outside a Tesco supermarket has been awarded £10,500 in compensation. The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, was working for Group 4 Securicor replenishing a cash machine outside the Tesco supermarket in...

A recent decision has underlined that it is important for employers to operate risk minimisation strategies when mechanical handling equipment is being used: the mere assessment of potential risks is not enough. The case concerned a hospital worker, Donna...

A security guard who suffered severe psychological trauma after being assaulted at work has been awarded compensation as a result. James Maher, 56, was working as a security guard for the London Borough of Waltham Forest, at a depot in east London, when he...

A carpenter who was forced to retire after he was injured in a fall at work has been awarded a five-figure sum in compensation. Michael Perrin, 51, was working as a carpenter at a hospital in Swansea when the accident occurred. He was descending a badly lit...

A plasterer who lost the sight in one eye after an accident at work has been awarded £32,000 in damages. David Perry, 52, worked for Cardiff County Council's maintenance services department. The accident occurred while he was working at a council...

A former Harbour Master who had to take early retirement after falling on the stairs at his place of work has been awarded compensation for his injuries. Michael Leggett, 58, had complained several times to his employers about the state of the stairs. They...

The widow of a worker who was crushed to death in a tragic workplace accident has won £335,000 in compensation. Dean Thomas worked for a company that manufactured perforated paper, which is used to make teabags. He was working in the enclosure of a...

A care assistant who injured her back while helping an elderly woman from her bed has been awarded £8,000 in compensation. Mrs Margaret Yates, now 58, worked in a residential care home and was helping to dress the woman when the accident happened. ...

A tree surgeon who was badly injured in a chainsaw accident has been awarded an undisclosed amount of compensation. The man was using a large, powerful chainsaw to cut a sizeable tree into sections. Although he had received some training, this had mostly...

Eight former pupils of a Welsh school, who were victims of sexual abuse by a teacher, have been awarded out of court settlements. The former pupils were assaulted by drama teacher, John Owen, who had worked at the school for 17 years. The victims brought a...

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 struck her right arm....

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 racking system when...

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 of the large steel...

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 O’Reilly...

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. While he was...

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 2002 she injured her...

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 man’s employer, East End...

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 incident occurred. One of 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 firing. Just as he bent...

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 accident that could...

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. When he leaned...

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 was investigating a report of...

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 Defence (MoD) after the...

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 hand on the lever...

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, the injury became...

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 factory. He was...

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 adjust the tension...

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 building in 2003 when...

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 documentary on an...

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 as he was trying to...

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 deafened by a...

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 site in 2005 when the accident happened. He was trapped...

Figures released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reveal that 124 people were killed at work in the first six months of the year April 2006 to March 2007. This compares with a total of 212 for the entire 12 month period of 2005/06. If...

Two people who suffered falls at work have received substantial amounts in compensation.   Robin Watkins, 46, works for Birmingham City Council servicing and repairing playground equipment. He was up a ladder working on a Victorian swing...

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 services department, was a passenger in the vehicle when the...