READERS’ SUCCESSFUL ACCIDENT AT WORK CLAIMS

July 12th, 2010 admin

Published in Truckstop News August 2010.

In this month’s issue Steven Hinchliffe of the specialist Personal Injury Compensation firm Hinchliffes Solicitors will consider more “READERS’ SUCCESSFUL ACCIDENT AT WORK CLAIMS”

Continuing his review of successfully completed accident injury claims, Steven Hinchliffe looks at 2 defective work equipment situations experienced by readers of Truckstop News that ultimately lead to an award of personal injury compensation.

All of the accident victims mentioned in this series of articles are clients of my firm, Hinchliffes Solicitors. They have kindly given their permission for the disclosure of their details, and in particular of their real life experiences of incidents resulting in personal injury claims, and the steps taken to make a successful accident compensation claim. All of these clients contacted my firm after seeing our details in Truckstop News – and some of the names referred to may be familiar to you.

In this article I highlight 2 situations caused by defective work equipment and examine the outcome for each individual. As with the previous articles in this series, the common trend remains the significant effect on each person’s life. Both of my clients suffered with significant symptoms and financial losses, including lost earnings. Although using the established legal processes for making personal injury claims as a means of redress cannot truly compensate for the trauma and inconvenience suffered, in appropriate cases it can assist in requiring the guilty party to provide medical treatment and rehabilitation, in addition to financial relief by way of awards of compensation. As previously stressed, the fundamental aim of all accident claims is to try and return the injured party to the position that he or she would otherwise have been in had the accident not happened.

CASE STUDY 1 – DEFECTIVE CONTAINER DOOR HANDLE

In July 2004 Mr M Knight of Rotherham was making a delivery to Perkins Diesel when he suffered an injury to his right shoulder. His job was to collect and deliver containers, and on arrival at the yard he tried to open the rear doors of this particular container. There were catches on the doors controlled by 14 inch handles, but one of the handles was very stiff. Mr Knight tried to force it to move, but had to stop when he felt pain in his shoulder. 2 other men then assisted and only managed to open the doors after using a scaffolding pole as a lever. It was clear that the handle had not been properly maintained.

In March 2006 Mr Knight contacted my firm for advice, but he still had plenty of time to make a claim for compensation as 3 years had not yet passed since the accident happened. The claim was directed to his employers, Hanbury Davies Ltd, on the basis that he was provided with faulty work equipment and his job involved manual handling tasks, and their insurers admitted responsibility within a couple of months. In this type of situation an employer may try to suggest that the container is not their responsibility as it is just something that is being delivered, however if it is defective and causes injury to an employee, they will not be able to rely on this as a defence to a claim.

My firm arranged for an Orthopaedic Surgeon to consider Mr Knight’s medical records and then examine him. The conclusion was that he had a pre-existing problem with his shoulder, but the accident had aggravated this and brought forward the need for surgery (which took place in May 2006) by between 12 and 18 months. The insurers were provided with a copy of the medical report and details of Mr Knight’s financial losses, which included substantial lost earnings for time off work following his operation. Within a month a settlement was agreed in the total sum of £5,500.

CASE STUDY 2 – FAULTY DRIVERS SEAT

Having to drive a vehicle that has a broken or faulty seat can result in an injury, which is what happened to Mr T Rayne of Normanton. In May 2006 he started to develop lower back pain, which he attributed to the faulty seat in the vehicle provided by his employer, VWR International Ltd. By spring 2007 his symptoms had become so severe that he was unable to work for a period of around 4 months. When he was able to return to his driving job, the seat had been replaced.

Mr Rayne contacted my firm in July 2008, and the following month a detailed letter was sent to his employer setting out the basis of his claim. This made it clear that the seat was part of his work equipment, and they had failed to maintain it or act promptly upon complaints about its condition. The claim could so easily have been avoided if the seat had been replaced when it was initially found to be faulty. However, despite the strength of the allegations against them, their insurers took until February 2009 to admit responsibility.

As in case study 1, Mr Rayne was examined by an Orthopaedic Surgeon, who found that degenerative changes were already starting to occur in his lower back before the onset of these symptoms, however the fault with the seat had accelerated these changes and brought forward the pain and discomfort by a period of 5 years. This evidence was sent to the insurers and after some negotiation it was possible to settle the claim at a figure in excess of £6,000, inclusive of the wages lost during his time away from work.

Both of these cases were successful because the employers failed to provide their drivers with safe, well maintained and fully functioning work equipment. Even though each client already had a certain level of physical symptoms, their employers’ attitude made them so much worse.

PERSONAL INJURY CLAIM SOLICITORS:-

If you have suffered any form of accident or contracted an industrial disease contact personal injury claims specialists Hinchliffes Solicitors for immediate legal advice, to find out if you are entitled to make a claim for personal injury compensation. All cases are conducted on a Free No Win No Fee claims basis, where you keep 100% of the compensation recovered.

Call now on 0800 138 1348 to speak direct to one of our specialist claims solicitors or go to our Start Your Claim Now page to submit details of your accident compensation claim online.