Personal injury team negotiates settlement for employee injured by fall at work

Posted: 19/03/2014

The personal injury team at Penningtons Manches LLP has recently settled a claim for damages against an employer for a client who suffered a hand injury following a fall at work.

The claimant, a shop assistant, was injured when he slipped on liquid left on the floor. Whilst outstretching his hand to break his fall, he caught it on a piece of exposed metalwork on the underside of one of the fridges in the shop. He suffered a significant laceration to his right hand, requiring surgery to re-attach the extensor tendons to the middle and index finger. Fortunately, post-surgery the claimant made a good recovery although he has been left with significant visible scarring to the back of the right hand and some residual discomfort.

Following an investigation and submission of details of the claim to our client’s employer and their insurer, Penningtons Manches managed to obtain an admission of liability and subsequently negotiated a settlement on behalf of the claimant.

William Broadbent, an associate in the personal injury team, who assisted in the case, commented: “We are dealing with a variety of claims involving injuries in the workplace. It is concerning to see the number of accidents resulting from employers failing to ensure that protective guards and systems are in place and to take basic steps to address workplace hazards. It seems almost every day that the HSE is fining employers for accidents such as this one. The exposed and sharp metalwork in this case should have been covered by a protective grill but evidence showed that this had been missing for at least a year prior to the accident and the employer had done nothing about it. Had this been in place, our client’s injuries and long term scarring would have been avoided.”

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