We settled a claim for our client, a 61-year-old man from North Wales who suffered a crush injury to his right wrist and hand in an accident at work.
Our client was working in a food production factory at the time of his accident. He was working on a meat pressing machine and whilst working on the machine his right wrist and hand became caught and crushed in the machine.
The machine was defective as it should have had sensors to cause the machine to stop if it detected that our client’s hand was in the way. The machine did have an emergency cut-off button but this was too far out of our client’s reach.
A claim was made against our client’s employers who are a leading Supermarket.
Although the employer’s legal advisors admitted primary liability for the accident they were alleging that our client has been largely to blame since he had known prior to the accident that the machine was defective, and had in fact had warned other members of staff about this.
A medical report of our client’s injuries was obtained from an independent Orthopaedic Surgeon who confirmed that our client had suffered a comminuted extra articular fracture of the distal end of his right radius and soft tissue injuries to the dorsum of his right wrist.
Our client was off work for 5 months following the accident, but fortunately did not suffer any loss of earnings during that time.
He returned to work and then moved jobs to another employer working in a similar role, but in a warmer working environment. This was more beneficial for his ongoing symptoms of stiffness and numbness which were exacerbated in cold conditions.
As part of his claim we included a claim for our client having a potential disadvantage on the open labour market. Although our client was still working, we argued that should he have to change his job for any reason, he would be at a disadvantage compared to other potential job applicants who had not sustained the same injuries.
Although primary liability was admitted we still had to commence court proceedings as the employer’s legal representatives would not initially make a reasonable offer of settlement.
However, after court proceedings were started we were pleased to be able to negotiate a settlement in the sum of £19,000.
How can we help you?
We help lots of clients every year claim the compensation they deserve. This case study demonstrates how we have helped a client claim compensation for injury following an accident at work. Please be aware that the compensation amounts depend on the client’s individual situation and experiences. To see how much your claim could be worth please contact us directly.
