A 47 year old employee of a haulage firm was seriously injured in a work accident, after he fell from the roof of a lorry cab. The lorry was parked at the firm’s garage in Blackburn when the worker fell three metres. He was trying to step from the top of the cab to a ladder but the ladder had not been secured and there was no one to help him. He fractured his hip and left elbow in the fall. The firm later pleaded guilty to breaches of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and were fined £9,900 plus £4,613 costs. The worker will have a good case if he chooses to make a work accident claim for compensation.
A claim for compensation can be made following an accident at work if the accident could have been prevented by your employer. If your employer should have assessed the risk that an accident could happen and taken steps to prevent it as part of their risk management procedures, then your employer may be considered negligent and you may be entitled to compensation.
Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 states that, “Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work.” This means that employers are obliged to conduct thorough risk assessments, considering any hazards which workers may face and then take steps to prevent them.
The lorry firm has since taken steps to improve its working practices. This will be of some comfort to the injured worker. He had to take several months off work but he could have suffered permanent, severe injuries or could have been killed. This accident could have been prevented if proper safety precautions had been followed.
What this case highlights are the dangers of working at height and working with ladders. Last year, more than 4,000 people suffered a major injury at work as a result of a fall from height and a further 12 people were killed. Falls from ladders make up more than a quarter of falls from height and result in an average of 1,200 major injuries every year. HSE statistics from 2009/10 indicate that 36% of all reported injuries to employees were due to slips, trips and falls from height; that’s 37% of injuries to workers. 28% of fatal injuries to workers involved a slip, trip or fall, of which most (88%) were caused by a fall. Slips, trips and falls were responsible for 57% of major injuries to employees and 31% of over 3 day injuries to employees.
58% of fatal falls during this period were from a height of over 2 metres. The severity of injuries increases with the height fallen. A higher fall is more likely to result in serious injury, including broken bones, internal injury or paralysis.
The Work at Height Regulations 2005 state, “Where work is carried out at height, every employer shall take suitable and sufficient measures to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, any person falling a distance liable to cause personal injury.” This means that any work at height needs to be carefully assessed.
Earlier this year a 53 year old worker fell through a roof whilst helping a contractor remove vegetation from a block of garages. He fell three metres, breaking several bones in his back, 2 ribs and fracturing his sternum. He also suffered life-threatening internal injuries. A court decided that the platforms used by the workers were inadequate and there should have been edge protection to prevent the workers from falling.
A HSE spokesperson said, “Falls from height are the biggest killer at work and roofers account for almost a quarter of these deaths. Falls through fragile materials, such as cement roofs, account for more of these deaths than any other single cause.”
When workers are working on a fragile roof, there should be protective netting. Without netting, a worker could fall through. Workers can also be injured falling off the edge of a roof, which is why edge protection and proper scaffolding is important. Without edge protection, passersby could also be injured by falling debris.
If you have had a work accident, seek medical attention if you need to. A doctor will also be able to provide medical evidence which will be invaluable if you make a claim for compensation. Speak to a solicitor who has experience in this area, such as the experts at Macks. They will be able to guide you through the process of making a claim and help you to get the compensation you deserve.
