TSSA Member’s husband receives workplace injury compensation
“I was delighted that my TSSA membership meant my husband got full compensation for his accident.”
Lara had been a member of TSSA for over eight years when her husband fell from a height off faulty equipment at work.
“My husband, Keith, was inspecting the factory production line as part of his routine checks. There’s a section where he needs to be lifted above the production line, so he uses a mini hydraulic cherry picker.”
Unbeknownst to Keith, earlier in the month someone had authorised the cherry picker to be used for exterior work even though the machine was meant for indoor use only. The entire machine had been exposed to the wet, affecting its controls.
“On the way up, he noticed the controls seemed a little slow to respond. But on his way down, it became apparent that something was badly wrong. At first the controls were slow and sticky. And then they completely jammed. They wouldn’t move.”
Keith could not get the cherry picker to go down and the platform was not in a position where he could safely get to the floor. A colleague brought a ladder for Keith to climb down.
“Unfortunately the ladder was not properly stabilised and the colleague didn’t check the floor properly. When Keith was halfway down, the ladder slipped.”
Keith fell heavily to the floor and broke his tibia.
“Keith had been a union member before, but when he was promoted into the management team, he planned to change unions but just never got around to it. I was so pleased when I learned that TSSA supported accident claims for family members, because both Keith and I thought it was ridiculous that the factory could put him in danger like that.”
Lara called TSSA’s injury line.
“Morrish Solicitors were excellent. They got in touch with the factory’s insurers and told them the firm had poorly maintained equipment and had failed to provide a safe work environment. At first they tried to deny liability, but the problem with the controls had been noted the week before the accident by one of the plant engineers. The engineer had also noted how the cherry picker hadn’t been used in accordance with the manufacturer’s specification.”
Keith had needed a week off work for his leg and returned to light duties for the first 3 months. On admitting liability, the insurer’s made an offer for £5,000, which Morrish Solicitors advised Keith and Lara to turn down.
“Their second offer was for £7,000 but they wanted us to say it was partly Keith’s fault because he should have stopped the cherry picker as soon as he knew something was wrong. Morrish Solicitors pushed really hard saying there was no way Keith was responsible because there was no way he could have known the cherry picker was used outside.
Eventually Morrish Solicitors got them to offer £10,000 which was accepted.”
Based on a real life case. Certain details have been altered to protect the identity of the victim.
