UK Injury Compensation News

It may not be too late for many former and current British Telecom employees, who have suffered a loss of hearing due to using faulty testing sets, to claim BT engineers hearing injury compensation.

In August 2010 – in the case of Watkins v British Telecommunications – BT acknowledged that engineers had been provided with equipment to test, trace and install telephone lines which produced loud, high-pitched tones and damaged the hearing.

The case resulted in many claims for BT engineers hearing injury compensation being made and, as many of the injuries had been sustained years before, BT announced it would not enforce the three-year Statute of Limitations which usually limits an employer´s liability for workplace injuries.

However, in June 2012, the company reversed its decision to allow former employees a limitless period in which to claim compensation for BT engineers hearing injuries, and stated that – from January 1st 2013 – any BT engineer claim for hearing injury compensation would be subject to the three-year Statute of Limitations.

This means that current and former employees who have been diagnosed with a hearing injury within the last three years which is attributable to BT´s negligence are still entitled to claim compensation for BT engineers hearing injuries and receive recompense for their premature loss of hearing.

Employees not involved with the testing of lines, but who have suffered a loss of hearing due to working in close proximity to excessive noise while a line installation was in progress, and who were not provided with adequate protection for their hearing, are also entitled to claim compensation – subject to their hearing injury being diagnosed within the last three years.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has recommended any current or former BT employee suffering from tinnitus, premature deafness or damaged hearing due to their working conditions to seek legal advice at the first possible opportunity.

A London property service company has been fined £165,000 and ordered to pay £19,000 in compensation for carbon monoxide poisoning after a successful prosecution by the Health Service Executive.

Apollo Property Services Group Limited was found guilty at the Old Bailey of breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety etc. at Work Act 1974 following an investigation into work carried out on the Abbey Road Estate in Camden, London, during which seven residents were hospitalised with carbon monoxide poisoning.

The company carried out the renovation work on the roof of the estate in February and March 2008; however it was found that they did not have an adequate system in place to identify which of the boiler flues were still in operation and the work continued without any checks being made.

The company were also found to be negligent in ensuring that the renovation work was adequately supervised, making certain that workers were made aware of the risks of working in close proximity to boiler flues or training them in safe working practices.

Judges at the Central Criminal Court fined Apollo Property Services Group Limited £165,000, ordered the company to pay £117,582 in costs and £19,000 in compensation. Residents who suffered an illness because of the company´s negligence will now be entitled to claim compensation for carbon monoxide poisoning in private civil claims.

A woman, who suffered soft tissue damage to both ankles in a loading bay accident, is to receive £30.000 in compensation for a slip on a pallet at work.

Katrin Weiss (36) from Intake in Sheffield was employed as an Operations Manager for the Rotherham-based window frame and door manufacturer Bereco Ltd when her accident happened early last year.

Covering for a colleague who was absent through illness, Katrin was asked to work late to ensure that a delivery was despatched on time. Most of the packed pallets for delivery had been loaded onto the lorry, but several bundles of handles and frames remained.

In order to get to these, Katrin had to clamber over another pallet which had its edges concealed by a sheet of plywood and, as Katrin climbed back down, she slipped on the edge of the pallet and fell – badly twisting one ankle and sustaining substantial ligament damage in the other.

Katrin was taken to the Northern General Hospital where doctors fixed two screws into her ankle to try and stabilise the injury. However, the ligaments failed to heal and Katrin had to undergo two further operations before a metal frame was inserted into her foot in December 2011 to improve her mobility.

After seeking legal advice, Katrin made a claim for injury compensation for a slip on a pallet at work, claiming that in addition to her injury she had been left with a five-and-a-half-inch scar on her leg, had suffered a considerable loss of amenity during her recovery and had been unable to work for fifteen months after the accident. It is also probable that Katrin will suffer a degenerative form of arthritis in the future.

Katrin claimed in her action that her employers had been negligent by not providing her with any training relating to how to load the lorry safely and that she was not made aware of any risks associated with the task she had been asked to perform.

Bereco Ltd admitted their liability for Katrin´s injuries after an internal investigation and an out-of-court settlement was agreed in which Bereco Ltd would pay Katrin £30,000 in compensation for her slip on a pallet at work.

A man, who sustained catastrophic head injuries when he fell from scaffolding while trying to help his brother fix his roof, has had a scaffolding fall injury compensation settlement of 750,000 Euros approved at Dublin´s High Court.

Patrick Rayner, of Mitchelstown, County Cork, was getting prepared to assist his brother replace slates which had been displaced from his roof when the accident occurred in December 2008. While standing on top of a scaffolding tower, Patrick was attempting to take hold of a roofing ladder which was being passed to him when he fell three metres to the ground – sustaining a fractured skull and leaving him with a deficit of smell and taste and a loss of hearing.

Through his wife, Julia, Patrick made a claim for fall from scaffolding compensation against his brother – John Rayner of Killmallock, County Limerick – claiming that John had failed to ensure that the scaffold tower was secured to the building or other permanent structure, was negligent in failing to strut or brace the scaffolding tower and had failed to take adequate precautions to ensure his safety while he was assisting with the roof repairs.

At the High Court, Ms Justice Mary Irvine heard that damages had been agreed at 750,000 Euros and the case was before her for approval of damages only. After hearing of Patrick´s injuries, the judge approved the settlement of scaffolding fall injury compensation, stating that this was a case in which a Good Samaritan deed had ended in tragedy.

A rig worker from Louisiana, who suffered permanent debilitating injuries when he was crushed between a drill pipe and the derrick leg of the gas rig he was working on, has been awarded 4.1 million dollars in compensation for crush injury at work by a federal jury in Colorado.

Von Phathong (42) was employed by Houston-based Tesco Corp (US) as a “roughneck” (labourer) on a drilling rig located in Rifle, Colorado, when the accident occurred in December 2005. As he was assisting with the change of heavyweight drilling pipe, the unsecured lower drill pipe swung into Von and crushed him against the rig´s derrick leg.

Von suffered several spinal fractures and herniated cervical discs and will never be able to work again because of the pain he experiences whenever he moves. After being released from hospital, Von sought legal advice about claiming compensation for a crush injury at work and, as Tesco Corp (US) denied their liability for Von´s injuries, the case was heard before the United States District Court for the District of Colorado.

In court, Von´s solicitors showed evidence that the “crossover sub” which was being used to connect the two drilling pipes had the incorrect thread and the supervisor on the rig had tried to use a powerful top-drive to force the thread of the crossover sub and the drill pipe together. It was also shown that the drill pipe which caused Von´s injuries should have been secured before the operation was started.

Further evidence at trial established that Tesco Corp´s health and safety was the worst ever seen by a drilling expert brought in to support Von´s claim for crush injury at work compensation and that the site worked on a culture of “intimidation and fear”. The jury at the United States District Court for the District of Colorado found Tesco Corp (US) 90 percent liable for Von´s injuries and awarded him 4.1 million dollars in compensation for a crush injury at work

A man, who suffered a traumatic brain injury when a scaffolding pole fell 14 storeys and struck him on the head, has had a seven-figure settlement of scaffolding pole injury compensation approved at Bristol High Court.

Richard Chodkiewicz (54) from Lawrence Weston, Bristol, was a lift engineer and part of the construction team working on the conversion of the Radisson Blu Hotel in Broad Quay, Bristol, when the accident occurred in July 2008.

While Richard was working on the lift shaft on the ground floor of the building, a 50cm scaffolding pole weighing 3.7 Kg, which was being used as an improvised plumb line, slipped from the wire to which it had been attached and fell 14 storeys.

Despite wearing a hard hat, the force of the falling scaffolding pole on Richard´s head left him fighting for life at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol, where he underwent emergency surgery and then spent more than six weeks in intensive care.

Richard did not return home for almost eighteen months after the accident, such were his injuries and his need for intense rehabilitation. The father-of-five now has limited movement, speech difficulties and requires twenty-four care due to his short-term memory problems.

Bristol Crown Court heard that Richard´s employer – Hoistway Ltd – and Miller Construction (UK), the company responsible for building the city centre hotel, had both been found in breach of health and safety regulations following a Health and Safety Executive investigation into the accident and the case was before the court for approval of negotiated damages only .

After hearing details of the undisclosed scaffolding pole injury compensation settlement, which will provide sufficient funds to compensate Richard for his loss of earnings and cover the costs of the lifetime of care he will now need, the court approved the settlement.

One of Europe´s biggest work injury insurer´s – Zurich Insurance – has revealed that work deafness compensation claims increased by almost 25 percent in the UK during 2011.

The insurance company claims that part of the significant increase in claims from employees seeking compensation for work deafness is due to the marketing of claims companies targeting this particular industrial disease; but personal injury solicitors have pointed to a recent change in the law which lowered the noise threshold above which employees could claim hearing injury compensation.

The Health and Safety Executive has estimated that more than one million employees in the UK are exposed to dangerous levels of noise at work, and the TUC claims that 170,000 people suffer deafness, tinnitus or other ear injury due to exposure to excessive noise at work.

Solicitors´ organisations have identified a variety of settings from which claims for work deafness compensation have originated – including bars and shops as well as more traditional manufacturing environments – but, as a Cenric Clement-Evans of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers explained, proving that a work deafness injury is attributable to the negligence of an employer can be difficult.

 “Like many industrial disease cases you’ve got other competing causes, potentially, but a medical assessor would look at things like shooting, DIY, music.” Mr Clement-Evans continued “they [claimants]may have seen adverts, but they are people who have been exposed to noise – probably, the vast majority, in breach of the employer’s duty of care.”

A Philadelphia construction worker, who sustained multiple leg fractures and a spinal injury when a poorly-braced wall fell on top of him, has settled his claim for broken leg on construction site compensation for 2.6 million dollars.

Jairo DaSilva-Viero was working on the Dobson Mills Apartment site in East Falls, Philadelphia in May 2007 as a wall framer, when a poorly-braced wall fell onto him – breaking his hard hat and causing him to sustain multiple fractures in both legs and a spinal injury.

After making a partial recovery, doctors advised Jairo that he was unlikely to work again as a construction worker and, after seeking legal advice, he made a claim for broken leg on construction site compensation against the owners of the site – Winther Investments.

It was claimed in the action that the company who had been sub-contracted to brace the walls – Mega Construction Corp. – were supposed to be supervised by the general contractor, Tocci Commercial. Tocci Commercial, it was alleged, did not have sufficient resources or knowledge to competently maintain site safety and despite knowing this, Winther Investments ignored the problem.

The claim concluded that ultimate responsibility for the health and safety of construction workers building the Dobson Mills Apartments rested with Winther Investments, and as they had allegedly failed in their duty of care by hiring Tocci Commercial and then declined to address mounting safety issues at the site.

The settlement of broken leg on construction site compensation was agreed shortly before the case was to be heard at the Philadelphia Court of Common Please before the Honourable John A. Lord.

A self-employer joiner, who was left semi-paralysed when an 8 foot piece of plyboard hit him during a storm, has been awarded more than a million pounds in compensation for injury due to insecure load in an out of court settlement.

Christopher Holmes (34) from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, was working on the roof of Longsands College in St. Neots in November 2007 when the tragedy occurred. While in the process of covering insulation which had been laid on the roof, a gust of wind caught the 8 foot piece of plyboard and blew it straight at Christopher – knocking him unconscious.

Christopher was rushed to Addenbrooke´s Hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with a severe spinal injury. Despite many return visits to the hospital for specialist treatment, Christopher – a father of three young children – is now semi-paralysed, unable to move his fingers or legs and requires round-the-clock care.

After seeking advice from solicitors, Christopher made a personal injury compensation claim against the contractors for the site – the nationwide firm R.G. Carter Construction Ltd – claiming that the plyboard which hit him should have been secured to prevent such an accident. Four years after his injury occurred, liability was admitted and a seven figure settlement was agreed in compensation for injury due to insecure load.

A man who sustained catastrophic injuries when hit in the face by a piece of machinery on a construction site has been awarded a brain injury compensation package calculated to be in excess of 4 million pounds.

Christopher Kaye (57) from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, was working on the construction site in Sheffield for Euro Dismantling Services Ltd when the accident happened in October 2008. Christopher was changing the grapple attachment on an excavator when he was hit in the face and knocked to the ground by an iron bar which sprang from the release mechanism.

Christopher was rushed to hospital where he underwent emergency surgery to save his life, however the accident left him with permanent brain damage which means he now needs around-the-clock care.

After taking legal advice, Christopher´s wife – Sue – made a brain injury compensation claim against her husband´s employers, claiming that Christopher had not been provided with adequate training or protective equipment in order him to complete the job safely.

Euro Dismantling Services Ltd initially denied the claims but, shortly before the case was due to be litigated in court, the company made an offer of 90% responsibility for Christopher´s injury.  A lump sum payment of 1.75 million pounds was agreed in brain injury compensation, with annual payments of 135,000 pounds to follow for the remainder of Christopher´s life – a total in excess of 4 million pounds should Christopher live for a further twenty years.

A Midlands welder, who suffered 50 per cent hearing loss after prolonged exposure to noise in a manufacturing plant, has been awarded 12,000 pounds compensation from his former employer.

Stephen Rothwell (50) of Middlewich, Cheshire, had worked at Henry Smith Constructional Engineering from when he left school in 1976 until 2003. As part of his duties, he had to weld steel plates in the noisy steel fabrication plant in Winsford, Cheshire.

However, Stephen was never advised that he should have protection for his hearing, and none was ever provided. Consequently, Stephen developed tinnitus and lost 50 per cent of his hearing – he now uses hearing aids in both ears.

After seeking legal advice, Stephen was tested by audiologists, and a claim was made against his former employers. He has now received 12,000 pounds in compensation after Henry Smith Constructional Engineering admitted liability for the hearing damage.