Injuries Direct - Personal Injury Claims

A worker at Staffordshire University has been won a £110,000 compensation claim for work-related stress.

However, despite the payout was made in an out-of-court settlement, the university has refused to accept liability.

Programme manager Mark Bannister, 49, was allegedly made to work up to 65 hours a week after one of his colleagues committed suicide and another went on long-term sick leave.

The members of staff were not replaced and Mr Bannister was given more and more work to deal with. Despite complaining about the massively increased workload, his bosses did nothing to relieve the pressure.

Mr Bannister, who has a history of anxiety and depression, signed off sick from work in September 2007, and briefly returned before going off sick again.

His compensation claim solicitors argued that Staffordshire University should have done more to ensure that their employees were not overworked.

They said: “Despite Staffordshire University being aware of Mr Bannister’s previous medical history and despite his complaints about the workload nothing was done to ensure he was coping. Stress cases are difficult to prove but here Mr Bannister was ignored and felt he had no choice but to work excessive hours and the damage to his health followed.”

A Royal Mail driver has been cleared of work accident health and safety breaches after the truck he was driving crushed a colleague to death.

Ian Wheeler, 42, had been trying to link the tractor he was driving to a trailer at Royal Mail’s Heathrow Worldwide distribution centre near Slough when the accident happened in September 2006.

Fellow worker Colin Smith, who had no hearing in one ear, was standing between the vehicle and the trailer. Mr Wheeler failed to notice him there and he was subsequently crushed, suffering fatal injuries.

The driver was taken to court for health and safety breaches which stated he failed to discharge hit duty properly. However, after denying the charges he was cleared if any wrongdoing.

It was previously believed that Mr Wheeler had been distracted by his mobile phone, on which he had received a call from his son at the moment of the accident. These claims were later dismissed as irrelevant.

Being hit by vehicles is the second most common cause of accidents at work, with 1,875 incidents in 2006/2007.  The reason for why Mr Smith was in between the vehicle and the trailer is unknown.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are set to launch an initiative which they hope will reduce the risk of construction site accidents.

Intensive inspections will be carried out at sites across the country, which aim to raise awareness of the dangers that cause so many injuries and deaths.

Currently the construction industry is one of the most dangerous in Britain. 2008 to 2009 saw 53 deaths and 11,264 injuries happen on construction sites.

The initiative will look at refurbishment and roofing work, with a particular focus on fall from height accidents. Inspectors will visit sites without warning to make stringent health and safety checks.

The Health and Safety Executive’s Chief Inspector of Construction Philip White said: “Every year too many construction workers are needlessly injured or killed while working on a site. While some sectors of the industry have made real improvements in recent years, we are really concerned about standards in the refurbishment sector, particularly on small projects.”

During inspections last year to 1,759 sites and 2,145 contractors, over 270 prohibition notices were issued to stop dangerous work practices.

Mr White added: “This is the third year running we have run initiatives like this and, after these latest inspections, we hope that we can report back that we have found good practice and safely operating sites.”

If you wish to make a claim for compensation for a fall at height or construction accident, contact us for more information.

Every couple of years around this time we begin to panic for the health of a certain group of premiership footballers. And every time, without fail, a key figure in the England line-up becomes injured. As fans of the three lions, we are used to seeing a race against time to see a player fit again before the team jets off for showdowns with the cream of the crop teams from around the globe.

Recent years have seen Wayne Rooney, David Beckham and Michael Owen fall foul to the unpredictability of the wonderful game. In the most recent of these cases, Rooney broke his foot during a Manchester United game in April 2006 and struggled to get back to full fitness before the start of that year’s World Cup Finals in Germany.

Rooney did eventually go to the championships, but never looked like releasing his full potential as his injury bogged him down. His frustration at this fact was clear; a frustration which was released against Portugal in the quarter-finals where he was sent off following a bust-up with ex-Manchester United team-mate Christiano Ronaldo. Of course, England then lost in the way we always do – penalties, and the rest as they say is history.

Already this year two of England’s top players look like they may not travel to South Africa for the World Cup. First of all left-back Ashley Cole – widely considered to be one of the best defenders in the world suffered an ankle injury which is likely to put him out for a number of months. Then over the weekend Tottenham winger Aaron Lennon injured his groin, with the prognosis not looking promising.

As the first international tournament that England has been involved in since the 2006 World Cup, the opportunities for players to perform at such a stage can be few and far between. But as chances for international glory beckon for our footballing stars, the question of whether they could be entitled to claim work accident compensation begs to be answered.

Whether a claim for damages could be made against their domestic clubs, the clubs of the player/s that caused their injury or to the FA themselves who run the premier league, surely these players deserve justice for the agony that they must go through; knowing that they will not even get the chance to play against the world’s best in front of millions. Long-term injuries also cause damage to careers over a long-period – both David Beckham and Michael Owen disappeared into near obscurity on the international stage following their injuries from which they never fully recovered.

Hopefully England will not suffer another injury to a player before the tournament starts in June. The majority of the country will wait with baited breath.

An ex-footballer of Premiership side Bolton Wanderers has been awarded £32,500 injury compensation.

Marcus Hallows’ career was sadly cut short after a leg-breaking tackle during a game for Altrincham FC in March 2005.

He was brought down by Ashton United defender Danny White while he was making a run for the goal. He suffered an open fracture of the shin and broke his right tibia and fibula as a result.

Mr Hallows, who played for Bolton Wanderers reserves in 1995/1996 made legal proceedings against Mr White’s club Ashton United and, after a series of hearings, a judge has ruled that he was entitled to sports injury compensation.

£32,500 was awarded for the loss of earnings he suffered due to not being able to play football. He now instead works as a sales manager for a construction company, and occasionally as an Elvis impersonator.

Chairman of Ashton United David Aspinall has complained that they will not be able to afford the compensation payout, but also cannot risk appealing and possibly incurring an additional £10,000 in legal costs. He also argued that the judgement could have repercussions for clubs around the country, many of whom are in financial difficulty as similar claims will end up being made.

The judgement will be handed down from court on March 5th, when Marcus Hallows will make a statement regarding his compensation award.

A postman has been awarded £1,000 work injury compensation for damages caused to his finger.

Keen darts player Dennis Coleman suffered a deep gash to his left hand’s middle finger after a letter box flap snapped shut on it ‘like a mousetrap’.

Mr Coleman, 52, who was on his post delivery round in Stokesley near Middlesbrough at the time, was treated in hospital for the injury. He was later awarded £1,000 compensation after making a claim against the owner of the property Martin Welsh.

An employee of 14-years with Royal Mail, Mr Coleman claimed that the letterbox presented a danger as it had a home-made draft excluder.

He said: “The flap was caught on the draft excluder. I put my hand in and it came down like a mousetrap, snapping my finger.”

Mr Coleman had to have three stitches put in his finger to help seal the wound – which he described as ‘pouring with blood’.

He added: “I’ve had a heart attack and it didn’t hurt as much as the stitches I had to get. I still have numbness in my finger.”

As a promising darts player, Mr Coleman was due to play in the Teeside Ranking Event at Middlesbrough’s Marton Country Club. However he missed out because of his injuries and therefore potential prize winnings.

His work injury compensation claim was to recover lost winnings from the competition, as well as time he had to take off work. £1,000 was awarded in an out-of-court settlement.

A man has died in a fork-lift truck accident at a Shetland mussel farm.

Geoffrey Davis, 57, became trapped beneath the vehicle as he was unloading a delivery to Unst Shellfish in Ordale, Baltasound.

Emergency services attempted to remove the fork-lift truck by using an air bag, but Mr Davis was pronounced dead at the scene.

It’s believed that the man had moved to the area recently with his young family, and had been working for Haulage Contractors Robert Henderson.

The northerly Shetland Island’s Up-Helly-Aa festival was due to carry on over the weekend, but was called off in a mark of respect.

A local councillor said: “I think the family moved to Unst recently, but that does not take away how much this has been and will continue to be felt by the whole community.”

The Health and Safety Executive are now working closely with the police to gather enough evidence into the cause of the fork-lift truck accident, before deciding whether to launch a formal investigation.

The Health and Safety’s current campaign ‘Shattered Lives’ has highlighted the accident at work risk for both employers and employees.

A particular focus for the HSE is raising awareness of the dangers of slip trip and fall accidents – the most common cause of workplace accident injury. Currently one third on major injuries at work are caused by this type of accident.

Slip trip and fall accidents cost employees £512million per year in lost production and in other costs. Now, the HSE want to dramatically reduce this figure; protecting the future of businesses as well as the safety of employees.

The Shattered Lives website has many useful resources on the topic, including posters to put around your workplace, assessment forms and leaflets containing a number of safety tips for employers and employees to follow. It also provides the e-learning course package STEP (Slips and Trips eLearning Package), which covers a number of work sectors.

Google “shattered lives” for more information.

A police officer who injured his foot whilst saving a sick man has had his claim for compensation refused.

Detective Constable William Stokes, 36, and colleague PC Claire Duffy had been waiting outside the man’s house for 30 minutes for a battering ram. After repeated urgent requests for it to be delivered failed, DC Stokes took the action of kicking in the door with his foot.

It wasn’t until later on that he realised the harm he had caused his foot with his brave actions. Significant cartilage damage forced him off work for three months, while his injuries meant he couldn’t take up his full duties again for a further 13 months.

After the incident DC Stokes’ right knee became badly swollen meaning he was unable to walk properly. Pain had also developed in his left foot.

He subsequently made a £100,000 claim for compensation after the incident in 2004 to recover lost earnings and medical expenses but lost his case at a hearing last week.

DC Stokes had argued that his bosses had a duty to provide suitable equipment to perform his duties and claimed he lost thousands of pounds in overtime and other benefits over the course of 16 months.

A colleague said: “He was unable to do any overtime while he recovered from his injury and also paid for his own medical treatment to try and get back to work quicker. It seems he is being doubly penalised for trying to do his job conscientiously.”

Two workers have died in fall from height accidents within hours of each other.

Robert MacDonald, 52, and David Rodger, 44, both died when carrying out painting work on two of Scotland’s main railway bridges.

Mr MacDonald fell around 150 foot from a ladder on the north side of Forth Bridge. He landed on scaffolding below the railway tracks. He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

Mr Rodger fell about 6 feet from a ladder onto a ledge below the Tay Rail Bridge. Police are still investigating the cause of his death.

Both of the men were working as contractors for Network Rail before their fall from height accidents. They were helping to refurbish the two bridges by stripping off the old paint before repainting them.

David Simpson, route director of Network Rail Scotland said: “Such events have become extremely rare in the last decade as a result of rigorous safety regimes on both bridges. An investigation into the causes of these accidents is already underway.”