Blinded Welder Wins Legal Battle
It has emerged that a welder has won his legal bid for a compensation claim after he was left brain damaged from a work accident.
The mother of the personal injury victim spoke of her relief after a High court decision ruled that she will get aid to help her with his financial care.
The worker was left blinded and with serious brain injuries after he was hit on the head by a five-and-a-half tonne metal sheet at a Sheffield factory.
The business was found 100% liable for the incident, which left the victim paralysed down his left side and losing his sense of smell and taste.
Horrifying work accident
The accident occurred when the welder was crossing the factory floor in October 2007. The metal sheet, which was being manoeuvred in a tandem lift, swung out of position and knocked him against a steel skip. He suffered a deep skull fracture, brain contusions, a haemorrhage and multiple fractures to both eye sockets.
He was twice resuscitated on the way to the Royal Hallamshire Hospital and underwent a 16-hour operation in which titanium plates were inserted into his skull in order to protect his brain from further damage.
He remained at the Royal Hallamshire for three months before being transferred to the Northern General Hospital for neuro-rehabilitation.
The Eckington 39-year-old had to undergo extensive rehabilitation but it is still predicted that he will need lifelong care.
Despite the victim using a designated walkway when the accident occurred, his employers refused to accept public liability for the injury.
As a result, the workers mother launched an accident claim against the company and enlisted the help of a law firm to investigate the claim.
The family then took the claim to trial at Sheffield High Court, where Mr Justice MacDuff QC ruled that the employers were fully liable for the accident.
He criticised the engineering firm for breaching a number of health and safety regulations at the time of the accident.
These include not holding a written method statement, failing to train one of the crane drivers properly, failing to supervise the tandem lift properly, not carrying out a risk assessment, and operating without a banksman or supervisor.
He also ruled that the victim was entitled to 100% of the final settlement for his injuries, which is now being calculated to cover his rehabilitation and lifelong care needs.
Rachael Aram, a brain injury specialist at the law company stated that the workers: rehabilitation is ongoing. He is undertaking further speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy in the community and has received assistance from the Royal Society for the Blind. He's also currently on the waiting list for a guide dog to assist his independence in the community.
This horrific accident should never have happened and had [the] employers followed basic health and safety regulations it would have been avoided, she stated.
The claimants mother commented: We are very relieved at the outcome of the trial. We are pleased that we have been able to move one step closer to getting the funding we need for [his] care and rehabilitation in the future.
by: Oman
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