Personal injury advice from
Thompsons Solicitors
Firefighter Injured at Work Receives Compensation
25th September 2009
Acting on behalf of a firefighter injured in an accident at work, our specialist personal injury lawyers successfully recovered compensation in a personal injury claim.
Accident at Work
In the course of his work, our client was attending a fire at a derelict bungalow with his colleagues. The fire was almost extinguished and another firefighter had removed tiles from the roof and placed them onto an internal ceiling, to make room so that the fire could be attacked from above. He told the officer in charge that the ceiling was ‘boarded’ and our client then entered the building.
Unfortunately there had been a miscommunication between the other firefighter and the officer in charge. The officer in charge assumed that ‘boarded’ meant that the ceiling was covered with wooden floorboards over the joists, when in fact the firefighter meant that it was plaster boarded. The additional weight of the tiles on the already damp plaster board caused the ceiling to collapse onto our client and he suffered a personal injury.
Claim Against Employer
The claimant felt that his workplace accident could have been avoided if sufficient safety measures were taken and he instructed our lawyers to assist him in making an injury claim against his employer.
We asserted that the officer in charge should have arranged for the ceiling to be dismantled before allowing our client into the building, and the tiles should never have been placed onto it, as it was foreseeable in the circumstances that it may collapse. This was admitted by the officer in charge. No proper risk assessment was made and the incident could reasonably have been avoided.
The matter was taken to court and the Judge agreed that there was an error in communication and found in favour of our client, who was awarded compensation in respect of his injury.
Accident Claim Advice
If you have suffered an injury at work caused by the negligence of someone else, you may be entitled to make an injury claim.
Contact The Legal Line on 0800 0328511, or by completing a claim enquiry form online, for expert accident claim advice from our specialist lawyers on a cost free, risk free basis.
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