28th June 2007
Our specialist personal injury lawyers recently acted for a plasterer injured in a workplace accident and successfully recovered compensation on his behalf.
At the time of his accident at work the claimant was working in a town’s property. In order to carry out his work, he used two trestles to support a large wooden board which he then stood upon.
The board was approximately 10ft long, 1ft wide and 2in thick. Whilst standing in the middle of it, the board broke and gave way underneath the claimant, causing him to fall and suffer a personal injury.
As he felt his employer provided unsafe equipment, he appointed The Legal Line’s lawyers to assist him in making a compensation claim and the case was based on breaches of the PUWER (Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations).
The claimant’s employer denied responsibility for the accident, stating that they believed the claimant had placed the trestles too far apart. They alleged that he had failed to comply with the British Standard 2482, whereby the supports should be a maximum of 1.5m apart, and that this would make the board more liable to bend and break at the centre.
The Judge, however, accepted the client’s evidence that the trestles were a correct distance apart. He found in favour of the claimant and rejected claims by the defendant that the claimant had lost his footing or stepped into a gap.
If you or someone you know has been involved in an accident at work and you suffered a personal injury as a result, you may be entitled to claim damages.
Contact The Legal Line on 0800 0328511 for specialist accident claim advice from our expert lawyers. Alternatively, complete an online compensation claim form and we will call you back.