A court has heard how a Blackburn man suffered a broken elbow and an injury to his foot when he fell four metres from the roof of a waste collection vehicle. The accident happened on 7 September 2010 as the worker was trying to remove waste which had become stuck to the roof of the vehicle.
The employee had climbed up metal bars attached to the truck to reach the stuck waste and fell to the ground when the metal fixings gave way.
An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found that the employer, Neales Waste Management Ltd, allowed employees to use metal bars to access the vehicle despite the fact that the bars were not designed for this purpose. The HSE found that waste regularly needed to be removed from the top of vehicles and the company did not have a safe system in place for doing this work.
The company admitted breaches of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 and was ordered to pay £26,661 in fines and costs.
Compensation following a fall at work
HSE figures confirm that falls from height are the most common cause of workplace fatal accidents and the cause of thousands of serious injuries every year.
If you have been injured in a workplace fall you may be entitled to make a claim for work injury compensation. Contact us for free advice about making a no win – no fee – no cost to you claim. We offer no obligation advice by phone or free meeting and free home visits are available. Our clients keep 100% of their compensation.
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