Our client, a 53-year-old mill worker from Dunfermline, Fife, contacted Thompsons' work injury solicitors through his union in relation to the finger injury he sustained in a workplace accident which occurred in August 2017.
The background
On the day of the accident the claimant was working "back shift" and had been asked by a supervisor to assist in a department he was not accustomed to working in. He was required to assist several other workers in turning a "barrow", a metal frame on wheels, containing steel rollers used for a wool carding machine.
On the day of the accident, our client was asked to assist three to four other workers in manoeuvring a very heavy barrow that they were struggling to move. He was forced to hold the shaft of one of the rollers because there was no room for him to push the barrow itself. As he pushed, a part of the equipment became dislodged and fell onto our client's thumb causing it to become trapped underneath a shaft.
The consequences
The injured man's supervisor immediately removed the shaft from our client's thumb and a first aider promptly attended. Soon afterwards, our client passed out because of the pain and shock of the injury. An ambulance soon attended, and the 53-year-old was taken to Accident and Emergency at Victoria Hospital Kirkcaldy.
While at hospital he received an x-ray which showed no sign of broken bones, but the man's thumb did require four stitches; these were removed two weeks later. Although the wound had healed, the claimant continued to experience weakness in the injured hand and has been left with a scar. He was also forced to take two weeks off work, during which time he received only statutory sick pay.
The settlement
Thompsons work injury solicitors intimated a claim based on Regulation 3 of The Management Regs 1999; Regulation 4 & 9 of The Provision & Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998; Regulation 4 of The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 and common law.
The defendant admitted liability and medical evidence was obtained noting that our client had suffered a laceration to his thumb which resulted in a scar and cold intolerance.
The manual handling injuries compensation included a component for loss of earnings of approximately £323 as well as services and miscellaneous expenses. On 11 April 2019, a settlement of £3,500 was confirmed.
