A Tesco employee has been compensated by almost £10,000 after an accident at work left him with a broken leg. USDAW member Martin Dalgleish sustained the injury while packing pallets onto a van at a Tesco store in Lockerbie in August 2012.

As a member of USDAW, Mr Dalgleish was entitled to full legal support from specialist trade union lawyers Thompsons. His Thompsons solicitor argued that the accident was completely preventable due to the fact Mr Dalgleish was using a van which was not fit for purpose.

The USDAW member was packing pallets of juice onto a van which was not a normal delivery vehicle. On the day of his injury Mr Dalgleish was packing a temporary van which had been hired by his employer. The tail lift on the back of the vehicle was not large enough to allow a person to stand on it and support the load whilst it was being manoeuvred up.  As a result Mr Dalgleish had to place the pallet along with the pallet truck onto the tail lift. It was whilst he was in the process of pushing each pallet onto the back of the vehicle that a pallet became unstable and fell backwards on top of him.  

This is a completely preventable accident and had the correct vehicle been provided then the accident would not have occurred.  A claim was made under a breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and for a breach of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 which resulted in a settlement of £9,999.

Thompsons Associate, Susanne McGraw said: “Unfortunately these kinds of accidents happen regularly in the workplace due to nothing more than simple lack of thought or carelessness on the employers’ part. In most cases, as with this case, they are completely preventable. As a union member Mr Dalgleish was able to benefit from Thompsons expertise at no cost to himself and as a result received an award which compensated him for the accident and the hassle of dealing with a broken leg”.

Mr Dalgleish was entitled to free legal advice to make his claim as a member of his trade union. If you have had an accident at work and need advice on making a compensation claim contact our  ‘no win no fee’ lawyers today on 0800 0891331 and we can investigate matters for you and advise you on your first step towards receiving compensation.