It has been reported that a concrete manufacturer has been prosecuted by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) when one of their employees suffered life changing injuries in an accident at work.

The employee’s legs were crushed when a pallet containing reinforced concrete fell from an overhead crane. The load had not been properly secured on the lifting chains.

The HSE carried out an investigation and found there was an unsafe system of work and charged the company with a breach of the Health & Safety at Work Act. The company admitted fault and were fined £60,000, and also ordered to pay legal costs.

The HSE inspector was critical of the lack of training of employees as the company left its staff to work out their own methods of moving pallets.

As a result of the accident, the employee suffered a nasty crushing injury and two of their toes had to be amputated; they now have a lower leg prosthesis.

Here are Farleys we have seen thousands of cases over the years where very serious accidents could easily have been avoided if an employer had taken the time to ensure that its staff were properly trained in health & safety issues.

Often injured employees don’t realise that they can make a compensation claim if they think that the accident was their fault in some way. But it is always worth reminding employees that the burden is on their employer to ensure that workplaces are kept as safe as possible and if an employer has ignored the relevant health & safety regulations then they may have a claim against them.

It is common to say that health & safety has “gone mad”, but I think most would agree that in the majority of situations, and certainly one involving such a dangerous workplace as this, that the rules are there to protect employees and should be followed at all time.

The HSE do a great job in enforcing the law, but it is also worth pointing out that even if the HSE haven’t investigated an accident, or decided not to bring a prosecution, you may still have a claim against your employer if you have been injured in an accident at work.

To discuss the possibility of pursuing a personal injury claim, please contact our experts at Farleys on 0845 287 0939. Alternatively, you can get in touch by email or using the online chat below and a member of the team will get in touch with you.