In June 2003, Mark suffered an injury at
work. He was employed by the defendant as the operator of
a CNC (computer numerical controlled) lathe. He was a
qualified engineer and was well used to working with such
machines.
As the cutting edge of the lathe whittled away the blank that
was being machined it generated copious “swarf”. The whole
assembly was contained within a cover to prevent uncontrolled
escape of the swarf, not least because swarf carries a razor sharp
edge.
Mark noticed that the housing was not
fully closed and made to operate a lever to turn the machine
off.
However, by that stage swarf had escaped
through the gap in the housing and had contaminated the switch
itself. As a result, when Mark made to turn the machine off he
slashed the ends of the index and middle finger of his dominant
left hand.
Mark was immediately taken to hospital,
by ambulance, where he underwent plastic surgery to the
fingers. He suffered considerable pain, discomfort and
cold-sensitivity in the fingers.
His fingers became less sensitive, so that he
had difficulty executing a “pinch grasp”. He found it
difficult to manipulate small objects as a result. This affected
his capacity to work.
Initially, he received full occupational sick
pay but this was reduced to half pay after some months.
Mark sought advice from a friend who had
previously instructed Field Fisher Waterhouse. Mark instructed
Andrew Morgan to pursue a work accident claim against his employer.
Andrew immediately wrote to the employer to
make a claim and quickly obtained an admission of liability from
the insurers together with an offer to make interim
payments.
Using the interim payment, Mark underwent
specialist hand therapy upon the recommendation of his own
medico-legal expert.
In accordance with the advice from his own
medico-legal expert, Mark also underwent physiotherapy for 18
months. It was not until that stage that the expert was able to say
that Mark's condition had “settled” so that a final value could be
put upon the claim.
Andrew Morgan
issued and served court proceedings for Mark in May 2006 and
settled the claim on a full and final basis for a total of £50,000
in October 2006.
The Defendants also agreed to pay
Mark's legal costs and the claim was taken on a no win no fee basis.
For further information or if you have a
work accident claim, call Andrew Morgan on
020 7861 4036 or email andrew.morgan@fw.com
You can discuss your work accident claim with any member of our
personal injury team on
freephone 0800 358 3848, email personalinjury@ffw.com or
complete our short enquiry form.