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The employer of a machine operator who was left with severe
brain damage after he was struck by heavy machinery at work has
accepted responsibility for the accident. An interim award of half
a million pounds in compensation has been provided to pay for the
employee’s rehabilitation and accommodation needs. The full
value of the claim is yet to be assessed but the claim is thought
to be worth several million pounds.
Christopher Kaye, a 55 year old man from Barnsley, was working
on a construction site in Sheffield for demolition
company Euro Dismantling Services Ltd when he was seriously injured
in October 2008.
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He was changing the grapple attachment on an excavator when the
connecting metal bar fixing the grapple to the boom sprang out,
hitting him in the face and knocking him to the ground.
Mr Kaye was rushed to Sheffield Hospital where
he underwent life saving surgery. He was left with severe
brain damage and remained in Keresforth neuro-rehabilitation unit
for many months. Mr Kaye now needs around the clock care
and is unable to walk or
care for himself without assistance. His ability to
communicate is limited and he will not be able to work again.
Mr Kaye’s family instructed Jill Greenfield, personal
injury partner at law firm Field Fisher Waterhouse, in a
claim against Euro Dismantling Services Ltd. We gathered
evidence to suggest that Mr Kaye had received inadequate training
on how to change the grapple; that recommendations that employees
should receive more training were ignored and that equipment that
could have allowed him to carry out the job more safely was
purchased after the accident. It was discovered that written
instructions on changing the grapple were not provided until after
Mr Kaye’s accident.
The Defendants denied this and disputed the
claim.
Shortly before a meeting with the Claimant’s
lawyers to discuss a possible settlement the Defence accepted
primary responsibility and provided an interim payment of £500,000.
The Defence maintained that they believed Mr Kaye was partially to
blame. This was not accepted by Mr Kaye’s family or his legal team
but the parties came to an agreement whereby Mr Kaye will recover
90% of his full damages from the Defence rather than litigate the
case at trial.
Jill Greenfield
said: “This was a terrible accident that could have been
avoided had better equipment and training been in place at Mr
Kaye’s workplace. It has been a difficult fight to secure
financial support and whilst money in itself cannot compensate for
what my client and his family have gone through, it will ensure
that he is able to get the long term treatment and care he needs
which is now absolutely essential to him.”
Read more about Christopher Kaye's story in the
Sheffield Star