Our client was working as an HGV driver for East Ayrshire Council when he suffered a slip accident at work. He was referred to Thompsons Solicitors in Scotland through his union Unite in so that we could initiate a claim for personal injury compensation on his behalf.
The background
On the date of the accident in December 2017, our client had arrived at a depot run by East Ayrshire Council at the time – it has since been closed down. Having collected the keys to his vehicle from the main office, the driver then made his way along a footpath towards his HGV.
However, the footpath was icy and our client slipped, falling heavily onto his right side. A colleague helped him up and our client then got into his vehicle and carried on with his duties. After carrying out a driver assessment, he no longer felt able to work and decided to go home.
Our client later found out that despite another member of staff slipping on the path earlier in the morning and this incident being reported, the ice on the path was not treated.
The consequences
After the fall our client experienced pain in his neck, his right arm, and down the right hand side of his back. He later went to his GP who prescribed painkillers. Our client went to Ayr Hospital to have x-rays taken and later he sought a private MRI scan at Ross Hall Hospital. The MRI revealed that the HGV driver had suffered two burst discs in his neck.
Our client was unable to work for around eight weeks after the slip accident at work. He had to pay for various tests and treatments out of his own pocket, including the MRI scan.
Since the slip and fall accident, our client has had to change jobs within the council due to the amount of manual work his previous role required.
The settlement
Our client suffered a two-year accelerated neck injury, 18 month accelerated right shoulder injury and soft tissue injury to his back. We intimated a claim to our his employers who denied liability, stating that the employee should have been wearing ice grips on his shoes. However, despite some members of staff being issued with "yak tracks", our client had not been given the safety wear because drivers had been told not to use them. This protocol changed following our client's accident.
After Thompsons solicitors raised court proceedings, the defenders put forward an offer of £8,250 personal injury compensation. This sum was rejected and following further negotiations a further offer of £9,550 was tendered.
After discussing this with Thompsons' work accident solicitors, our client was happy to accept this sum.
Settlement was agreed on 6 May 2021.
