Mr John Westwater suffered a trip and fall accident in August 2019 whilst working at FedEx UK Ltd in Holytown, North Lanarkshire.

Thompsons Solicitors in Scotland is highly experienced in pursuing trip and fall work accident compensation claims and Mr Westwater's union referred him to us so that we could assist him.

The background

On the day of the incident, Mr Westwater had been working in the warehouse sorting area, carrying out tasks which were a normal part of his working day.

He had been unloading parcels from transportation cages when his foot became in entangled in a nylon banding strip which was loose on the floor. As a result, when he went to walk away from the cage, he fell, landing heavily on his left hand side.

Several colleagues came to Mr Westwater's assistance and he was helped to his feet. He decided to carry on with his shift as he felt there was no immediate need to seek medical attention.

The consequences

In the coming days, Mr Westwater began to experience significant pain in his hip and was forced to phone in sick. He had suffered soft tissue injury around the trochanteric bursa/lateral left hip which settled within 3-4 months.

Following the hip injury work accident, Mr Westwater's employment with FedEx was terminated. He has struggled to find a similar warehouse job since the work accident occurred as he finds this type of work difficult due to on-going pain in his hips and legs.

The settlement

Thompsons' work accident solicitors intimated a personal injury claim with Mr Westwater's employers in respect of the Workplace (Health Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, and Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

Liability was admitted before the case was raised in the All-Scotland Sheriff Personal Injury Court, but an initial settlement offer from the defender of £3,750 was rejected.

A further trip accident compensation sum of £6,100 was offered and accepted. Settlement was reached on 3 May 2022.