Fall From Truck Causes Serious Head Injury
Ron had been working as a heavy goods driver for three years, during which time he would be sub-contracted out to other companies, delivering their goods in his 17 and a half tonne lorry.
On the afternoon of 7 November 2007 he was carrying out one such delivery to a Landrover plant. He reversed his lorry into the unloading bay before seeking a Landrover employee to remove the contents of the truck. Soon a forklift driver was on hand and began to unload the goods, which consisted of crates of Range Rover dashboards complete with electrical fittings.
The forklift driver had nearly finished his task, having only two more crates remaining on the trailer. Nevertheless, his lunch break was due, so he left the unloading area and informed Ron he would be back in half and hour.
Seeing as he has some time to kill, Ron decided to carry out some running repairs to his truck. He had noticed that the canvas curtains surrounding the trailer were not moving freely. These curtains ran down both sides of the trailer in order to contain goods while they were being transported. There were rollers at the top of each curtain which were attached to a channel, allowing them to move backward and forwards. But when Ron had drawn back the curtains earlier in the day, he found the rollers at the top were sticking – a problem he had previously reported to his employers.
In order to rectify this, Ron decided to spray the rollers with some lubricant. However, because the top of the curtains were too high for him to reach, he had to stand on a steel box to reach. When he had finished spraying, he stepped off the box and bent down to retrieve the plastic cap of the lubricant. As he did so, he stepped backwards, all of a sudden falling through the open doors at the back of the trailer. He dropped four and a half feet, landing head first on a tarmac floor.
Although he was in shock, Ron was immediately aware of a severe pain in his head, neck and back. An ambulance was quickly called, and he was fitted with a surgical collar and put on a stretcher before being rushed to hospital.
Ron was sent for a scan and several X-rays, all of which determined that he had not smashed his skull, or suffered any other damage. He was discharged the next day, but Ron continued to suffer the symptoms of severe concussion, with dizziness, pain and vomiting. Indeed, he could not even eat without being sick, something which continued for several days.
After more scans and two weeks off work, Ron's condition thankfully improved at he was able to return to his job. However, he had restricted neck movement for two months, and still experiences the odd bout of dizziness.
Soon after the accident, Ron decided to contact Glynns to discuss his fall. We advised that his employers had breached their duty of care towards him. Not only had they failed to provide health and safety training and protective clothing, but they had neglected to repair the sticking curtain rollers, even though Ron had made a complaint.
We helped Ron make a personal injury claim for his work accident. The claim was soon settled and he received £9,250 compensation.
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