Somber Reptile

HM Revenue and Customs Pays Compensation for Workplace Accident

September 22nd, 2009 at 8:44 am (Hall Of Health, It's The Law, Markets)

In July 2006, 39-year-old Andrea Swales from Hartlepool, who was nearly five months pregnant at that time, fell due to a disjointed carpet tile at HM Revenue and Customs office where she worked. To protect her unborn child, she fell on a seat but in the fall twisted her back. Initially she considered the back pain to be caused by her pregnancy. It was only after she had delivered her child did she discover that she had hurt her back. When she went six weeks later for her post-pregnancy check up, .her doctor told her she would require physiotherapy and gave her steroid injections to keep her pain down. She later came to know that her accident had advanced her back problems by nine years.

The matter came up in court and her employer HM Customs and Revenue accepted their fault and had an out-of-court settlement where they paid her £9,000 as compensation. This incident has been a good reminder to all the employers to be careful against risks of similar accidents in the office.

Janice Hook of Thompsons Solicitors has stated that the accident had occurred at a time when Andrea was at high risk, and that both she and her child were very lucky not to have suffered serious injuries because she had managed to cushion her fall. Janice also hopes that other employers would pay heed to employees’ safety after this occurrence and compensation case, and install adequate safety requirements to prevent such accidents from happening again.

This view was reaffirmed by Emma Wiles, the Director of Legal Services of the Public and Commercial Services union. She stated that such accidents are a regular cause of injury to employees at their offices, and that all employers should follow basic safety procedures that include inspecting the corridors and passageways to see that they are safe for all.

For training and support for organisations in attaining their health and safety objectives, click on NEBOSH Distance to learn about the importance of promoting a positive health and safety culture in the workplace environment and for information on the web-based training programme from Workplace Law leading to the award of the NEBOSH National General Certificate in Occupational Safety and Health.

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