£140,000 damages for farm worker.

A farm worker has accepted the sum of £140,000.00 in settlement of his claim for damages arising from serious injuries sustained in an accident that occurred during the course of his employment.

The Claimant was injured while moving large straw bales using a self propelled loader. The loader did not have a safety cage, nor a working light. Whilst carrying out the task, two bales fell forward. The first pinned him against the steering wheel of his loader and the second fell on top of the first and dislodged that bale.

The Claimant suffered multiple rib fractures, a pulmonary contusion and fracture to his spine. He required surgery under general anaesthetic and was fitted with titanium rods into his back.

Unfortunately the Claimant’s wounds then became infected and 5 months after the accident he required further surgery to remove all of the metalwork. Later an abscess formed on the Claimant’s spine requiring further surgical treatment.

The Defendant’s representatives indicated in early correspondence that his employers were responsible for the accident. Other aspects of the claim remained in issue including causation (the link between the injuries and subsequent health problems) and quantum (the value of the claim).

The complexity of the Claimant’s injuries required medical evidence from orthopaedic experts; psychiatric experts; a cardiologist and a respiratory physician. The Defendant put forward proposals to settle the claim which were acceptable to the Claimant.

Speaking of the settlement Rachel Griffiths of the CNCI team said, “This gentleman suffered life changing injuries as a result of this accident. Those injuries have caused significant ongoing health problems for him. The award of compensation is significant and we hope that it will allow the Claimant an opportunity to start to rebuild his life. We are pleased that we were able to resolve the matter by negotiation with the Defendant and that our pragmatic approach to this litigation allowed the claim to be settled in full in a relatively short space of time.”