Marine Engineer Wins Compensation for Fall

A marine safety engineer who was seriously injured when he fell off a roof at work has won £100,000 in damages.

The man was instructed by his employer to carry out work on a roof area used for storage. There were no guardrails on the roof and he fell several feet, suffering injuries to his chest, neck, back and shoulders. He began to suffer headaches immediately after the accident and has completely lost the hearing in one ear.

As a result of his injuries, the man now suffers from frequent build-ups of pressure in his chest. This happens on a daily basis and the pain and discomfort can only be relieved by the application of pressure. Because of this, he is no longer able to carry out any heavy manual labour and has been forced to give up his chosen profession.

A claim was brought against the man’s employer on the ground that it had failed to put in place adequate health and safety measures. It had not carried out a proper risk assessment of the task, had neglected to ensure that the work was properly planned or supervised and had failed to provide suitable equipment to prevent a fall.

The claim was settled out of court for £100,000.

The Work at Height Regulations 2005 place specific duties on employers and apply to all work at height where there is a risk of a fall liable to cause personal injury. See the HSE website for more information on this topic.