Pregnant worker injured after work fall
A civil servant, who was injured after a fall in her workplace, has received compensation after she injured her back in the incident.
The 39-year-old employee who was also five months pregnant at the time of the work accident, which happened at the HM Revenue and Customs offices in Peterlee, County Durham; North-East England, in July 2006.
The woman, who was also a member of the PCS union, injured her back when she tripped on a loose carpet tile in the office. Fortunately she fell onto a seat so that her unborn child was not hurt in the incident, however she twisted her back in the work accident.
At first the woman who was employed as a tax credit advisor, believed that her back pains were because of her pregnancy. It wasn't until she had given birth to her daughter that she realised the severity of her badly injured back.
Back injury revealed
At her six week check-up, after giving birth she told her doctor about her back problems and was told she needed physiotherapy. She has since received steroid injections to help with pain relief. It was later found that the fall had brought forward back problems for the woman by nine years.
The woman struggled to cope with her personal injury and had to rely on her 13-year-old son, to help with taking care of her new born baby. Her back was so painful that she found it difficult to bathe her young daughter or to do simple tasks like lifting the car seat.
The woman said: "All the pleasure was taken out of the first few months after my daughter's birth. Everything was a real struggle. Some days I was in so much pain I couldn't leave the house. I don't know what I would have done if my son hadn't been old enough to help me out.
"When I fell my first instinct was to protect my bump. I hate to imagine what might have happened if I hadn't managed to break my fall."
The woman has now returned to work, but still suffers from some pain.
Pursuing legal action
She decided to pursue compensation after reading about a similar case in her union newsletter. Her union, the PCS instructed its personal injury lawyers. The woman's employer, HM Customs and Revenue admitted liability and settled the claim out of court.
Emma Wiles, the Director of Legal Services at the union, said: "Slips and trips are a common cause of injury in the workplace. Employers are expected to have a simple inspection programme to make sure thoroughfares are safe."
Janice Hook a spokesperson from the legal firm, added: "We are pleased we have been able to settle this claim on behalf of the injured worker. This fall happened at a time when our client was particularly vulnerable.
"She and her unborn child were fortunate that she managed to break her fall. We hope her employer has learnt from this incident and has put procedures in place to avoid this kind of accident happening again."
Updated on 15/09/2009