School caretaker in work accident
A school caretaker recently received £30,000 in compensation after sustaining an injury to his knee in a work accident.
The Leeds man was trying to unlock a jammed cubicle door in the school’s toilets when the ladder he was using slipped on the floor tiles. The ladder’s non-slip caps were missing; had they been affixed to the bottom of the ladder, as was proper, his injury would not have occured.
He stated: “I guess that I was three or four foot up the ladder when the ladder started to slide. I had no choice but to jump off and when I landed my left knee gave way.”
He has since had to undergo several operations to repair a torn ligament, which has left him with a scarred and permanently damaged knee.
The Regional Secretary of the GMB stated: “This was an accident waiting to happen and the employee was (literally) the fall guy. Ladders are essential equipment for caretakers yet, incredibly, there was no system in place to check that they were safe. The good news is that the employers now have a system in place.”
The caretaker himself adds: “It seems incredible looking back, but at the time of my accident there was no system for inspection of the ladders that we used.”
His case was a success, and he has now been awarded a considerable sum in compensation for his work accident.
Source: http://www.gmbyorkshire.org.uk/content/
Updated on 10/31/2010