« F.A. Cup - 4th Round Draw - Pompey - Liverpool again | Main | "Excuse me, do you realise your horse is gay?" »
January 9, 2006
Robin Annetts: Firm fined (Just about)
BBC NEWS | England | Berkshire | Firm fined after man broke back
Firm fined after man broke back A company has been told to pay nearly ?4,500 after a worker fell off a ladder and broke his back in an accident which left him wheelchair bound.
Robin Annetts, 54, of Lambourn, Berks, was working alone on a 5.7m (19ft) high ladder at a construction site at New Greenham Park, Newbury, last year.
Perhaps the man jumped, tried to commit suicide, was mucking around, climbing the ladder upside down?
He must have been doing something to contribute to the fall else why would he only get £4500 for breaking his back causing him to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
The Health and Safety Executive took the company to court for breaching the laws and won the case. The company were fined and ordered to pay court costs but Robin Annetts, 54, was only given £4500.
He's 54 for christ sake, stuck in a wheelchair and won't be able to live the life that he used to, and what does he get? £4500.
Either the company were guilty or not? Either way, they must have had some sort of liability insurance to cover the event of such accidents?
Something doesn't smell quite right with this story. The guy breaks his back and gets less than 2 or 3 months salary. Mr. Annetts seems to have been well and truly shafted and let down by the system. The health and safety executive is not only there to provide the law on such matters, but to uphold it and help those who fall victim to those that break it.
Posted by Chris Wright at January 9, 2006 9:33 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.yaps4u.net/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/204
Comments
I remember many, many years ago when my dad had an accident at work - he slipped off a ladder and it gouged a lump out of his back - because the ladder did not have the correct "rubber stoppers" over the end bits. That went on for months, maybe even a year, and came out with considerably more than £4,500.....
Posted by: Paul at January 12, 2006 8:37 PM
