£80,000 compensation for client injured in construction site accident

Our client, Mr Howe, was working on a construction site as a self-employed bricklayer and was in charge of a small team of workers. Near the end of his shift, Mr Howe and a co-worker went to check if the silos had been cleaned properly. Silos are commonly used for mixing cement on construction sites, if they are not cleaned properly, the mixture inside will become solid overnight which would cause a delay the next day. Mr Howe went to switch on the silos while his co-worker stayed at the front to check if clean water was coming out.

The silos were on a concrete stabilising slab which Mr Howe had to stand on while carrying out the checking procedure.  After the check was completed, Mr Howe went through two silos and as he put his foot down from the slab he stepped into a large area of water and slipped heavily onto his left side.

Injuries and damages:

Mr Howe was immediately taken to hospital after he had the construction site accident; he had fractured the top left of his femur. He was kept in hospital and underwent an operation to address his leg injury; two pins and a nail were fitted to his fractured femur. Two crutches were given to him when he was discharged and for 6 months he had to rely on his ex-partner and daughter to care for him. Such were Mr Howe’s injuries that he had to give his dog to his daughter due to his mobility being greatly reduced after the accident.

Large volumes of water are often used when mixing cement in silos and flooding had been an ongoing issue at the site in question. Complaints had been made by Mr Howe and other site workers prior to the accident.

At the time of the accident, Mr Howe was in the process of building his own home. His extensive experience as a builder meant he was able to carry out the vast majority of the work himself, thus keeping building costs to a minimum. Following his accident, he was no longer able to work on the project because of his injuries. Mr Howe, therefore, had to seek help from his brother and had to pay to get the work done, which he was not planning to have to do.

Mr Howe was advised and represented by Dominic Graham, a Senior Personal Injury Solicitor at Blackwater Law. Mr Graham instructed medical experts to assess Mr Howe’s injuries and provide specialist supporting evidence for his personal injury claim.  These experts confirmed that Mr Howe will never be able to return to work as a builder. As such, following a partial recovery, Mr Howe has had to seek alternative, less skilled employment. Understandably, not being able to undertake tasks that he was previously capable of, and which he was highly experienced in, caused Mr Howe a significant level of frustration.

Important aspects of this claim:

Mr Howe was represented by Blackwater Law on a no-win, no-fee basis. This case had added complexity over and above that seen in many accidents at work claims and required the specialist expertise of an experienced personal injury lawyer due to the fact there were two defendants – the owner/ occupier of the accident location and Mr Howe’s employer.  Both Defendants firmly denied liability throughout.

Each defendant party also blamed the other for being responsible for maintaining the safety of the site, making this a legally complex case that required the gathering of evidence to support a strong legal argument in favour of Mr Howe’s case.

Despite the defendants maintaining their denial of liability for Mr Howe’s accident and injuries, Blackwater Law successfully negotiated a settlement of damages in the sum of £80,000, split between the two defendants.

This case and the unfortunate pain, suffering and financial loss caused to Mr Howe demonstrates Blackwater Law’s skills of negotiation and unfaltering attitude to secure the maximum possible compensation in the face of strict denial of liability by multiple defendants.