£46,000 settlement for client injured polishing gravestones

Kieran instructed Fosters Solicitors’ Personal Injury team on a no win no fee agreement to pursue damages following an accident at work, which resulted in him sustaining significant injuries to three of his fingers.

We helped Kieran secure a settlement of £46,000.

Kieran’s case

For approximately four months Kieran had been working as a stonemason for a large company. One of his duties was to buff and polish headstones, which required the use of a multi-function hydraulic press machine. Kieran was given very limited training on how to use the machine safely, but despite this, he was instructed to use it all the same.

As Kieran went to change the pads on the machine, he accidently knocked the switch which caused the machine to engage and crush both of his hands, causing severe injuries to three fingers. Kieran’s colleagues eventually freed his hands from the machine and he was taken to hospital by ambulance.

As a result of the accident, Kieran required surgical operations to both hands resulting in the partial amputation of three of his fingers. Kieran was unable to work for approximately 14 months and required a significant amount of care and assistance from family members whilst he was unable to use both hands.

Liability was strongly denied by the defendants and witness statements were obtained from Kieran’s colleagues about the lack of training and the lack of a guard over the switch of the machine to prevent it being engaged accidentally. Court proceedings were issued and medical evidence was obtained from a plastic surgeon, clinical psychologist, and a pain specialist. Settlement was achieved for the sum of £46,000.

Chris Turner, Associate at Fosters Solicitors who supported Kieran, said: “Kieran suffered significant injuries to both hands which left him with permanent and distressing injuries. Despite Kieran returning to work in a manual role, which was also complicated by the Covid-19 pandemic and him and many of his colleagues being made redundant by the company – he was still at a significant disadvantage and we were required to carefully consider his future employment prospects given his young age and his many years left to retirement. I was delighted to achieve a settlement which was representative of this.”