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News Desk | News Story
24th July 2009
Woman's leg crushed in workplace accident
Accident at work
A Unite member who was forced to take six months off work after her leg was crushed in a workplace accident has received £14,500 in compensation.Nicola Upsher, 29, from Dartford in Kent, needed surgery following the accident at tissue manufacturer Kimberley Clark’s Gravesend factory in August 2007.
She was attempting to move a 250kg reel of polythene onto an electric trolley when it fell off onto her leg crushing her calf muscles.
She was forced to take six months off work and had to have surgery to repair the damage.
She said it left her barely able to walk and unable to drive. She missed out on wages including a Christmas bonus and overtime.
Her leg is now almost back to normal but Nicola says at times it can feel bruised and tender.
Pursue a claim for accident compensation
Nicola decided to contact her union following the accident and Unite instructed its lawyers Thompsons Solicitors to pursue a claim for compensation.
Kimberley Clark admitted liability and settled the claim out of court. Since Nicola’s accident the firm has implemented a new system which makes moving the heavy reels safer.
Nicola said before her accident they were forced to move reels of this size by balancing them on the trolley because they were too small to fit into the trolley’s forks. She said now small wedges have been provided so the reels are secure.
She said: “I am the main wage earner in my house so it was particularly hard to cope without my usual income for six months. I ended up using my savings to pay the rent so I decided to claim compensation. Claiming compensation has also forced my employer to introduce new working practices to avoid something like this happening to someone else.”
Andy Frampton from Unite added: “Standard operating procedures should be designed to make sure employees are as safe as possible. In this case it was obvious that things needed to be changed to make this procedure safer for smaller reels but nothing was done about it until Nicola was injured and forced to take time off work.”
Christalla Christodoulidou said: “This was a job that employees were carrying out day in and day out and while everyone knew that smaller reels did not fit the trolley, nothing was done to correct the problem. Had steps been taken to address it, in this case providing a small wedge, then Nicola’s accident could have been avoided.”
This story was also published in the Kent News.
Compensation Claim Advice
If you or anyone you know has suffered a personal injury at work, telephone us now for accurate accident compensation claim advice.
There are strict time limits in place to make any personal injury claim. For further information, contact us or visit our Questions Answered page.
Thompsons Solicitors are experts in all personal injury matters. We will be able to advise you whether or not you have a valid claim for compensation. Our specialist personal injury lawyers will be happy to talk you through the process of making a claim in plain English and will be happy to answer any questions or queries you may have. If you do have a valid personal injury compensation claim and you decide to instruct Thompsons Solicitors to deal with the matter for you, we will recover our legal fees from the person responsible for your injury, ensuring that the entire procedure is cost-free for you. Telephone us now on 08000 224 224 or complete one of our online personal injury compensation claim forms.
Contact us about your accident or injury
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