A scrap metal worker who lost her arm in a workplace accident has obtained a substantial damages settlement.
Her arm became caught in a machine that she was using to crush scrap metal. She was airlifted to hospital and underwent emergency surgery. Her arm had to be amputated below the shoulder and she experienced severe pain and scarring, as well as psychiatric injuries.
She brought a claim against her employer. It was established that no risk assessment had been carried out in relation to her work and she had not been properly trained in how to use the machine. The machine had not been adequately maintained and, on the day of the accident, it had not been equipped with a distance guard as it should have been.
Court proceedings were brought, at which point the employer admitted liability. Interim payments were secured, which allowed her to move into a specially adapted home and to be fitted with a prosthetic.
Before her case came to trial, a settlement was agreed whereby she will receive £3.4 million in damages.