One farm worker suffered a work accident claim after he received a severe electrical shock recently.
During the fall of 2009 Mr David McMullan had been working at the Cambridgeshire-based Crouchmoor Farm when the accident claim occurred. Mr McMullan was hired to operate the farm’s irrigation equipment. The farm itself is owned by one of the largest growers of potatoes in Britain.
Mr McMullan’s injury claims originate from an incident in which an irrigation pipe he had lifted up accidentally came into contact with a power cable running overhead. As it carried a massive amount of electrical current – approximately 33,000 volts – Mr McMullan suffered a serious electrical shock at the time.
The 20 year old Mr McMullan, who hails from Northern Ireland, suffered both serious internal injuries as well has severe burns. Additionally his big toe needed to be removed by an amputation surgery following the electrocution incident, and his recovery time for the whole ordeal consisted of a nine week hospital stay. While as of this time there is no indication whether Mr McMullan will do so or not, many farm workers who suffer such debilitating and life-altering injuries go on to file personal injury compensation claims against their employers.
Mr McMullan’s employers, Waldersley Farms Ltd, has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive for the electrical accident. The firm entered a plea of guilty regarding their breach of the Electricity at Work Regulations. As a result the farm company faces a fee of £10,000 for their role in the accident.
One HSE spokesman remarked that it is the duty of employers to ensure that their workers are made aware of the presence of any power lines that exist overhead, provide training to their employees in an effort to prevent any accidental contact, and also conduct regular assessments of risk to minimise any issues before they happen.