£4,000 in personal injury compensation was recently awarded to an HGV driver from Newcastle after he filed an accident claim in the wake of a injury whilst on the job.
Ian Burridge, aged forty two, slipped and injured his knee whilst making a delivery to the Stanley, County Durham Asda store. Mr Burridge was employed by the retail giant at its Washington, Tyne and Wear depot at the time, according to his work accident claim.
Mr Burridge noticed that a bag of cat litter had split and spilled its contents across the floor whilst attempting to move a pallet heavily laden with wines and spirits during his delivery. As soon as he spotted the spill, he asked a colleague to provide him with a brush to clean up the mess, but instead began to use his foot to clear up the spillage once he learned that there were no brushes available.
Unfortunately Mr Burridge lost his footing whilst attempting to clear the cat litter from the floor, striking his knee on a pallet truck that was nearby. While the worker was given a prescription for potent pain-killers in order to manage his intense pain, he later discovered that he had developed osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease, after an MRI scan of his knee.
Also referred to as degenerative arthritis, osteoarthritis has no known cure. The symptoms of the condition can increase in severity as time goes on, and those who suffer from it can experience locking of the joint, stiffness, tenderness, and pain.
After Asda made admitted that it was liable for 80 per cent of the incident, the retail giant awarded Mr Burridge £4,000 in damages in an settlement out of court.