After he was struck upon the head by a seven pound scaffolding tube and suffered serious brain injury, one construction worker from Bristol may seek to bring a work accident claim against his employers.
Richard Chodkiewicz, aged fifty three, had been employed by Hoistway Ltd, a firm of lift suppliers and installers based in Somerset, at the time of the incident. According to accident claims specialists, Mr Chodkiewicz had been working at a construction site in Bristol’s Marsh Street, which was being prepared for the construction of a new hotel.
While a colleague of Mr. Chodkiewicz was on site and working up on the eighteenth floor, the injured man had been at the bottom of the site’s lift shaft watching his co-worker pull a scaffolding tube, which was being held aloft by a short length of thin piano wire. However, the piano wire became untied, which sent the piece of scaffolding plummeting down the shaft from the fifteenth floor to strike Mr Chodkiewicz upon the head.
The former construction worker’s head injuries were serious and extensive., as he is now permanently brain damaged due to his injuries and needing care around the clock, say personal injury claims specialists.
Somerset based Hoistway Ltd, the man’s employer, was given a fine of £70,000 for its role in the man’s permanent disabilities. Hoistway was also ordered to pay court costs of £14,616, while Miller Construction Ltd, based in Edinburgh, was also fined £40,000 with additional court costs of £17,232 after both firms admitted to being in breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act.admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Nearly 3,000 workers suffered serious injuries in the construction industry last year alone, according to official figures.