Case study: £20,000 for workplace crush injury

Our workplace accident solicitors helped a client claim compensation after she crushed her finger on a broken machine.

Accident circumstances

Our client, Ms W, was employed as a production shift leader for a food company. Her manager instructed her to use a machine that, unbeknownst to her, was partially broken. As she was using the machine, the lid slammed shut on her middle finger. Ms W consequently sustained a crush injury to her dominant hand.

Terminating employment with the Defendant

After a breakdown of trust and confidence, Ms W resigned from her role with the food company and secured a new role with the local Fire Authority.

Claiming compensation for the crush injury

Ms W instructed our specialist workplace injury solicitors to claim compensation. We notified the Defendant’s (Ms W’s employer) insurers of the claim, who accepted liability.

Initial Needs Assessment arranged

Our solicitors arranged an Initial Needs Assessment to assess Ms W’s rehabilitation needs due to long NHS waiting lists. As a result, physiotherapy was arranged at no cost to her.

What is an Initial Needs Assessment?

An Initial Needs Assessment determines the medical condition of someone, usually after a personal injury has occurred. It helps identify whether rehabilitation and/or support is needed. If it is required, our personal injury solicitors can often organise such treatment, aids and/or further investigations.

Medical reports obtained

We obtained copies of Ms W’s medical records and instructed an expert Hand Surgeon to determine the full extent of her injuries.

The report confirmed Ms W fractured her left middle finger and sustained an injury to her nail bed.

With treatment, Ms W made a good recovery, but she described aching pain over the tip of her finger in the colder weather. The surgeon expected the intolerance to the cold to improve over the next two years, but expected her to have some permanent symptoms.

The altered appearance of her nail was unlikely to improve.

We obtained a further report from a Psychologist, which was recommended by the Hand Surgeon. This confirmed Ms W’s anxiety around the machinery when she returned to work. She also felt anger and a sense of injustice due to the poor way her employer had handled the incident.

Treatment for our client’s psychological symptoms was not recommended, but it was anticipated that the resolution of the claim would provide some closure and reduce these.

Claim for financial losses

Our personal injury solicitors collated details of the financial losses Ms W incurred because of the crush injury.

These included:

• Loss of earnings for the time she had off working for the Defendant, and from her second job as a freelance writer, which was for a longer period of time, due to the injury impacting her ability to write/type.
  • Ms W had planned to move into a more practical career, such as engineering, but she did not feel this was possible due to her injuries.
• Wear and tear of her bicycle: Ms W’s new role was further away, and she was unable to walk. Instead, she cycled 18 miles per day. We included a claim for 20p per cycling mile to account for the wear and tear of the bike.
• Additional clothing: we included a claim for more clothing layers, as well as an increase in her heating usage at home, due to Ms W’s increased intolerance to cold, causing her pain.

Settlement offer

The Defendant’s insurers made an initial offer of just over £5,000, which our solicitors considered too low. After further negotiations, the claim settled for £20,000.

Contact our workplace accident solicitors

If you’ve been injured at work, you may be entitled to claim compensation. Call our friendly team on 0117 325 2929 or fill out our online enquiry form.