Sometimes, bad practices can evolve in workplaces, as happened to our client in this week’s case.

The warehouse operative was tasked with moving a manhole cover. The hooks that should have been attached to it, to enable it to be moved by a forklift truck, were broken, so our client had to manually move it. While doing so, his hand became trapped and he was injured.

Our client explained that broken or missing hooks were a common occurrence, and the company knew about it.

The company denied it was at fault, and further denied it knew there was a problem. However, at trial, having heard all the evidence, the Judge was not persuaded and found the company ought reasonably to have provided specific instruction and training in light of a reoccurring workplace problem and awarded compensation to our client.

Speaking following the result, William Pembleton from Thompsons Solicitors said: “Bad practices can grow into ‘the way things are,’ but that doesn’t excuse the employer. The duty of the employer is to provide training and resources to tackle and avoid poor practice. It is simply no excuse for employers to turn a blind eye to poor and unsafe practice as they can, lead to injuries as here and in the worse cases even to fatalities.”