Worker gets £90,000 after drill falls off ladder and punctures leg

A door fitter from Hull has been awarded compensation of £90,000 after a drill dropped off a ladder and penetrated his leg.

The construction worker bumped into the base of an extension ladder as he crouched to work on the entrance of a detached home in Kirk Ella, near Hull.

The drill fell from the top of the nine-metre ladder where it had been left by a colleague – with its eight-millimetre-long bit puncturing his left calf.

The 34-year-old who wants to remain anonymous was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary, but his wound became infected and he had to spend three days in hospital.

The man, who is now living with his mother, as he needs her support, still feels nerve damage, walks with a limp, and remains psychologically affected by the incident.

He said: “I’m getting there. I get the odd pain that often leads a lack of movement, but the medical reports say that I won’t be right for quite a while – if ever.

“I still can’t face going to work and my mum is helping out as I’d struggle on my own.

“It’s upsetting, sitting on the sofa not being able to do much, but there’s nothing I can do.”

His lawyers Hudgell Solicitors negotiated an out-of-court settlement with his former employer Conservatec, saying the firm accepted it had failed in its duty of care by not providing him with a safe place of work.

The man said he’d gone to work in shorts and hadn’t even been given a hard hat.

He said the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) was “a complete and absolute joke”.

Hudgells said the accident was “yet another timely reminder that, when it comes to PPE and basic health and safety regulations, no stone should be left unturned”.

Lawyer Samantha Thompson said: “Under Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations it was clear that our client’s injuries were caused by Conservatec’s failure to meet the basic standards required in the workplace”.