A member employed at Port Talbot steelworks has secured £235,000 in compensation with the help of Unite Legal Services, after suffering a serious leg injury in an accident at work.
The 54-year-old Unite member was called to an area of the foundry to right a container, which had derailed when a jack slipped and fractured his leg.
He was admitted to hospital where he underwent 18 hours of surgery to save his leg. He subsequently had bone graft treatment.
The member was unable to work for a year after the accident and has since been reallocated to less physically demanding work.
The member said: “My colleagues and I nicknamed the containers ‘torpedoes’ – I’d never have guessed how accurate that would turn out to be.
“I am lucky that I received medical attention so quickly, because this could have ended with my leg being amputated. It has severely affected my life and I can no longer do things that I enjoyed like playing golf and riding my motorbike.”
Following the accident, the member contacted Unite Legal Services to pursue a claim on his behalf.
Andy Richards, Unite regional secretary, said: “There were steps that could and should have been taken by the employer to prevent this accident. A series of similar, but thankfully less serious, accidents before this one were ignored which put workers’ lives at risk.
“By contacting Unite Legal Services the member has received 100% of his compensation and we hope that it will spur the employer to take the health and safety of our members much more seriously.”
