Durham business found negligent over snow clean-up accident
A DURHAM man who suffered career ending back injuries after slipping on ice has won a four year legal battle for compensation.
John Seager, of Peterlee, County Durham, suffered severe spinal damages when he fell on the premises of TRW Automotive Systems on Mercantile Road in Houghton Le Spring in January 2004.
The 47-year-old, who was a warehouse operative at KD Freight – a sub-contractor of TRW Automotive Systems – won undisclosed damages after TRW admitted breach of statutory health and safety regulations.
A TRW employee had used a wooden pallet attached to a fork-lift truck to clear snow at the rear of TRW’s Mercantile Road site. No gritting or proper snow clearance had taken place.
John slipped on the yard on his way to his car after completing a night shift at 1.00am on January 28 2004.
Personal injury lawyers from Lancashire law firm, MWR Solicitors, represented Mr Seager. Eddie Mansley, a litigation executive at MWR, said: “This victory sends out a strong message to all organisations, whether public or private, that you cannot take shortcuts with health and safety.
“John’s life has changed enormously due to this accident, which should have been prevented by a very simple procedure. Similar preventable accidents occur to UK workers every day and will continue to do so if people ignore the importance of proper health and safety procedures.”
John Seager said: “It’s been a life changing injury. I used to have an allotment, travel around the country in my caravan and watch local sport but this has all changed. I can only drive short distances and I have to think very carefully about my movements.
“I am looking to re-train for new employment but because I can’t do manual work or sit down for long periods, my options are limited.
“Warehousing was something I had done since leaving school and I miss the career. A lot of people would call it sheer bad luck but the fact of the matter is that if the path had been de-iced properly, I wouldn’t have fallen.”
With bases across the world and 2006 sales of $13.1 billion (2006 figures), TRW Automotive is among the world’s ten largest automotive suppliers and one of the top financial performers in the industry.
