Personal Injury Solicitors

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted the NHS Litigation Authority, after an 82-year-old man fell 12 feet to his death from an elevated walkway outside a health centre.

Benjamin John Withers from Fareham in Hampshire died after the mobility scooter he was driving collided with a wooden weather screen, which was situated around the main entrance and access bridge to Fareham Health Centre in Hampshire.

On 20 September 2012, Mr Withers had departed from the health centre after attending an appointment – and had accidentally driven his mobility scooter forward into the side of the glazed screen, instead of reversing away from it.

The collision caused a section of the screen to give way and Mr Withers and his mobility scooter fell through the gap onto a walkway below.

The court heard that, after the initial impact, Mr Withers had reversed and then moved forward again, falling through the opening in the screen, which had partially given way in the initial impact.

A Health and Safety Executive investigation found the barrier had not been constructed to the required standard to resist impact from a mobility scooter, no assessment had been made to consider the suitability of the weather screen – and the structure had not been adequately maintained.

The investigation found that the collapsed section was so badly decayed that portions of the wood could be easily removed by hand.

Planned maintenance work to replace the rotten wood had been cancelled and rescheduled on more than twenty occasions without ever being carried out.

At Portsmouth Crown Court, the NHS Litigation Authority of Buckingham Palace Road in southwest London pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

The Authority was fined £40,000 and ordered to pay £15,000 in costs.

After the hearing, HSE Inspector Michael Baxter said:

“This tragic incident could have easily been avoided if the barrier at Fareham Health Centre had met the well known and established standards for design and construction of barriers – and if the required maintenance had been carried out as soon as it was identified.

“Instead, a family has lost a well-loved husband and father.

“Mobile scooters are being used increasingly, especially in pedestrian areas.

“Businesses need to appreciate this and ensure existing structures and barriers are re-assessed to ensure they are suitable for these machines.”

Duncan Lewis Personal Injury Solicitors – No win no fee Public Liability Claims

Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors can advise those who have suffered injury in public places as a result of negligence on how to make a no win no fee claim for compensation, including claims for injuries sustained at:

• Health centres
• Parks, playgrounds, public spaces
• Public paths and highways
• Shopping malls
• Sports and recreation centres
• Swimming pools
• Theatres and cinemas
• Zoos and petting zoos.

Personal injury claims have to be made within three years of injury or diagnosis of injury – children can claim personal injury compensation up to the age of 21.

For expert legal advice on no win no fee Public Liability Claims, call Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors on 0333 772 409.