• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

Tel: 01343 544 077   Fax: 01343 548 523   E-Mail: mail@grigor-young.co.uk  

G&Y Logo

Solicitors and Estate Agents

MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
  • Services
    • Individual and Family Services

      • Accidents and Injuries
      • Employment Law
      • Family Law
      • Mental Health
      • Powers of Attorney
      • Wills Executries & Trusts
      • Notary Public
      • Adults With Incapacity
      • Guardianship
    • Business Services

      • Agricultural Law
      • Debt Recovery
      • Employment Law
      • Environmental Law
      • Leasing
      • Licensing
      • Notary Public
    • Property Services

      • Our Property Service
      • Property Search
      • Property Advice in Moray
      • Estate Agency
      • Conveyancing
  • Property
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
  • Our Team
  • Pricing
  • Free Enquiry

Mobile Menu

  • Home
  • About
  • Services
  • Property
  • Property Search
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
  • Our Team
  • Pricing
  • Free Enquiry

Moray Coast Workplace Accident Leads To HSE Prosecution

You are here: Home / Personal Injury Claims / Moray Coast Workplace Accident Leads To HSE Prosecution
Old safety gloves on wooden background

20th March 2015 //  by Peter Brash

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) issues a weekly bulletin summarising reports of prosecutions of employers following accidents at work.

All areas of the UK are represented.

The bulletin for 15 March 2015 contained a report of an injury to a Polish worker employed by Macduff Shipyards Limited.

In our experience, the significant number of workers from Eastern Europe in North East Scotland are at disproportionate risk from serious injury in the workplace.

This is probably due to a combination of inexperience of Scottish working practices and language difficulties.

The problems are compounded where employers fail to follow basic health and safety guidance, including the need for risk assessments, training of staff and a common sense approach to working practices.

The Moray coast workplace accident reported by HSE, resulting in a prosecution at Banff Sheriff Court, illustrates these issues.

Injury at work

Mariusz Toporek (aged 23), a Polish worker living in Macduff, was, arguably, lucky to escape with strained tendons in two fingers and a fractured bone in his hand, resulting in four weeks’ absence from work.

He was working in the precision engineering department of Macduff Shipyards Limited, operating a lathe, when he was injured in March 2013.

Using a computer, the lathe had been set to the correct diameter from a remote location. However, Mr. Toporek had switched the machine to manual mode.

He was using emery cloth to finish off the pins he was working on, when the cloth caught in the machinery, pulling his gloved right hand into the mechanism.

Employer’s failures

The investigation carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) uncovered a number of failings in the systems operated by Macduff Shipyards Limited:-

  • The company had not carried out any risk assessments relative to the use of any of the machinery within the precision engineering department;
  • The day to day operation of the workshop had been left to the operations manager, but he had limited knowledge and experience and he had received no training;
  • The use of emery cloth in the circumstances was not a good idea;
  • Safer alternative practices were available but they had not been investigated;
  • Working with a lathe while wearing gloves was a well-known hazard but no one had told that to Mr. Toporek.

Dangerous workplaces a concern

The changes brought about by the Enterprise Act have generally made it more difficult for workers to claim compensation for injuries sustained in the workplace.

However, as Mr. Toporek’s case illustrates, employers are still exposing their employees to considerable risks by failing properly to plan work, assess risks and train their employees.

The common law – dating back to the foundation of the modern law of negligence in the case of Donoghue –v- Stevenson – is still worryingly appropriate for accidents in the workplace.

The common law duties on employers – to provide a competent workforce, safe plant and machinery, and a safe system of work – are still regularly ignored in many workplaces.

Mr. Toporek was not provided with a safe system of work.

How we can help

If you have any queries regarding this article or any aspect of our personal injury claim services, please do not hesitate to contact us.

You can get in touch with Marie or Peter on 01343 544077. Alternatively, you can send us a Free Online Enquiry.

We are best placed to help you if your accident occurred in or around Moray.

We will do our best to help you whether we do that directly or by referring you on to someone else who is better placed to help you succeed with your claim.

Category: Personal Injury ClaimsTag: Accidents at Work

Previous Post: «Grigor & Young For Sale Sign - Under Offer What Happens After An Offer On A House Is Accepted
Next Post: Moray Solicitors With Facilities For Disabled People Grigor & Young Offices, 1 North Street, Elgin, Moray - Induction Loop Sign»

Primary Sidebar

Also on our website:

Accidents and Injuries

Related Posts

  • Reducing financial risk for personal injury claimants in Scotland
  • 3 Reasons not to put off consulting a Solicitor even during lockdown
  • Multicoloured squares and rectanglesGetting legal help after an injury
  • Work Christmas Party (what to be aware of)
  • Upside down motor car at the northern outskirts of Elgin, MorayRoad traffic accidents (What to do when an accident occurs)
  • Woman with wrongly-adjusted head rest driving carReduce your risk of Whiplash Injury by doing the Head Rest Test
  • Argument between a Seagull and a Heron at Lossiemouth, Moray2 major changes for personal injury litigation from new Scottish legislation
  • Whether to take the risk or notWhat is Legal Expenses Insurance?
  • West Beach, Lossiemouth - Covesea Lighthouse in the distance8 ways to self-educate about personal injury compensation claims in Moray (and avoid getting ripped off)
  • Colourful Mosaic Pattern from APIL's "Compensation Explained" eBooklet CoverWhat is Personal Injury Compensation? (An explanation by APIL)

Footer

Where to find us:

Grigor & Young LLP – Elgin
No.1 North Street, Elgin, Moray IV30 1UA
Tel: 01343 544 077 Fax: 01343 548 523

Grigor & Young LLP – Forres
100 High Street, Forres, IV36 1PD
Tel: 01309 672 126 Fax: 01309 676 384

DX 520656

Our Team

Peter Brash
Stuart Bruce
Ann Cruickshank
Douglas Delaney
Carol Holmes
Elin Jones
Katie Kennedy
Richard Miller
Marie Morrison
Audrey Robertson
Greg Robertson
Donna Skelly
Janet Taylor

Main Menu

  • Home
  • About
  • Services
  • Property
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
  • Our Team
  • Pricing
  • Free Enquiry

Join us on Social Media

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Terms of use
Privacy Policy

Grigor & Young LLP is a Limited Liability Partnership registered in Scotland (Number SO306314).
Registered office: 1 North Street, Elgin, Moray IV30 1UA.

© 2020 Grigor & Young LLP