How was Mr B injured at work?

Mr B was a 39 year old road sweeper from Huddersfield who was injured at work whilst working as a Road Sweeper for Kirklees Council. He was cleaning up glass with a shovel and a wheelbarrow on the pavement. As he did so a car reversed out of the driveway of the house and struck and knocked him over.  He made a claim for this injury at work.

Mr B had multiple injuries to his right upper limb including a brachial plexus injury in his right dominant shoulder involving nerve damage, as well as a whiplash type injury to the neck and back. He also got psychological injury from the accident including moderate post­traumatic stress disorder involving depression and travel anxiety/ phobia. He has had various degrees of pain and weakness throughout the whole of his right arm.

What happened on the day of the accident?

Mr B was carrying out the task of sweeping the road and pavement which was his job as a road sweeper for the Council. A vehicle (seemingly a car working as a taxi) reversed down a drive and knocked Mr B to the ground. The car did stop and the driver got out of the vehicle and checked that Mr B was okay. Mr B said that he thought he would be alright. The driver did offer him a drink but Mr B declined. The driver then got back into his car and drove away. Mr B took a few moments to compose himself and tried to carry on working. However, he found that he was unsteady on his feet and he telephoned his Supervisor.

The driver of the van who would usually drop off various road sweepers came along and picked Mr B up and took him to hospital where he was met by his Supervisor. The hospital he went to was the Accident &. Emergency Department at Dewsbury District Hospital.

He remembers describing to the staff at the A& E Department that he had pain in his right hand and also a sensation of pins and needles in all of the fingers. He also described himself as feeling in shock. He said he had pain in his right shoulder and his neck.  After assessment, he was reassured by the staff that he had soft tissue injury.  He was discharged home.

He tried to return to work but his hand appeared to be getting worse. He said that it was feeling very weak and he could not hold anything in the hand.

He returned to the hospital and was referred on to Pinderfields General Hospital and given some hand therapy.

He could not work for some 7 months due to the weakness in his right hand. He described a pain that moved around the hand, forearm and arm and up into his neck.

He says he felt that there was some benefit from attending hand therapy but eventually, he was discharged from Pinderfields Hospital.

How was Mr B affected by the injury?

Mr B had multiple injuries to his right upper limb including a brachial plexus injury in his right dominant shoulder involving nerve damage, as well as a whiplash type injury to the neck and back.  He also got psychological injury from the accident including moderate post­traumatic stress disorder involving depression and travel anxiety/ phobia. He has had various degrees of pain and weakness throughout the whole of his right arm.

How was Mr B affected by these injuries?

Mr B did start working again at around 7 months but not as a Road Sweeper. He began working at an engineering company.

Mr B went on to have some Nerve Conduction Tests and was diagnosed with a brachial plexus injury. He said he saw a Specialist who said that there was some scarring around the brachial plexus. The job at the engineering company was fairly short-lived and he went on to a full-time job packing for another company.

Whilst in this employment, he was putting some boxes on to a rack and he felt his hand go numb. He had experienced episodes like this before but on this occasion, he noticed that the back of his hand swelled up. He took some time off and he saw a Specialist at the Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. He went on to have an MRI scan where a C5/C6 disc was reported to be out of line.

Around this time, he left that employment and went for a new job elsewhere doing manual work but that did not work out.

Mr B would describe himself currently as having good days and bad days.

Mr B can do most activities of daily living for himself. He has no problems dressing or washing but he does say he can tire easily using the right arm.

He can get disturbed sleep which he puts down to his right arm discomfort. He says he gets disturbed sleep on approximately 2 or 3 nights a week.

He is currently not working but is seeking some manual work.

Mr B reports having previously gone to the pub socially and regularly. He used to play football but does not do that now but puts that down to other injuries than those associated with the index accident as detailed in this report.

Mr B reports having flashbacks and anxiety around cars but he says that this is gradually improving.

Mr B has an exaggerated thoracic kyphosis. (excessive curvature of the spine).  He has a range of movement of flexion of the right shoulder to about 160 degrees versus 170 degrees on the left shoulder. He had good active and passive external and internal rotation of the shoulder. Internally, he was able to get to the L3 vertebrae on both sides. He had a very mildly positive impingement test but a non-tender acromioclavicular joint on both sides. His rotator cuff examined normally and is strong. The deltoid and trapezius and the rhomboids were normal. Elbow flexion and extension were power 4/5. Wrist flexion and extension were power 4/5. Finger flexion and extension was power 4/5.

Sensation in his upper limbs was subjectively normal.

Why did he choose Grieves Solicitors to help him make the claim?

Mr B said he selected Grieves Solicitors to pursue his claim as are we are experts in personal injury claims for accidents at work across Yorkshire and he had been recommended to us.

How did Grieves Solicitors approach the claim?

The case was particularly difficult as our client’s opponents refused to accept full responsibility for the accident.  In order to save our client from having to go to court, Grieves Solicitors were successful in negotiating an excellent settlement for him.

Challenging aspects of the claim

As our client’s opponents refused to accept full responsibility for his accident this extended the time it took to obtain compensation for our client.

This meant that we had to prepare the case to persuade a court that our client’s opponents were legally responsible for our client’s injuries.  We had to gather together all the relevant liability evidence.  We also had to provide the evidence to persuade a court to award him compensation for the injuries he had from the accident by obtaining medical reports from the relevant medical experts.

How was the Claim resolved?

However, Grieves Solicitors successfully negotiated a settlement for Mr B for the injuries he sustained in his road traffic accident which covered both the physical and psychological injuries he sustained.

How did Mr B benefit from the claim

Mr B received the compensation he deserved for his injuries and financial losses.

If you have been injured  in a road traffic accident or an accident at work, please get in touch with the Road Traffic Solicitors  or Injury at Work Solicitors FREE on 0800 074 7644 at Grieves Solicitors, One of Yorkshire’s leading Serious & Personal Injury law firms.