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A plasterer from Cardiff who lost sight in one eye following an accident at work has secured £32,000 damages from Cardiff County Council. His claim was supported by his trade union GMB and their title="Personal Injury">personal injury specialists Thompsons Solicitors.
David Perry, aged 52, is a plasterer in the council’s maintenance services department. On the day of the accident he was working at a council house in Cardiff, digging up the passage floor and demolishing the passage walls. He was working outside the house shovelling small stones used below the cement for use on the hallway floor. There was a cement mixer outside which was raised on a stand. He decided to sweep the stones into a pile on the floor next to the mixer. As he reached for the sweeping brush, he caught his right eye on the right handle of the cement mixer. The rubber cap normally in place at the end of the handle had worn away exposing sharp jagged metal.
Mr Perry explains: “I was taken to A&E at the University Hospital of Wales. I was terrified. I was told that the cornea of my right eye had been ripped out requiring extensive surgery and treatment. Sadly I lost the sight of this eye and I’ve been left disfigured and have had to keep it in place for cosmetic purposes. I am extremely frustrated by the disability that I have been left with.”
Compensation awarded before case went to court
Mr. Nick Hughes, Regional Legal Officer for GMB, states: “This is a very distressing case for our member David Perry. Although he had been issued with safety glasses, they had slipped off as he was working as there was no band to hold them in place. Cardiff County Council should have had the appropriate risk assessments in place to avoid such injuries to staff.”
Representing David Perry, Catherine Cladingbowl from Error 2042 title="Trade Union Home">Thompsons Solicitors in Cardiff, explains: “As a result of this injury, Mr Perry also developed glaucoma and the medication prescribed for the glaucoma caused 6 attacks of kidney stones for which he required hospitalisation. He deserves every penny of his compensation and we hope it will help to secure his future.”
The case settled two days before the trial.