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A rail worker whose leg was title="Serious Burn Injury Claims">badly burned as he cut a rail has received £9,750 compensation from his employer.
The RMT member was burned as he worked on replacing rails at Cogan Station, in the Vale of Glamorgan. A disc cutter ignited off a spark from the rail and caught fire, burning the member’s leg through his clothing. He has been left with permanent scarring.
He had not been provided with suitable personal protective equipment (PPE).
Provide PPE to protect against the risk
Bob Crow, RMT general secretary, said: “The health and safety of our members is paramount and we will always back those who are, unfortunately, injured at work due to the negligence of their employers. Our member’s injury could have been much worse and we hope that his employer, and other rail industry employers, will adhere in the future to the regulations that are designed to prevent such injuries.”
Clare Nash, from Thompsons Solicitors, said: “Since the member’s accident, his employer has supplied overalls to wear when carrying out this sort of work. This is a good thing, but it should not have taken an incident such as this to make it happen. The law is clear – if the employer cannot control risk by another means, then it must provide PPE to protect against the risk.”