Local man awarded six-figure sum after farming accident leaves him with serious injuries

The background

Prior to the farming accident the Plaintiff with great farming experience helped on his brother’s farm on a daily basis completing various farming duties that were required.

On the day of the farming accident, the Plaintiff was working on the farm with his nephew in one of the calving pens, clearing out the old hay and putting down fresh hay from the hayloft. The Plaintiff went up to the hayloft and cut the strapping on the fresh hay bales, using the unsecured ladder that was used regularly for that purpose.

His nephew returned upon hearing the crashing sound of the ladder and found his uncle lying on the concrete floor of the calving pen, the ladder alongside him, having fallen around two metres from the hayloft.

The injuries

As a result of this farming accident the Plaintiff suffered an enormous catalogue of injuries including:

• A fractured skull.
• Brain injury resulting in a lengthy stay at a specialist brain injury unit.
• A fractured spine that required extensive surgery, leaving permanent symptoms.
• A fractured sternum and ribs.
• Severe pelvic injuries necessitating the use of a stick and requiring a future hip replacement.
• Extensive scarring.
• Stress ulceration of the stomach.

These injuries and their consequences will have a lasting impact on the Plaintiff’s life. Prior to his farming accident he was independent and a complete master of his own affairs. He regularly enjoyed travel to far-flung places and went walking either alone or with farming groups. His injuries now mean that much of this will no longer be possible for him, despite his life-affirming, can-do attitude.

The judgement

The case was a complex one for the judge to determine and hinged on whether or not the Defendants had a duty of care to the Plaintiff, and whether or not the Plaintiff had contributed to the farming accident by the manner in which he used the ladder.

Although at that time the Plaintiff was helping his brother out due to family affection there was no duty of care under any workplace health and safety acts. However, under the Occupier’s Liability Act (NI) 1957, liability remained.

This Act means that as the occupiers of the building in which the accident took place, the Defendants were responsible for ensuring the safety of all visitors while they used the premises for the purpose for which they were permitted to be there. So, even though the Plaintiff was a visitor to the farm, he was carrying out work with the Defendants’ knowledge and consent.

This means that the space should have been made safe for the Plaintiff to carry out this work. As it happened, the ladder which was used to access the hayloft was unsecured and standing on a contaminated and wet floor leaving the rubber feet designed to prevent it slipping being made redundant. This was obviously unsafe and so the judge ruled that the Defendants were liable for the Plaintiff’s farming accident.

However, as the Plaintiff had years of experience and should have recognised that the ladder was unsafe, the judge ruled that the Defendants were only 65% responsible although he conceded that the Plaintiff hadn’t acted recklessly – he was just “getting on with things” as per his usual outlook.

The outcome

Even taking this into account, we were still able to secure a six-figure compensation for our client, which will go towards helping him recover from his injuries as well as making the adaptations necessary to help him go about his life, enabling him to enjoy his well-deserved retirement once again.

Luke Curran Solicitors in Newry handle all kinds of personal injury compensation claims, helping victims to get the compensation they are entitled to. Our caring and professional team work hard to ensure each case is thoroughly investigated in order to get the best possible result. Contact us today to discuss your case and find out whether you’re entitled to compensation.