Our client was a fit man in his sixties. Throughout the years, he worked as a carpenter, mechanic, had his own repair business and did some landscaping. He was married and had two grown children. At the time of his injury, they were living in the home he had built.
At the time of his work accident, his job required him to service various farming equipment. If there was anything heavy to lift by himself, he would attempt to get another mechanic to assist in lifting it alongside him, however he would often pick-up heavy-duty equipment which weighed 20kg or more by himself.
On the day of his injury, our client was attempting to gain access to a machine that required extensive repairs. He had equipment in each of his hands. He set one down and was in the process of setting the other tool down when he felt a severe, sharp pain in his left shoulder. Our client notified his employer as he was in too much pain to continue working. He attempted to return to the workplace the following day, however he was unable to continue working due to his shoulder injury.
Test results showed that he required surgery to repair a tendon in his shoulder. The surgery required a metal staple to keep the tendon in place, but also required stitches to his rotator cuff and a section of his bicep to be taken to reconstruct the muscle in his shoulder. Over time, our client injured his right shoulder due to overcompensating from his injuries to his left shoulder, rupturing the head of his bicep and damaging his shoulder tendon.
Our client was never able to return to his normal duties as a motor mechanic and was terminated from his employment.
He sought advice from one of our expert personal injury lawyers to assist him with preparing a claim for work injury damages, also known as a common law claim.
To make a claim for Work Injury Damages, you are required to prove that:
- The injury occurred due to the employer’s negligence,
- You must have at least 15% or higher whole person impairment, which must be accepted by the insurer or by the Personal Injury Commission,
- You must have already received all workers compensation statutory lump sum entitlements.
Several reports from suitably qualified experts were obtained to provide opinions as to whether:
- the employer was negligent for failing to provide Work, Health and Safety training to the client/employee
- the employer provided a safe system of work, and
- sufficient training was provided to carry out his job adequately.
Our client was assessed greater than 15% whole person impairment and a mediation was organised with the insurer where we provided the relevant expert opinion reports on liability, investigator’s statements, medical evidence, and income loss documents. Ultimately, the insurer made an offer, and our client was happy to accept the offer to resolve his claim. As such, the matter was resolved at mediation and without the need to proceed to a District Court hearing.