JMW has successfully acquired £5,250 for a man who received chemical burns whilst cleaning for his employer.

Mr M, a lorry driver working for a haulage company, had finished his night shift when he was asked by his employer to wash out one of the container tanks.

Mr M's accident and injuries

Each tank needed to be chemically decontaminated between each use, A special decontamination certificate is also issued to say that the tank is clean and no longer pressurised. The tank Mr M was supposed to wash out had this certificate and so Mr M didn’t think he was under any risk when undertaking his task.

Unfortunately, the tank wasn’t clean. When Mr M opened it, he was sprayed with a chemical still contained within the tank across his face and his upper body. He suffered burns to his face and his left arm. Although the burns were superficial, he was transported to a burns unit where he was treated with morphine.

Mr M recovered well although he still has a small area of de-pigmentation on his left elbow and over sensitivity under his left arm which will take a little bit longer to heal.

Making the claim

After the incident, Mr M decided to contact JMW to place a claim for his workplace accident.

When Mr M’s solicitor from JMW contacted the employer, he was trying to blame another company for the injuries. It was an uphill struggle to obtain an admission of liability, but our solicitor succeeded.

Mr M's settlement

Our solicitor also successfully negotiated a fair compensation for Mr M. The employer’s first offer was £2,000. When this wasn’t accepted he increased it to £3,000 and then to £4,000. The solicitor still thought that this wasn’t enough, and negotiated a final settlement of £5,250.

Mr M thought that this was a very good settlement and was happy that his solicitor fought his corner to the end.