Man left with horrific injuries after accident at work

A man has been left with life-changing injuries after his employer failed to safely maintain his work vehicle, resulting in an horrific accident.

Mr. X, 39, was working as a green keeper at Gower Golf Club, Swansea when the incident occurred on April 1, 2022.

Mr. X had been instructed by his employer to put holes in the green and was provided with a Kawasaki mule utility vehicle to aid him in completing the task. But, when he was using the vehicle to carry out his work, the vehicle was unable to stop, causing it to lose control and crash into a ditch.

According to reports, the vehicle had not been safely maintained, and the correct inspections had not been carried out. Employees had also reportedly not been provided with sufficient training to use the vehicle.

As a result, Mr. X has been left with severe injuries, including his nose having to be reattached, a bleed on the brain, and soft tissue damage. He also initially needed substantial care and assistance to carry out everyday tasks such as cutting up his food and washing due to his injuries.

In court, the Gower Golf Course Ltd and owner of Gower Golf Club have pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety at work regulations.

Golf club owner Adrian Richards, who is also the company’s sole director, pleaded guilty on behalf of himself and the company to three health and safety charges relating to the incident and other breaches identified on site, at Swansea Magistrates court on January 24, 2024.

Magistrates heard that the company and Mr. Richards had failed to ensure other equipment was being safely maintained, including tractors, mowers, buggies, turf maintenance machinery and chainsaws. There was no evidence of a maintenance log for the buggy involved in the crash, nor for other equipment.

The court was told that when a consultant vehicle engineer examined the buggy after the crash he found a brake pipe had substantial chaffing damage and other defects.

Separately, Mr. Richards and the company pleaded guilty to four food hygiene offences, including failure to ensure hot and cold running water for cleaning kitchen equipment, failure to provide washbasins for staff to keep their hands clean and failing to keep food premises cleaned and maintained.

These prosecutions are not the first time the club has been in court for food hygiene offences as it had been prosecuted both in 2011 and 2017 for similar problems around cleanliness and food safety.

In total Gower Golf Course Ltd was ordered to pay £25,260 in fines and costs and the director was ordered to pay £2,700 in fines and a £190 victim surcharge.

Mr. X is now pursuing a personal injury claim for damages with Oakwood Solicitors Ltd.

Alex Singleton, Employer Liability Paralegal at Oakwood Solicitors is leading the case. She said:

“It is extremely concerning that the Defendant, who describes themselves as having a “championship course”, has continuously broken the law and put the health and safety of its employees and customers at risk, even after not one but two previous convictions.

“It is a real tragedy that Mr. X joined the club to deepen his passion for golf, as a former member of the club himself. Alternatively, Mr. X became the victim of the Defendant’s malpractices, and he will now be left with permanent injuries.

“It is our view that if the Defendant had simply serviced and maintained its vehicles, which is common practice for work and personal vehicles, the incident could have been entirely avoided.

“Companies owe employees a duty of care to keep them as safe as reasonably possible whilst at work, which appears to have been breached in this case. It is a word of warning that businesses should regularly inspect, maintain and service all equipment within their possession and this is not solely limited to vehicles.”

David Hopkins, Cabinet Member for Corporate Services and Performance, said:

“The safety of wellbeing of employees should be the top priority of any employer. Clearly Gower Golf Club and Mr Richards fell well short of legal expectations.”

Employers have a liability to keep workers safe under a number of workplace regulations including the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

Further reading

Cow tramples dog walker, farmer receives fine – Oakwood Solicitors

WHAT TO DO NEXT

Get in touch today for a no-obligation consultation. Choose one of the methods on the right-hand side of this page, or call us on 0113 200 9720 to find out how we can help you.