A council worker who slipped and suffered an injury in an accident at work has been paid £4600 compensation by his employers, Wokingham Borough Council.
In total, the council paid £9000 for the incident, with the rest of the money meeting legal fees.
Since 2008 Wokingham Borough Council has seen 29 incidents of slipping, tripping, and falling involving council staff, with three of those people taken to hospital for x-rays.
Four incidents were reported under RIDDOR – Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations Act due to staff having more than three working days off sick as a result of the injuries they sustained.
Most incidents involved slipping on ice and snow, wet floors, and tripping over carpet or ground that was uneven.
A total of 14 incidents were reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) last year for injuries and incidents that happened to people employed by the council. These incidents mostly involved manual handling injuries, workers struck by falling objects, and slips, trips, and falls.
Slips, trips and falls also accounted for three major injuries reported by council staff.
Wokingham Borough Council’s executive committee approved the Health and Safety annual report for 2010-2011 which stated that no enforcement action was taken against the council for breaches of health and safety or fire legislation.
The report also notes that work related violence is not an issue for the council, but they have made personal safety training more wildly available to its employees including an SMS text alert to support lone workers.
The council also stated that it has introduced a new IT system to make staff aware of potential risks.
