A worker left paralysed when a loosened nut on an electricity pylon caused him to fall over 30 feet has won more than £10,000,000.
Power lines maintenance man Gavin Pugh, from Bangor, North Wales, was working to dismantle a pylon in East Staffordshire in April 2022 when he fell.
Mr Pugh had unknowingly clipped his safety line onto a section of the structure which had already been worked on by other workers, leaving it only secure at one end.
The strut spun into a vertical position when he put his weight on it, causing his safety rope to slip loose, plunging him over 30 feet to the ground, and causing catastrophic and life-changing injuries.
Mr Pugh, who was 33 at the time, was left paraplegic and reliant on a wheelchair for life, having also suffered injuries to his brain, neck, shoulder, ribs and internal organs.
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Following the fall, his Cheshire-based employer Wood Transmission and Distribution Ltd was criticised by the Health and Safety Executive, which said ‘adequate safety arrangements’ had not been in place.
Another team had already done some work on the pylon, but Mr Pugh had not been aware that the section he clipped onto was no longer secure. The firm was fined £240,000.
Mr Pugh sued the company at London’s High Court for compensation and, after out-of-court negotiations, has agreed a care and compensation package, said by his lawyers, Stewarts, to be worth ‘eight figures’.
The money is to compensate him for his injuries and lost future earnings, as well as to fund 24-hour live-in carers and the £1m-plus rehabilitation costs associated with his disability.
In a statement post-settlement, Mr Pugh’s lawyers said that, before the fall, he had been an ‘active and sociable person’ who enjoyed his job and had his own fishing boat.
But his injuries had affected ‘every part of his life’, they said, leaving him unable to walk again and suffering from ‘life-changing physical limitations’ and ‘significant psychological consequences.’
Mr Pugh’s employer agreed to pay compensation, with interim payments secured by his lawyers to fund his vital private rehab and care, and a final eight-figure settlement then agreed between the parties.
In a statement after the settlement, he said: ‘The fall turned my life upside down. I wasn’t able to work or go out with my friends. My life fell apart.
‘The interim payments helped massively. I wouldn’t have been able to do anything without them. They made sure I was able to pay for any treatment or rehabilitation that I needed. They also helped in securing my new bungalow.
‘The settlement ensures I’m comfortable for the rest of my life and that I’ll be looked after. Without it, I would have been in a very difficult position, so I am so grateful for it. I’ve been able to get back into some of my past hobbies. I’m fishing, and I’m able to get out and about. I’m able to go out with my friends again and enjoy myself, albeit not to the same extent, but I’m still happy.’
HSE inspector Robert Gidman said the ‘tragic incident’ could have been prevented if the company had ‘put in place adequate arrangements to protect its workers from harm.
‘Proper assessment of the risks and consideration of work methods, adequate staffing and clear procedures for transferring towers between teams could have enabled this work to go ahead without incident,’ he said.
‘Instead, because of the company’s shortcomings, a worker has sadly and unnecessarily been left paralysed.’
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