Justice result

The benefits of being a union member may not be immediately obvious, but for many, it’s nothing short of life-changing.

 
For one Unite member an accident in work meant that he would no longer be physically able to provide for his family – for the rest of his life.

 
The 58-year-old foundry worker, who wishes to remain anonymous, went to work one day just as he’d done for years, not knowing that it would be his last. A falling metal component crushed his left leg; it was amputated from above the knee soon after.

 
The Unite member isn’t alone in being injured at work – statistics from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have revealed that more than half a million people were injured in work last year alone, with 142 injured fatally.

Immeasurable cost

Workplace injuries cost the economy billions each year, but the cost to people’s livelihoods – and to their physical and emotional wellbeing – is immeasurable.

 
For the foundry worker who’d lost his leg, losing his ability to work was compounded by the fact that his wife is disabled, too.

 
“I am currently experiencing large amounts of pain and suffer from the psychological effects of my accident,” he explained. “I am slowly coming to terms with my injury which means I will never work again.

 
“I still have to use a wheelchair, when I am unable to use my prosthetic leg, to get around and this has caused huge problems as my wife also has a disability. We are heavily dependent on our family to help with ongoing care and support.”

 
Those who sustain permanent injuries while at work often have no recourse to justice – the fees involved in mounting many personal injury claims are out of reach for all but the very few.

 
And even if a claim is won, much of that compensation is ploughed back into legal fees, leaving victims with little but the lasting physical and emotional pain of their injury.

 
The foundry worker, however, had someone to fight his corner thanks to his union membership with Unite.
He received full legal representation for his personal injury claim from Unite’s legal services and won £1.6m in the process, of which he kept 100 per cent.

 
“I am speaking out, albeit anonymously, as without the first-class legal support provided by Unite there is no way that I could have received a settlement on this scale,” the worker said.

 
“As an individual, I would not have been able to mount this successful legal action. I am very grateful for the hard work of my legal team at Unite and Thompsons Solicitors in Newcastle, especially Paul Brown.”

Unite legal services
Unite regional secretary Karen Reay noted that the union’s legal services have obtained nearly £10m in personal injury compensations for members across the North East, Yorkshire and Humberside region in 2015 alone.

 
“One hundred per cent of this impressive figure was paid in full to our members in every case, without deduction, and demonstrates the value of union membership and the importance of having access to the highest standard of specialist legal assistance,” she said.

 
Reay emphasised that while the recent ÂŁ1.6m award may seem large, it pales in comparison to what the Unite member and his family have suffered.

 
“[The figure] has to take into account the scale of the disability, the loss of possible future earnings, the need for special housing accommodation, the requirement for ongoing care and the provision of prosthetics for the rest of his life,” she said.

 
The foundry worker hopes that others learn from his experience.

 
“I hope my case will reinforce the importance of health and safety reps in the workplace and will reduce the chances of a similar accident happening to others in the future,” he said.

 
No one ever expects to be injured at work, but a strong union presence in your workplace makes it much less likely. This ‘union safety effect’ has been proven time and again – one study found that workplaces with active union safety systems had half the number of injuries as those without.

 
As Unite regional officer Dave Turnbull told UniteLive last year, “You can’t afford to be in the workplace without a union today. It’s like house insurance – you wouldn’t leave your house without insuring it.”

For more on Unite legal services see here