Cut finger to cost council £100k

[Tintinnabulate]

A street cleaner's cut finger is set to cost Hull City Council at least £100,000 after judges ruled he was given the wrong gloves to work with.

Steven Threlfall was injured by a sharp object in a bin bag as he cleared a garden at a council house in May 2006.

Three judges at London's Appeal Court ruled that his employers had failed to provide him with cut-resistant gloves.

They ordered the council to pay £30,000 towards final costs, which are expected to run into six figures.
Severed artery

The court also said Mr Threlfall must be given £3,000 damages immediately until a final settlement is agreed.

The court heard that Mr Threlfall, a street operative with Hull council, suffered a serious cut to the little finger of his left hand.

The artery and nerve running along the finger were severed and the tendon partially cut, and he required surgery to repair the damage.

Mr Threlfall argued that his employers were at fault because they failed to provide him with cut-resistant gloves thick enough to protect him when handling rubbish bags.

His damages claim was dismissed at two previous court hearings, but upheld on Wednesday at the Civil Appeal Court.

Lady Justice Smith, sitting with Lord Justice Ward and Lord Justice Jackson, said the standard issue gloves he was given "were plainly not effective to prevent or adequately control the risk of laceration".

Mr Threlfall's QC, James Rowley, earlier told the court the "standard trigger's gloves" he was given were nothing more than "glorified gardening gloves".

[Jordy]

I actually do have some sympathy with this guy to be honest, I think running into the £100k figures is a bit much but he should of been provided with cut-resistent gloves it has to be said and he's suffered a serious injury as a result. I'm assuming he hasn't been able to work for a bit due to the surgery so I definitely don't see anything wrong with £10k or so going his way.

[Alkaz]

It's so ridiculous. To me he should of perhaps got £1000 compensation and paid time off work, nothing like what has been said.

It was a mistake, and it is his day job so surely he should have known the risks of delving into bins or what ever he was doing. Perhaps then if he knew he hadn't the right gloves he would've been slightly more cautious like most people generally would be. If his finger or hand had been chopped off then you can understand such a massive claim. I know he severed his artery but still, this whole thing about claiming for every tiny thing which happens to you in my opinion is ridiculous. People soon start to moan when taxes and the price of things goes up to compensate for all this, it's seriously not worth it.

[GommeInc]

Does Mr. Threlfail not have a mind of his own? If he was given the wrong gloves, HE should of said something, not professionally self-harm himself and blame another person. I wouldn't give him any money, unless he is generally a nice person and you could give a compensation payout through compassionate reasons. However, he may be nice, but he's about as annoying as the man in that compensation advert who was given the wrong ladder and crushed his hand and blamed his boss for it. Makes me cringe everytime :P

[The Don]

What a stupid ammount to give to someone for cutting their finger. It didn't come off, although he needed surgery, maybe £10,000 max not £100,000. Also as someone said, he could of said something to the people providing him the gloves.

[dbgtz]

depends how big the cut was i guess? If it proper sliced my finger then yeah SOME compensation MAYBE but srsly, I probably wouldnt have even complained to this degree, just said "oh can i have some good gloves, i cut my finger with these".

[Conservative,]

The compensation lawyer companies are gunna be all over this guy for adverts lol.

[Callum.]

Lucky it wasn't a dirty needle or something. Not the strangest claim.

[hairpins]

he wil need al the money he kan get wen da new govament make him redundent pmsl
gud on him it woz dat cooncils fault 4 not givin him the ryte gluves

[Apple]

Dang why didn't I 'accidentally' cut my finger when I was working with the council for work experience. :(

What a load of rubbish, maybe if he had lost his finger altogether but a cut...?

[Moh]

wtf, our council have money?

£100k just for a cut finger.. I'm so gonna sue these paper companies.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Does Mr. Threlfail not have a mind of his own? If he was given the wrong gloves, HE should of said something, not professionally self-harm himself and blame another person. I wouldn't give him any money, unless he is generally a nice person and you could give a compensation payout through compassionate reasons. However, he may be nice, but he's about as annoying as the man in that compensation advert who was given the wrong ladder and crushed his hand and blamed his boss for it. Makes me cringe everytime :P

Exactly, it's called personal responsibility people!

[Jordy]

Dang why didn't I 'accidentally' cut my finger when I was working with the council for work experience. :(

What a load of rubbish, maybe if he had lost his finger altogether but a cut...?lmao, classic unintentional pun! +rep

[Apple]

lmao, classic unintentional pun! +rep

Omg lol you're right. I didn't have a clue. :P

[Nixt]

Awful lot of money but the ruling itself isn't surprising. Employers have a responsibility to their employees and they have failed in this responsibility according to the law (in tort there are tests that ensure this is the case). Certainly too much money though.

[dbgtz]

maybe its more then what we think. Maybe he was the binman who opened the bin with the cat that the woman threw in there, and the cats claws through his gloves.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Awful lot of money but the ruling itself isn't surprising. Employers have a responsibility to their employees and they have failed in this responsibility according to the law (in tort there are tests that ensure this is the case). Certainly too much money though.

Employees also have the right to exercise common sense - which is where this man clearly failed.

[GommeInc]

Awful lot of money but the ruling itself isn't surprising. Employers have a responsibility to their employees and they have failed in this responsibility according to the law (in tort there are tests that ensure this is the case). Certainly too much money though.
Law <3 Corporate responsibility is incredibly controversial. Some corporations really should consider hiring people with common sense rather than people who are a few sandwiches short of a picnic. A small payout could of worked, but this is just too much money for someone who is more in the wrong than the people who hired him. A simple accident turned into a riot, it's a bit unacceptable :/

[MattFr]

I'd feel pretty guilty getting £100k for that in this climate tbh..