- May 8, 2024
- Posted by: legaleseblogger
- Category: Related News
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# Renovation Woes: Bricklayer Suing Me
I am currently in the process of renovating a property, and I am facing a legal issue with a bricklayer, Glenn, who is suing me.
On Friday, April 4th, I received a call that a heavy beam was being delivered to the site. The delivery person inquired about having assistance to move the beam, which weighed over 200kg. Due to Glenn’s age and limited mobility, I mentioned that only my partner and I were available to help. Glenn expressed displeasure at this arrangement. Despite my reservations, Glenn decided to join us in moving the beam. Unfortunately, during the process, he sustained an injury to his finger, which required surgery.
The following Tuesday, Glenn returned to work, claiming that the doctor had recommended he continue working. Although his finger was still sore, he insisted on staying on the job. However, by the end of the week, the injury had worsened, leading to an infection that required further medical attention. It was discovered that a significant portion of flesh had to be removed from his finger, and there was a possibility of amputation.
To my surprise, I received a letter from Glenn stating his intention to sue me for up to 25k. Despite the accident being the result of his own actions and my initial reluctance to involve him in moving the beam, I am now faced with a legal battle.
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****** just grabbed a
What does the letter say the cause for action is?
You might be on shaky ground here, as you do hold certain legal responsibilities under health and safety legislation as a domestic client. I suggest you engage a solicitor to help you deal with this.
Here’s some information on your responsibilities under CDM:
https://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/cdm/2015/domestic-clients.htm#:~:text=CDM%202015%20makes%20a%20distinction,as%20part%20of%20any%20business.
Call your house insurers. You probably have insurance for this as part of a standard household policy. Let them take over.
I would also note £25k seems high for loss of a little finger, not all fingers are equal.
Ring/index/thumb being considered most costly, or multiple fingers being damaged.
Amputation of a little finger, from different sources but one being [here](https://www.alkers.net/compensation/arm/hand/), for others just google around, between £5,500 & £7,750.
So the claim must be for not just loss of a little finger or they are elevated somehow.
Lots to unpack here. Did the bricklayer (potentially the principal contractor) have a properly set up health and safety file? That’s assuming he’s the main contractor undertaking the work. Under health and safety law he rightly should have provided RAMS (risk assessment method statements) as well as a Construction Phase Plan. This is a legal requirement under section 12 of the CDM (construction design management) regulations 2015. Health and safety is *not* a client’s responsibility under this law. That said, it sounds as though you’re the principal designer under the regs.
There are some variables at play depending on how the work is being carried out and his precise role.
I’m unsure whether he’d have any merit in suing you, but what I can say is that under construction safety law it’s him (assuming he’s the the principal contractor) who is responsible for health and safety on site, identifying and eliminating risks where possible.
Perhaps another commenter could weigh in on how this relates to the personal injury he’s suffered – but based on what I know under health and safety law he’s the liable party.
Alternately, if it’s your project and you’re the principal designer under the aforementioned regulations, did you prepare/retain a health and safety file?
Source: journeyman construction/surveying professional. Current Site Manager in civil construction.
The difficulty is a lot of how the injury occurred and worsened will be ‘he said he said’.
Even as sole traders you owe a duty of care. But these matters can be complicated especially regarding liability and whether any insurance is valid.
But briefly an overview is anyone working on your property you owe a duty of care to. It sounds like you are taking on a supervisory role for this project and delegating work. You foresaw there was a risk of injury and really shouldn’t have allowed him to lift the beam. It’s also pretty common sense that someone who has a healing surgical wound on their hand probably shouldn’t be bricklaying as there’s a good chance of foreign bodies entering the wound – you could have asked to see a doctors note. So it may well be that he has a valid claim, but because of the type of work it’s not a simple yes or no.
I would encourage you speak to a solicitor at least for some initial advice on liability.
1. You’re responsible for health and safety unless you’ve employed someone else to do it.
2. Lifting a 200kg beam like that is unsafe, you shouldn’t have done it and he shouldn’t have been involved. Anything resulting from doing something like that is going to come back on you.
3. Did you fill out the accident book?
4. Have you reported it to the HSE? It’s reportable if it’s going to be amputated.
5. It sounds like you’re going to be liable but that 20k figure will be negotiated down by at least half.
Do you have insurance to cover this? It’s hard to imagine you’re not going to be liable.
As others have said, check out the CDM regs. From what you have said, you assume both the Client and Principal Contractor roles in this instance and therefore have certain obligations under the regs. By lifting the beam in a potentially unsafe manner, it looks like you have failed to meet the duty to ‘take account of the health and safety risks to everyone affected by the work’.
Unfortunately, I think Glen has a strong argument for a claim.
Lots of good advice by lawyers here but you need to seek the advice of a good lawyer locally.
Try your insurance to see if you are covered for legal.
Good luck but this is not going away
Might be wise to have an accident book with this recorded in, if he’s broken less than two fingers then it’s not notifiable. Have you got some form of insurance? Maybe some risk assessment documents wouldn’t be a bad idea, working from height, lifting, machinery and electric equipment. You can find templates for these and don’t take much filling out
The lawyers are probably ambulance chasers who somehow got the brickies details via the hospital. Yes you probably had a responsibility for the brickie as you were the main contractor under CDM regs but maybe draft a really robust response, possibly with help of reputable specialist litigation solicitors. Something like – the measures you took, the instructions you gave, the fact he went against these commands and that he gave you (presumably) incorrect info thag the doctor said he should carry on. Don’t offer a penny and make it out all the brickies fault and that he’s brought it on himself and they might back down. Good luck.
NAL
Just a small nugget if it helps, dependant on your situation some home insurance policies cover for incidents like this, especially if it is declared to them that your are carrying out renovations although companies have various stipulations about it. Even if not if you have any form of legal cover with them you might even get free legal advice on the matter with a solicitor.
It’s worth checking anyway if you haven’t already.
Push back a bit see how far he’s willing to take it but I reckon by the sounds of it there was no RAMS in place or task briefing which you’ll need to have a chance in court. I work on a major infrastructure project and these two I’ve said are literally just day to day basic things that are in place and still anyone I’ve known get injured on site wins compensation even with all the precautions these massive companies’ safety teams have in place.
Are you laying him?
Does he provide his own tools?
Is all of his work under your direction?
Have you got legal expenses cover under a tradesman policy? Use this.
It looks bad as you have failed to Manage H&S at work competently. A worker was permitted to work despite having just received a crush injury and then got it infected. As Principal Contractor you also need to forbid work when health or safety of the individual is at risk. Bear in mind that the worker will be subject to contributory negligence adjustment of any claim due to working with an open wound on a construction site.
Seek legal advice and low-ball the claim as your offer will form the basis of any adverse judgement monetary award and his fees will swallow that without thinking at the High Court where these things will tend to finish up.
Consult a solicitor. Let your insurers know even if you aren’t sure where the responsibility lies.
You own a construction company but you don’t know how any of this works? Even in a personal setting you as a construxtion professional must be aware you have certain responsibilites. I see a settlement figure in your future.
How did anyone calculate 25K PSLA for a 60 odd year old man losing the tip of his finger?!
It’s not his fault. He got hurt while working for you. Not really fair but at the end of the day you shouldn’t have let come back to work with that injury. If you didn’t offer paid time off he’s gonna win.
NAL. But I do work in construction. You have certain obligations under the CDM regs to make sure that the person you employ to carry out works are competent to do so. Now it sounds as though this is a self build, and you’re employing contractors as and when needed. So you’re the principle contractor as far as the law is concerned. That means you have certain responsibilities.
Did you by any chance do RAMS, a tool box talk, manual handling training? Do you have an accident book? A 200kg beam should have been a team lift, and lifting manually should always be the last option. Now obviously getting a huge beam through a house using equipment is almost always impossible.
I’m advise is to use your home insurance to get a solicitor who specialises in this area. Until then get on the HSE website and familiarise yourself with the relevant regs. Your home insurance should also cover you for any compo pay out, so try not to worry too much about the financial side of it.
To all self builders… It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye, or in this case a finger. DO YOUR HOMEWORK.
Firstly poor Glenn lossing the end of his finger and probably his income for a period. No risk assessment? No lifting aids or apparatus? As someone who works in construction myself, I have an insurance in place to cover sub contractors on such situations. I take it you are running the refurb yourself? Due diligence is paramount this was a 200kg beam.
So, you’ve broken the law here. I strongly advise you to appoint a solicitor on Tues and instruct them to get this settled out of court. Give them a max figure that you can afford and let them do the legwork of negotiation.
Pass it to insurers.
Do not comment in writing or verbally to claimant.
Let your insurers deal with it, that’s what you pay insurance for.
These comments confuse me. As far as I’m aware:
1. OP hired someone to do work on their home (Glenn)
2. Glenn injured himself doing the work at OPs home as a result of putting his hand in the wrong place when lifting something
3. Glenn is blaming OP for the environment not being safe for him
This makes no sense.
IMO this will be down to how you can define your role under CDM
You mentioned that you have a building company yourself, but you’re doing the work on your house and using a private account so if that’s the case I would discount this entirely and consider yourself a domestic client.
By “my partner” do you mean personal or business? And is Glen the only contractor on site?
I think the main argument to hang your hat on – provided that you are not able to be considered the principal contractor, ie your business has no commercial relationship with the project either through you or your business partner – is that Glenn is a contractor and you are the client, not another contractor. Glenn therefore has duties to “Plan, manage and monitor construction work under their control so it is carried out without risks to health and safety” (contractor) and “take care of their own health and safety, and of others who might be affected by their actions” (worker). He failed to do either when he agreed to participate in the lift without a safe system of work to manage & mitigate risk.
I think Glenn is unlikely to be successful here unless there’s a commercial relationship which can establish your company as principal contractor.
However, there is a boat load of case law on domestic construction and your best bet is to pay for some legal advice from a lawyer who specialises in this area given the size of the claim.
Do you have insurance that covers third party claims? If so, contact your insurance company asap and let them deal with it.
If not, write back stating the reasons why you don’t believe you are liable as per your post. He doesn’t have a very strong claim by the sound of it. I think there are two parts to your defence – you didn’t want him to help with the beam, he insisted, and didn’t take care for his own safety – and then he chose to come back and work on site after the injury, which apparently made matters worse and was his choice not yours.
Good luck!
It sounds like you’re ultimately liable.
You could try and argue that the cause of his lost finger was the infection and not the original injury. Depending on the factual matrix it might be argued that this was an intervening or contributing act. If so this would limit your liability to an extent.
Alternatively you could say that he was contributorily negligent in causing the extra damage by returning to work and almost certainly lying to you about being told he should go back to work (the problem there though is you allowed him to continue working when in your heart you probably knew he was lying to you about being safe to work). If that argument succeeded then again it would limit your liability.
How likely this would succeed would depend on a deep dive into medical records and any paperwork you have.
Frankly I hope he takes you to the cleaners. Next time hire enough people to do the job