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Walking on Ballast Causes Train Driver’s Back Injury at Work

A train driver suffered back and shoulder injuries when his train stopped due to a failure of the overhead line and he had to walk on ballast for some distance to take his passengers to safety.

He was represented by our specialist lawyers, who recovered damages on his behalf as the injury was found to have been caused by the negligence of his employer.

Injured at Work

Because of the failure in the overhead lines, the driver had to make several trips to and from the nearest Metro station, on foot, with his passengers.

To do this he had to walk on ballast on the tracks and medical evidence showed that this caused a cumulative back and shoulder strain.

Employer Liability

The claimant’s employer tried to argue that the failure of the line did not cause the injury and that it was not foreseeable that he would be injured walking on the ballast because of this.

It was found by the Judge however that the injury was caused by his employer, as they failed to adequately maintain the overhead line and this, in turn meant that the claimant had to walk on the ballast and was injured.

The judge awarded the train driver compensation of £7,303.77 in respect of the personal injury that he sustained.

Details of this story were also reported in the ASLEF Journal.

Accident at Work Compensation

If you or a member of your family has suffered an accident at work that was not your fault and was caused by the negligence of your employer, you may be entitled to claim compensation.

Contact The Legal Line for cost free, specialist advice and assistance on 0800 0328511. Alternatively, complete an online claim enquiry form and one of our advisors will contact you.