Woman seeks compensation after being hit by building site block
22 Jul 2010
A woman is seeking
personal injury compensation after she and her
son were hit by a concrete block that fell from a building site as
they walked home.
Lisa Walker and her son Louis, 12, had been cutting across a car
park in Chester in June this year and walked across a footpath that
went under a new housing development, the Chester Chronicle
reports.
Ms Walker said she heard a woman shout 'look out' before a concrete
block came crashing down from the construction site.
Fortunately, it had hit some wooden hoardings first that deflected
it from the heads of the passersby, but it still hit them and
caused them both painful injuries.
Louis suffered damage to his leg and foot and has been left
traumatised by the incident, while Ms Walker suffered a serious
injury to her ankle.
It later emerged that a crane had been picking up a load of
concrete blocks from the fourth floor of the site when one came
loose and fell to the ground.
"A couple of inches the other way and I don't like to think about
it. If it had hit us on the head, God knows what would have
happened," Ms Walker told the newspaper.
She is now pursuing a personal injury compensation claim for the
pain and suffering she and her son were caused.
The Health and Safety Executive said it is currently investigating
the accident.
Operators of building sites have a duty to protect members of the
public nearby under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957.
Anyone who is injured close to or on a building site that they have
permission to be visiting may be able to claim compensation and
should seek the advice of a specialist lawyer.
