Work Accident puts pay to Football Career Prospects

Career prospects ruined by work accident

A work accident on a construction site has crushed the dreams of a Barnsley man who has lost the opportunity to play semi professional football.

James Smith from Shafton, Barnsley was 20 when he was working on a construction site at Sheffield Airport Business Centre in 2004 as a steel fixer for Century Reinforcement Services. He was working in a trench on site when two bundles of steel bars fell from a JCB into the trench, trapping his ankle.

His Solicitor Lisa Fairclough from law firm Irwin Mitchell said: “The steel bars were being carried using a JCB and fell from their position after the driver tipped the bars without instruction or any warning to James. He sustained a fracture to his ankle as a result of the accident.

“After undergoing surgery to fix the fracture he eventually returned to playing football but within 2 years his ankle broke again at the weak point that had been created because of the original injury.”

James said: “I had to undergo further surgery to remove the metalwork and I could not go back to work for eight months. To make matters worse I also lost the opportunity to play semi-professional football for Garforth Town who I had been doing training sessions with before my accident.

Ms Fairclough continued: “This case highlights the importance of contractors on site ensuring that proper arrangements are made to transport materials. The materials here needed to be moved and this was done on an adhoc basis without proper arrangements for banking of the load.”

James has since received a sum of £22,500 as a result of the injuries he sustained.