33- year-old Laurence Duncan crashed into a wall whilst attempting to drive a fire engine out of the fire station. As a result he suffered whiplash, severe nausea and vomiting.

In November of this year, the fire station installed automatic gates to prevent firemen from getting in and out of their vehicles to open gates manually. The gates had been malfunctioning from the beginning and the men had reported this to their captain.
A witness at the scene of the accident stated:

“Laurence swerved at the last minute to avoid crashing into the gates which began to close when they should have been opening.”

The Holly Oak Court judge, Sir Gerald Fellows, said:

“Mr Duncan is perfectly justified in making a claim for compensation. Authorities were aware of the problem and did nothing about it. When we need firemen in a hurry, what good are they to us if they are stuck in the garage?”

The Chiswick Fire Station is risking a hefty Health and Safety fine as they did not report Laurence Duncan’s work accident to the Incident Contact Centre of the Health and Safety Executive. Employers must report any injury that stops an employee from doing their work for 3 days and more.

When interviewed, Laurence Duncan said:

“I had been wearing a neck brace for a week and couldn’t work when I realised that my captain hadn’t reported my accident to the HSE.”