A mechanical fitter who was badly injured when he was struck by 15 kilos of unsecured cabling has received £9,500 in compensation.

Nathan Byron, 34, from Rugby suffered a hairline fracture and ligament damage to his right shoulder as well as a neck injury when a large section of cabling fell from 15ft above him as he worked inside a huge generator. It hadn’t been secured to the generator correctly and no inspection had been carried out by his employer - Converteam Electrical Machines in Rugby - to ensure that it had.

The Unite the Union member had to take two weeks off work and when he returned he was on light duties for a further five weeks.

His shoulder is still causing him pain which means he can no longer take part in his hobbies of weight lifting and boxing.

Thompsons Solicitors made claim for compensation

Mr Byron contacted Unite’s legal service and union lawyers Thompsons Solicitors were instructed to investigate a claim for compensation.

Converteam Electrical Machines admitted liability and settled the claim out of court.

Mr Byron said: “My injuries caused me a lot of pain and it was frustrating having to take so much time off work and then to return on light duties. The biggest impact has been on my sporting hobbies, which were a big part of my life. My shoulder injury means I will never really be able to do weight lifting again, and I’ve had to scale back my other activities considerably.”

Des Quinn from Unite the Union added: “We are forever told by the government that health and safety regulations are a burden on business. It is difficult to comprehend how a simple inspection programme to ensure that a workplace is safe can be a burden. It’s far less of a burden to prevent an accident than to have to pay compensation to an injured worker. Programmes of inspection should be an integral part of the manufacturing process, not only to keep the workplace hazard-free, but also to ensure the end product is good quality.”

John Mullen from Thompsons Solicitors said: “Mr Byron suffered significant injuries and was only fortunate that the heavy cabling did not cause him even more serious damage. This was an entirely preventable accident. But I fear that if the government presses on with its commitment to reducing the so-called red tape of health and safety regulations that these sort of incidents will increase.”