Compensation for Construction Worker Injured in Explosion at Work

by | Jan 24, 2013

Compensation for a construction worker, injured in an explosion at work when a digger´s radiator exploded, has been awarded in the High Court.

Pawel Ciawlowski (32) from Navan in County Meath sustained burns to 14 percent of his body when the radiator of a nearby digger – which had previously been reported as overheating – exploded, showering him with hot water and scalding steam.

Following the accident – which happened outside a shop in the Cavan Road in Kells – Pawel was taken to a nearby hospital in Navan with burns to his chest, abdomen, face and arms, before being transferred to the burns unit at St James Hospital in Dublin.

Pawel was in St James Hospital for several days and his wounds required dressing for several months after the August 2012 accident. During his recovery, he was unable to work, take a planned holiday to Spain or attend the gym.

After seeking legal advice about making a claim for a construction worker injured in an explosion at work, Pawel sued his employers – Emdan Developments Ltd of Bective Street Kells – claiming that they had been negligent in knowingly exposing him to a risk of injury and failing to heed warnings about the overheating digger.

At the High Court, Mr. Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill heard that Pawel had made a good recovery since his burns at work accident last August, but had been left with a significant and unsightly scar on his chest which had to be covered in the sun because of the high risk of burning.

The judge also heard that Emdan Developments Ltd were in liquidation and had not contested the claim for compensation by the construction worker in an explosion at work. Consequently the case was before him for the assessment of damages only.

Stating that Pawel had suffered a “nasty injury”, Mr. Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill awarded him €49,757 in compensation for the digger accident, which included both general damages for the burns at work Pawel had sustained and the loss of amenity caused by his construction worker accident.

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