A bank clerk at HBOS plc has been awarded £56,000 in damages, after tripping over nylon webbing in an office in Edinburgh. The part-time worker had been fetching her handbag during a coffee break when the webbing got caught around her ankle. She fell forward, landed on her elbow and skidded along the floor until she struck her arm on a metal desk leg. The accident occurred in September 2000, when she was working overtime and was walking across the office. The webbing is used to bind bank notes together and had been left on the floor by a colleague.
After the tumble, she felt nauseous and was shaking and was signed off work to undergo physiotherapy. She found it difficult to lift regular household items, and when she returned to work her symptoms worsened. Her GP wrote to the bank asking if she could have lighter work, but she was forced to retire in March 2001 because she had trouble even typing on a computer. Her elbow still aches and she has difficulty gripping items.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court ruled that the bank should compensate her for loss of earnings, as the "accident was caused by the negligence of an employee who was in breach of their duty to take reasonable care."
