The High Court awarded a groundsman €105,315.69 after finding his employer liable for an accident in which a hydraulic oil jet caused the loss of his left index finger.
In a judgment delivered on 29 November 2018, Ms Justice Bronagh O’Hanlon accepted the plaintiff’s account of the incident at Ahascragh, County Galway, on 26 October 2017. The plaintiff was working at a client’s private residence when a tractor began leaking hydraulic fluid. The court found that the defendant, Dermot McGann, turned the tractor’s steering to full lock, changing a low-intensity leak into a jet that injured the plaintiff.
The plaintiff had been asked to investigate the leak, the court accepted. He was a general operative with no training in driving or servicing machinery and did not know the danger posed by hydraulic oil. The judge found that McGann was in charge of him and should have instructed him to stand back and called a mechanic. The court also found there had been no risk assessment for the job and failures to maintain and supervise the machinery safely.
The defendant disputed the plaintiff’s account, saying the plaintiff had approached the leak and acted before he could stop him. The court rejected that version, including the claim that the plaintiff was standing on the tractor’s drawbar. It found the defendant’s accident notes inaccurate and prepared for the defence of the case. The court also accepted engineering evidence that the ordinary work gloves the plaintiff might have worn would not have prevented this injury.
The finger was amputated in January 2018 after the injury deteriorated. Medical evidence described ongoing pain at the stump, reduced grip and hand function, and the possibility of one or more further operations. The court found that the injury would limit the work the plaintiff could pursue and reduce his opportunity to continue as a groundsman. A separate grade IV sarcoma diagnosed during his hospital stay was treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy; the judgment states it was unrelated to the finger injury.
The court assessed general damages, including past and future pain and suffering and loss of opportunity, at €100,000. It added €5,315.69 in special damages, making a total award of €105,315.69. The claim for loss of earnings to date had been withdrawn. The judgment does not identify any separate order on costs.