Peripatetic workers and PPE — GMB legal victory

The general union GMB won a significant victory against home care company Cordia, following a five-year battle for compensation for a care worker who was injured when she slipped in icy conditions while on her way to treat a terminally ill client.

Tracey Kennedy badly injured her wrist when she slipped on an ungritted path described as a sheet of ice under a layer of snow. Cordia had not carried out a risk assessment, nor had it provided her with suitable, protective equipment. The case against the company was successful in the Scottish Court of Session, but subsequently overturned by the Inner House. The Supreme Court decision upheld the original decision that Cordia was to blame for the accident for failing to take adequate steps to provide for her health and safety at work.

Tracey Kennedy v Cordia (Services) LLP [2016] UKSC 6

www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKSC/2016/6.html

http://archive.gmb.org.uk/newsroom/victory-over-cordia