Jury Awards Nurse $3.2 Million For Severe Electric Shock

A Massachusetts jury recently awarded a nurse $3.2 million after she suffered a severe electric shock. Here is a summary of the facts of the case:

A nurse suffered an electrical shock, which severely injured her, when she was trying to plug in an oxygen container for a patient at a nursing home where she worked; a month earlier another nurse had filled out a repair order for an outlet in that room, reporting that sparks came out of it when she tried to plug in a lamp; a repairman had looked at the outlet on the other side of the room and had replaced a light, but did not speak to the nurse to determine which outlet was sparking.

The nurse’s injuries included “violent seizures,” “unconsciousness for eight to ten minutes” and “paralysis on the left side of her face.” The nurse currently suffers from “deep depression” is now unable to drive more than very short distances, because she easily gets lost.

The jury issued the award after finding “the nursing home vicariously liable for the repairman’s negligence.”

The case is Doe v. Comprehensive Addiction Programs, Inc.

Scottish Engineering Company Found Liable For Electrocution

The BBC reports that a Scottish Engineering Company has been found liable for the death of a man who electrocuted on the job:

A Scottish engineering company is facing a substantial fine following the death of an electrician on a construction site in Dundee.

Mitie Engineering Services (Edinburgh) Ltd has been found guilty of breaching health and safety laws.

Michael Adamson, 26, from Bo’ness, was killed while working on a live wire which had been marked “not in use” at a JJB fitness centre in 2005.

The company will be sentenced at Dundee Sheriff Court next week.

More reporting on the case from Construction News UK:

The Dundee Sheriff Court heard that, despite being labelled ‘not in use’, the cable he was working on was live.

HSE principal inspector Jim Skilling said Mr Adamson was not provided with the necessary test equipment to prove the cable was dead, nor the means to securely isolate the circuit.

Mr Skilling, commenting after the case, said: “The industry’s complacency in accepting dangerous practices is startling.

“Michael Adamson’s death could have been prevented had his employer ensured that safe working practices were being carried out in accordance with the company’s own written procedures. Managers and supervisors in this industry must take active steps to ensure that their electricians work safely.”

The company was ultimately fined 300,000 British pounds (about $500,000).