Personal injury claims for faulty equipment and workplace accidents

BY MICHAEL ‘LEKAN ODUNLAMI

One of the most common reasons for workplace accidents in Nigeria is broken equipment. “Faulty equipment” in personal injury claims includes a lot of different kinds of dangers, such as machines that don’t work right, bad electrical wiring, old tools, cars and trucks that haven’t been serviced in a long time, and equipment that hasn’t been checked in years. Many workplaces in Nigeria, especially factories, construction sites, farms, and logistics companies, still use tools that are no longer safe to use. If these tools break, workers can get hurt, which could have been avoided, and employers are responsible for being careless. According to Nigerian law, employers have a clear duty to provide a safe place to work. This means giving workers working equipment and keeping it in good shape.

The main legal question in workplace injury claims is whether the employer failed to do their duty of care. The English case of Wilson & Clyde Coal Co v English (1938) says that employers must provide competent staff, proper materials, and a safe way to work, and Nigerian courts also follow this rule.  This applies directly to cases of broken equipment.  The employer should fix or replace the machine right away if they know it is broken or should have known it was unsafe.  Sadly, a lot of businesses don’t respond to maintenance requests, they use temporary fixes, or put off replacements because of costs.  If an accident happens in these situations, the employer may be responsible for negligence

In Nigeria, faulty equipment causes a lot of accidents. Workers get electric shocks from machines that aren’t grounded, lose limbs from cutting tools that don’t have the right guards, get burned from gas cylinders that don’t work right, fall from ladders that are broken, get hurt from scaffolding that falls down, and crash in company cars that haven’t been serviced properly. Generator explosions, broken forklifts, worn-out safety harnesses, and old construction equipment can also cause serious injuries. These kinds of accidents happen a lot at hotels, warehouses, farms, construction sites, sawmills, restaurants, and manufacturing plants.  In a lot of cases, the risk is clear, but employers either don’t do anything about it or put off repairs to save money.

In Nigeria, workers who are hurt by broken equipment can sue for negligence, breach of statutory duty. In a negligence case, the worker has to show that the employer did not take reasonable steps to keep the equipment in good shape or check it out, and that they did not respond to known dangers. The Factories Act 2004 requires regular inspections, fencing off dangerous machine parts, providing safety devices, and keeping machines in good working order. If any of these things are not done, it could be a breach of statutory duty. The Employees’ Compensation Act lets workers get money from the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, but they can still file a separate negligence claim if the employer is mostly to blame.  Employers may also be responsible for the actions or inactions of supervisors or maintenance workers who don’t do repairs or inspections.  In places of work where the equipment is part of the building, occupiers’ liability rules may also apply.

A real-life example from Nigeria shows how these claims work in real life. Think about a factory that makes plastic in Agbara, Ogun State. Emeka, a machine operator, had been using an industrial cutting machine for years.  He and other workers had complained many times that the machine’s safety guard was loose and didn’t lock properly. The maintenance team didn’t replace the guard; instead, they used wire and tape to make temporary fixes. The company put off buying a new guard, saying that the price was too high and that the machine could still work “for now.” The guard slipped again while Emeka was feeding plastic into the machine during one morning shift. The machine cut deeply into his left hand, cutting off two fingers and exposing the blade.  They took him to the hospital right away, but the injury was so bad that it caused permanent damage.

An internal review later showed that the safety guard had been marked as broken several times, there were no proper maintenance logs kept, and the machine hadn’t been serviced in over six months. The business had also not done safety training in more than two years. Emeka filed a personal injury claim against the company, saying that it was careless and negligent in not keeping its machines in good working order, not responding to repeated hazard reports, and breaking the law by not following the Factories Act. The company tried to blame Emeka by saying he was partly to blame because he should have been more careful. This kind of argument is common in Nigerian workplaces, but it doesn’t work very often when the equipment is broken. In Nigeria, courts usually look at whether the employer did everything they could to keep the equipment safe and deal with known risks. In this case, all the evidence showed that the employer was careless, and Emeka got money for medical bills, lost wages, and permanent disability.

Emeka’s case is an example of how broken equipment can have bigger effects in Nigerian workplaces.  Workers who are hurt often have to wait a long time to get better, lose money, get permanent injuries, deal with mental stress, and have a lower quality of life. Families are under a lot of financial stress, and employers lose productivity and may have to deal with lawsuits, regulatory penalties, or damage to their reputation.  If employers spent money on regular maintenance, proper inspections, and timely replacement of equipment, many of these accidents could be avoided.

In Nigeria, faulty equipment is still a major cause of workplace injuries that can be avoided. Employers who don’t keep their machines in good shape or wait too long to fix known problems put workers at unnecessary risk and risk being sued for personal injury. The law says that workers have the right to a safe workplace, and if equipment breaks down because it wasn’t properly cared for or was purposely neglected, they can file a claim.  For many Nigerian workers, being able to make these kinds of claims is a way to get justice and money.  For employers, it serves as a reminder that cutting corners on safety at work may save money in the short term, but it will cost them more in the long run.

This article is only meant for general understanding only and not a legal advice. If you believe you’ve suffered any harm or injury due to your employer’s fault, and you are concerned about the viability of your case or high cost of  hiring a lawyer, you can reach out to an experienced personal injury lawyer who may be willing to offer a free legal advice and handle your case on a “NO WIN, NO FEE” arrangement, which simply means you only pay if you win and get compensation.

Michael ‘Lekan Odunlami, Esq. is a Lagos-based personal injury lawyer at Claybrook Attorneys. He can be contacted via [email protected]