A man whose arm was sliced off by a wind turbine ‘like a guillotine’ didn’t realise what had happened until it was too late.
Darren Hoadley - who is nicknamed Mr Safety - has sued his employer Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy Ltd for £1 million after suffering a gruesome accident.
The specialist wind turbine installer was checking the bearings in the mechanism which spins the blades when the rotating machine sliced right through his left arm, 'traumatically amputating' it in the process.
Mr Hoadley - from Norfolk - argues that the whole incident could have been avoided had he known that the power source which was slowly turning the turbine at the time had not been deactivated.
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“I could easily see the lock from a hole in the disc, so I proceeded to check the lock by placing my left arm through the hole and check the lock," he told the High Court.
“It was fine, but then I realised I could not move my arm. I then realised the disc was still moving slowly and I was going to lose my arm."
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Judge Richard Davison said: “Upon completion of the check, he could not retrieve his arm and he realised that the generator was moving, and he had no way to stop it.
“What then happened was that the stationary single blade mounting tool, immediately behind the brake disc, acted as a guillotine which traumatically amputated his left arm.”
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“The key features of the accident are that the claimant thought that the brake disc was locked and immobilised and that the power was off,” he added.
“He therefore thought he was safe in what he was doing, but both assumptions were incorrect.
“He did not realise his mistake until his arm was already trapped and it was too late to do anything about it.”
The judge concluded that the company were mostly to blame and that Mr Hoadley has won the right to a compensation payout, which lawyers say is likely to be more than £1m.
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However, the exact amount will be determined at a later date and reduced by a third after the Judge found that Mr Hoadley was also partly to blame.
At the end of the ruling, the judge also commended Siemens Gamesa for their post-accident reaction and for ushering in 'immediate and effective reforms to their equipment and procedures'.
After fitting a prosthetic arm and undergoing appropriate training, the wind turbine installer has been able to get back to work.
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In his sea survival training, Mr Hoadley had to get back up a ladder for the first time in four years and technicians had to adapt the hook on his artificial limb to help him cope.
“For a long time I felt as though part of my identity was missing,” Mr Hoadley said.
“This haunted me for a while and I struggled with the uncertainty that flooded my future.”
LADbible has contacted Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy Ltd for comment.
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