An ordinary day at work turned into a nightmare for one of our clients, a chef working in the kitchens of a popular restaurant in North Devon.
Without warning, there was a huge explosion from a ruptured and perished gas pipe connected to a fryer, which engulfed the kitchen in a fireball. By a miracle, our client was standing behind an adjoining unit making a sauce and this unit protected him from the worst effects of the blast.
However, while he escaped serious physical injury, he developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). He had trouble sleeping, suffered intrusive flashbacks and hypersensitivity, and could not bring himself to use a gas appliance.
The chef appointed a member of our specialist personal injury team at our Bideford office in North Devon to deal with his gas explosion claim and he has just negotiated an award of compensation for our client’s injuries. The solicitor who dealt with the case commented;
“The rubber gas pipe had become highly dangerous—it should have been noticed and replaced in the course of routine safety inspections but the restaurant’s owners failed to do so. When the kitchen was stripped and refitted in the 24 hours after the blast, two more defective gas fittings were found. It is a miracle that no-one was killed and that this man escaped serious burns.”
We dealt with our client’s gas explosion claim under our popular no win, no fee funding scheme. This meant that he did not need to worry about paying legal fees upfront.