Scotney v Dickson [2004] NSWSC 1130

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : Scotney v Dickson [2004] NSWSC 1130 HEARING DATE(S) : 12/10/04, 13/10/04 JUDGMENT DATE : 25 November 2004

JUDGMENT OF : Wood CJatCL at 1 DECISION : See paragraphs 95 to 97

CATCHWORDS : Civil Assessment of damages - work injury - cotton press crush injuries. PARTIES : Steven Robert Scotney MJ and P Dickson FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 20083/04 COUNSEL : R S McIlwaine SC with P O'Connor K P Rewell SC with R Wilkins SOLICITORS : Lyons Barnet Kenedy Mulcahy Lawyers

- 1 - IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COMMON LAW DIVISION

WOOD CJ at CL

Thursday 25 November 2004

20083/04 Steven Robert Scotney v M.J. and P. Dickson

JUDGMENT 1 HIS HONOUR: the Plaintiff suffered crush injuries, on 14 Apr 2001, while working on the Defendants' property in the Warren District. The injuries, which were sustained in a particularly frightening manner, occurred while the Plaintiff was working in a cotton press, or module builder, a large piece of equipment which presses freshly picked cotton into compact modules, using a hydraulic ram. As he described the incident, the press, which was inadvertently operated by a fellow worker who was unaware of his presence, trapped him and pushed him down into the cotton. As the ram moved down the press and back, he was again subjected to its substantial compressive load and he heard crunching sounds in his body. The threat of the press's continuing operation caused the Plaintiff to fear that he would die. There was a lengthy delay until an ambulance arrived which transported him initially to Warren Hospital. He was then transferred to Dubbo base hospital where he remained for about one week. 2 His physical injuries were found, on admission to hospital, to consist of a fractured rib, bilateral haemo pneumothorax, trauma to the chest and upper abdomen and facial bruising. Subsequent plain x-ray and MRI studies have revealed the presence of crush fractures of the T8 and T9 vertebral bodies, a continuing left para central disc protrusion at the T8/T9 level, wedging of the T8 vertebral body and a right L5/S1 disk protrusion which is a non compressive.