A mushroom picker has sued for damages over back injuries suffered when she fell from an allegedly unsuitable low platform while picking from a higher shelf in a tunnel.
Ewa Rolbiecka (51), a mother-of-two from Poland who has been living in Arklow, Co Wicklow since 2006, is suing her employer Michael Kennedy of Kennedy Mushroom Farm in Arklow over the accident on January 3rd, 2016. He denies negligence and pleads contributory negligence.
Ms Rolbiecka claims she was not provided with proper equipment and fell because she had to stand on a low platform to reach the top shelf of mushrooms she was required to pick.
She said she had one foot on the low platform and the other on the middle shelf when she became unbalanced. She fell hard on her right foot on to a concrete surface, jarring her back.
Compression
The accident, the court heard, caused compression of the nerve root in her back. She was later taken to hospital by her husband and underwent various treatments and took different medications but continued to suffer pain.
Paul Burns, counsel for Ms Rolbiecka, said she was unable to return to work but wants to do so, initially on a part time basis. He said she had been employed at Kennedys since 2007 and there were no problems prior to the accident.
It is claimed there were not enough high platforms or trolleys to go around to reach the top shelf with the result that the method used by Ms Rolbiecka was often employed by workers.
It is alleged the castor wheels on some of the high platforms did not work properly, which meant they could not be moved around. Management knew this method of reaching up standing on a low platform was common practice but there was never any warning not to do so, it was claimed.
It is alleged the defendant was negligent and in breach of duty by not making sufficient serviceable, safe or adequate high platforms available, permitted an unsafe system of work and did not provide adequate training.
The defendant denies the claims and pleads contributory negligence because Ms Rolbiecka failed to use the available platform.
Ms Rolbiecka still has significant lower back pain and has been found by two occupational therapists to be unfit to return to work unless her condition improves, the court was told. The case continues.