Eduardo Fontoura, Personal Injury Solicitor and Head of the Portuguese Department at Broadgate Legal, has recently settled a claim for a worker who developed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after being trapped in a defective fridge at work for 9 hours.

Eduardo’s client worked as a supervisor for a popular high street eatery that had become aware that the release mechanism on their walk-in fridge was not working. They applied a temporary fix by putting a ticket spike into the internal release mechanism to prevent the door from latching behind staff.

On the day of the incident, Eduardo’s client was completing their end of day closing checks with a colleague, when the colleague, unbeknownst to Eduardo’s client, removed the spike from the internal release mechanism on the walk-in fridge before leaving the premises. Eduardo’s client noticed that the led panel indicator for the walk-in fridge was showing that the light was still on inside the fridge. She went into the fridge to turn the light off when the door closed behind her.

The client was trapped in the fridge for approximately 9 hours and was discovered, shaking and fearful for her life, the following morning by a delivery man.

The client unfortunately developed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of the incident becoming fearful of being in rooms with closed doors amongst other symptoms.

Eduardo argued that the Defendant’s failure to carry out repairs or withdraw the walk-in fridge from operation was the cause for the client’s condition. The claim was brought under the common law tort of negligence and Eduardo relied on the several breaches of the health and safety regulations as evidence of the Defendant’s negligence, particularly breaches of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, Management of health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.