MTS ordered to compensate retired worker

A retired maintenance worker from La Brea will receive compensation for injuries she received when the cord of a scrubbing machine got entangled around her right foot causing her to fall at the La Brea police station in 2015.

In an oral decision after a short trial at the San Fernando High Court on Wednesday, Justice Frank Seepersad ruled in favour of Beverly George, of Sobo Village.

George sued the National Maintenance Training and Security Company Ltd (MTS) for negligence. Seepersad said employers had a non-delegable duty to employees to ensure there were in place safe systems on the job.

In finding MTS liable, he urged the parties to have discussions on the sum of compensation George should receive. If there is no agreement, the matter will go to a master of the High Court for assessment.

In his decision, he said there was a failure by MTS to have a system in place to avoid the entanglement of the long cord for the scrubbing machine. He said there was the foreseeable risk that the long cord and issue of entanglement would have led to possible injury.

He also suggested that MTS engage in annual or bi-annual training exercises for all workers.

In her lawsuit, George said she was a maintenance technician with MTS for 17 years and she worked at different locations during that time.

Her job was to scrub, polish, sweep, clean floors, bathrooms and washrooms. On November 23, 2015, she and three other technicians were assigned to the La Brea police station when one of them began feeling ill, so George took over the use of the scrubbing machine.

She said it was the common practice to drape the cord over the shoulder, or someone else holding and guiding it.

George was scrubbing the kitchen floors when the 25-foot-long cord got entangled in her foot. The heavy machine pulled her forward and she fell, injuring her back.

At the trial, she denied concocting the story of the fall and her injury.

In its defence, MTS denied it was negligent. The company maintained all workers were trained to use maintenance machines and that George was in an environment she was familiar with so there was no unsafe system of work at the station.

The company also alleged she failed to report the incident. George was represented by Ravi Pheerangee while MTS was represented by Michael Vialva.