General fatal accident compensation advice
The general duty of care will be on the deceased’s employers. Every employer owes a duty of care to their employees and thus the first question would be whether the employers carried out a risk assessment. Now it may seem far-fetched to undertake a risk assessment and perhaps it could be assumed by the employer’s that the balcony would support the weight.
That may be so, and it could be a complete defence. Perhaps they did undertake a risk assessment. But query the methods used and the weight of the sofa. The property does appear to be old and therefore a fatal accident compensation solicitor would perhaps look at instructing a surveyor expert to assess the structure of the property. Perhaps a joint assessment with the property owner should have been undertaken to see if this was the best way to put the sofa back in.
Fatal accident compensation be obtained?
It is an usual case and difficult and as stated before without the full facts it is difficult to make any assumptions. But the starting point with a fatal accident at work claim would be the duty owed by the employers and how they catered for the safety of their employees.
With all fatal accident compensation cases of this kind, an Inquest will be held into the facts of the tragic accidents.
Further Reading
