Cornwall Council: Senior councillor quits cabinet over injury probe
- Published
Bob Egerton has resigned from his cabinet position at Cornwall Council
A councillor has resigned from Cornwall Council's cabinet claiming an investigation into a worker's injury was badly mishandled.
Bob Egerton said the employee of council construction company Cormac suffered a head injury at work in December 2016.
Mr Egerton said he did not blame Cormac for the injury but the investigation into it had been a "grave injustice".
Cornwall Council's leader said there was no evidence of any negligence.
Mr Egerton, a councillor for 11 years, has given up the culture, economy and planning portfolio.
He said in a statement on his website the man was working on his own at Cormac's Grampound Road depot when he suffered a fractured skull but had no memory how it happened.
Five weeks later a report was made to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) that made no reference to a fractured skull, only a "head injury".
A second Cormac report, written eight months later, confirmed the seriousness of the incident. No legal action has been taken against Cormac by the HSE.
Bob Egerton has been a member of Cornwall Council for 11 years
Mr Egerton said he had spent three years pressing his case to the council for a "proper investigation".
The man sustained life-changing injuries in the accident and was medically retired from Cormac in 2018, the councillor said.
"I have spent three years trying to get what I feel is justice for my resident who suffered a very serious injury in the workplace," said Mr Egerton.
"I have had various meetings with Cormac, with the council's chief executive and I have got nowhere.
"I feel it has been a grave injustice and I had no option but to resign from the cabinet."
Council leader Julian German said there was "no evidence of any negligence" by Kate Kennally, the authority's chief executive.
Corserv, the company which manages Cormac on behalf of Cornwall Council, said: "We made a full report to the HSE, who decided no further action was needed."