Worker sustains multiple injuries in ladder crash

Forty-year-old Padmanabhan, who hails from Chennai in south India, had the horrifying brush with death when the ladder he was using to paint a building in Al Remes area, collapsed and brought him down in a pile of paint, and broken bones and bruises.

“Intolerable pain shot through my body before I slipped into a state of unconsciousness,” the painter told Khaleej Times from his hospital bed. “It happened before I could bat an eye-lid, and I tried to break my fall using my hands against the wall,” he said, adding that it was the most horrifying experience for him.

On being alerted, rescuers brought the labourer to the Emergency Department of Saqer Hospital where doctors found he had suffered serious injuries and multiple fractures on his back and legs. He was admitted to the Orthopaedic Ward after receiving all necessary medical care. Hospital sources said his condition was stable and that he would be discharged in few days.

Padmanabhan, who is the sole bread-winner of a five-member family, said: “I don’t know what to tell them because I will no longer be able to send them money or any kind of support.”

Besides his wife, he has two daughters and a son aged 17, 16 and 12 respectively. His dreams were simple as that of any labourer. “I did not dream of building a castle or skyscraper for my family. I came to the UAE eight years ago looking for greener pastures and help my children with their education and live a decent life back home,” he said.

The accident has again focussed on the issue of occupational health and safety measures to be taken by companies to ensure the well-being of its workers. Hospitals receive on a daily basis a large number of victims of accidents that take place in construction and industrial sites.