Essex HS2 engineer battling for compensation after suffering life-changing injuries in 40ft fall

An engineer who suffered life-changing injuries in a fall while working on the HS2 high-speed rail line says he is concerned for his family's future as he fights for compensation.

Scott McClurg, from Braintree, Essex, received severe injuries after the fall from 40 feet up on to concrete at the construction site in West Hyde, Hertfordshire, in November 2022.

The engineer, who is originally from Australia, now walks on crutches and is still in pain after numerous operations to rebuild his skull, face, hip, pelvis and wrists.

He says he will never be able to work again and is having to battle to get compensation, despite his employer EMC Elite Engineering Services being fined over £50,000 for breaches of safety regulations.

• Watch Scott McClurg's 40ft fall on an HS2 site. Some viewers may find this video distressing (Credit: Health and Safety Executive).

Mr McClurg said: "We're just getting by now on overdraft and credit cards with those debts going up and no means to bring them down.

"I'm disappointed in the way it's been handled afterwards. Nobody came to see me in hospital, nobody phoned me or messaged me even on a personal level."

Stair treads had been removed in a conveyor’s stairway to ensure it could be supported by a crane during the reparation work, resulting in a gap in the stairway which Mr McClurg then fell through.

Almost two years later he is still waiting to undergo a series of operations for his jaw and pelvis, and his wife has become his carer.

Fiona McClurg said: "I was warned before I saw him to be prepared because the doctors told me he didn't look very good, but when I went in it was still a huge shock."

A Health and Safety Executive investigation found that his employer breached Working at Height regulations, but the company's insurers have failed to accept Mr McClurg's claim for compensation as they deny culpability for the accident.

The Basildon-based company was fined £52,500 and ordered to pay £6,871.12 in costs at St Albans Magistrates’ Court on 15 July.EMC Elite Engineering Services told ITV News Anglia: "Mr McClurg is pursuing a compensation claim which our insurers are dealing with.

"The case is ongoing and it would not be appropriate to add further comment at this time."

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