Court orders Chen Mechanical Works to pay Sh3.4 million to employee who lost his hands at work
Justice Radido noted that Chen Mechanical Works Limited failed to make the payment as required forcing the complainant to seek legal advice.

The Environment and Labour Relations Court has ordered a Nairobi-based mechanical and engineering company to pay an employee Ksh 3.4 million as compensation after he was injured in the course of his work leading to the loss of his hands.
Justice Stephen Radido, sitting in Nairobi, ordered Chen Mechanical Works Limited to pay David Ochieng Ochola a compensation amounting to Ksh 3,433,200 after he lost his hands and part of the forearm in the accident where the doctor declared him having total permanent disablement.
In furtherance of his statutory duty under the Work Injury Benefits Act, the Director Occupation Safety and Health assessed the compensation due to Ochola as the forementioned amount and proceeded to send a demand for payment to the employee on or around July, 2023.
The company failed to make the payment as required forcing the complainant to seek legal advice. His lawyer then made a formal demand for payment and when payment was not made he proceeded to court in September 2024 seeking orders.
He wanted the court to adopt the assessment by the Director of Occupation Safety and Health, Nairobi be followed and the decree be issued in accordance with the sum of the said amount and interest accrued from the day of the assessment until the amount is made in full.
In response, the company held that it made a reply in the affidavit dated November 4, 2024, through the company’s Health Safety and Environmental Manager, which stated that the company notified the insurers of the compensation which was assessed by the Directorate where the insurer opted to pay Ksh 2,103,202 out of Ksh 3,433,200.
They explained that the deduction of 1,068,367 from the payment by the insurer was on account of salary advances and medical expenses the company had paid on behalf of Ochola and they paid him the balance of Ksh 1,034,835.
The company also filed a chamber summons dated November 5, 2024 seeking orders that Ochola be granted leave to issue a third party notice against the First Assurance Company Limited to seek an indemnity and or contribution from the third-party.
Consequently, Ochola filed a further affidavit indicating that he would not oppose the joinder of First Assurance Company Limited and opposed the claims by the company that they had paid his medical expenses,
He denied being privy to any arrangements between the company and the insurer-the intended third party and any deductions from the compensation would be illegal since he did not sign any documents with the company prior he lost his hands.
He admitted to have received Ksh 1,034,835 as terminal dues.
In their notice, the company urged the court to allow the inclusion of their insurers as a Third-Party since they sought to seek contribution from the insurer because they had been paying premiums to First Assurance Company.
However, Chen Mechanical Works Limited failed to file a complete copy of the contract or policy it had with the intended Third-Party.
The judge noted that permanent total disablement percentages as set in the First Schedule of Work Benefit Injury Act, 2007 subject to the maximum amount set out under the limit of liability.
“The above provision leaves no doubt in the mind of this court that any claim of indemnity or contribution as between the respondent and its insurers should not and cannot be resolved in this proceeding,” Justice Radido stated.
The judge also noted that despite the express orders of the court there lacked evidence on record that the intended Third-Party was served with the summons or on before November 2024 hence declaring, “the orders sought in the summons are declined with no order on costs.”
In determining the matter, Justice Radido noted that the Medical Treatment Rule,1977 make it mandatory for the employer to pay for the treatment costs of an employee who gets ill or injured in the workplace.
In conclusion, he said that ‘the Motion dated September 23, 2024, is hereby allowed and the court adopts the assessment by the Director of Occupational Safety and Health in the sum of Ksh 3,433,200-less Ksh 1,034,835 already paid and further less salary advance of Ksh 504,600.The applicant is entitled to Ksh 2,825,165.”