Qld man to sue company after hand crushed by log splitter

A father is in limbo, without a job and living rough after a nasty workplace injury from a machine he claims he was never trained to operate. Warning: Graphic images

Jay Mobbs, 31, nearly lost his hand in a workplace injury at Toowoomba when it was crushed by a log splitter. He's living in a swag in Gatton unable to work. Picture: Liam Kidston

A Queensland father of two has been forced to live in a swag after his hand was “crushed into oblivion” by a log splitter at a Toowoomba business which left him unable to work.

Jay Mobbs, 31, said he had been two hours into a job trial at family-owned business Toowoomba Firewood when his right hand was sandwiched between machine and log.

He said his hand resembled a “mangled mess” and months on from the June 9 incident he is still unable to form a fist or hold a coffee cup.

Mr Mobbs had been living in temporary accommodation prior to the injury, but without the ability to find work he has been living rough in a swag on the side of a river at a Gatton park, his future unknown.

Shine Lawyers, on behalf of Mr Mobbs, is set to launch legal action against the company alleging it failed to provide training for their client or have a safe work system in place.

Queensland father Jay Mobbs is taking legal action against a Toowoomba business after he nearly lost a hand when it was crushed by a log splitter.

X-rays of Mr Mobbs’ injury which required two lots of surgery and months of rehab.

Mr Mobbs said he moved from Dalby to Toowoomba to “get his life on back on track” and find a job to eventually be reconnected with his young daughters.

He had been physically handing out resumes seeking employment for various labourer positions when Toowoomba Firewood offered him a trial.

It was just two hours into the trial when disaster unfolded.

“I went to cut a log but it was too tall. So I rolled it onto its side and it went in halfway, so I tried it again and basically my hand got caught between the log and the machine,” Mr Mobbs said. “I thought I’d chopped my fingers off.”

He said he nearly vomited from the pain and the sight of his hand “squished” in its glove.

Mr Mobbs said Toowoomba Firewood management drove him to a Toowoomba hospital for treatment which eventually required two bouts of surgery and 50-odd stitches.

“The doctors told me ‘don’t look at it’ when they cut the glove off,” he said.

“It was completely crushed.”

Jay Mobbs is living in a swag in Gatton unable to find work as a labourer. Picture: Liam Kidston

The injury has left him unable to form a fist, hold a coffee cup or wipe his bottom. He said he still has no sensation in his index finger.

“I’m supposed to go back to hospital to get hand therapy but I don’t have a car,” he said.

“I’m living in a swag near a river in Gatton. I don’t know what to do. All I want is to get back to my girls.”

Shine Lawyers’ Toowoomba solicitor Emily Sneddon said it would be alleged the firm did not provide adequate training for a potentially dangerous machine.

Ms Sneddon said the company did not perform any risk assessments on how to manually handle the machine which resulted in his hand being crushed.

“Jay was given a five-minute run-down and was never shown how to use it properly,” Ms Sneddon said.

“He was just thrown in without training and his hand was crushed into oblivion.”

Ms Sneddon alleged Mr Mobbs would not be living in a swag had the injury not have happened.

Toowoomba Firewood did not respond to The Courier-Mail’s multiple attempts for comment.