Posted By Robin V Boughton You have a duty to provide a safe place of work. Assuming that the wooden batten was left by some other person(s) and its presence was not introduced by the scaffolder then it would seem that you failed to ensure that the workplace was safe.By the same token the scaffolder should be working in accordance with a risk assessment and the control measures specified in that should include that the work area is checked as safe to undertake the work and that PPE such as gloves, head protection etc must be worn! Have you got a copy of the assessment? Was he wearing gloves? If so would the damage to his thumb been as bad? There is obviously fault by both parties!!! Hope this helps