An over tired worker who fell asleep driving will get £1m compensation. The firm he worked for who encouraged long hours have been found liable for a road accident in which one of its workers was paralysed.

The man, aged 23, was flung from his van after momentarily falling asleep at the wheel and can now sue the firm. He is expected to get damages of over £1m. The final award will be reduced by 33% as he was not wearing a seatbelt.

Judges at the Court of Appeal said the firm had a long hours culture. Mr Justice Ward said the man, who was 20 at the time of the accident on the M1 in 2004, had worked during a 19-hour day and driven hundreds of miles, he was “in that predicament because his employers had put him there.”

Sitting next to him, fast asleep in the van on the night of the crash, was the 28-year-old managing director of the firm.

Lord Justice Ward said: “The Managing Director saying, ‘Eating’s cheating’ and ‘You can sleep when you’re dead’, summed up the company’s philosophy”. The judge said the company was “young and successful”: “Its success was no doubt based upon hard work and the clear impression was that long hours, resulting in good money, were accepted by all to be normal.”

He and two other judges overturned a High Court ruling that the employee was to blame for the accident because he was using a mobile telephone. Lord Justice Ward said that on the balance of probabilities the cause of the accident was not using a mobile phone, but falling asleep.

The man broke his back in the accident and will not be able to walk for the rest of his life, the court heard. Damages will be assessed at a later hearing, but the court awarded an interim £400,000 payment.

Many firms to not release the importance of manageing the risks while employees are driving on company business.

Even if an employee has an accident in their own car on company business the firm could face implications.

Pinto Potts has a partnership with Central Contracts who operate a scheme called, Fleet Monitor, helping employers manage their occupational road risks.

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