Health & Safety at Work act 1974, Section 4, Subsection 2:
It shall be the duty of each person who has, to any extent, control of
premises to which this section applies or of the means of access thereto or
egress therefrom or of any plant or substance in such premises to take such
measures as it is reasonable for a person in his position to take to ensure,
so far as is reasonably practicable, that the premises, all means of access
thereto or egress therefrom available for use by persons using the premises,
and any plant or substance in the premises or, as the case may be, provided
for use there, is or are safe and without risks to health.
Lots of people have reported this, he is not the only person to be injured.
Clear breach of the law.
I actually think that the OP has been incredibly sound about this. The college/uni should be well aware of their duties under the law and have failed to either act on past reports or actually be proactive and identify the area as a potential problem.
I work in the health & safety profession (in education as it goes) and I hate the compo culture. I don't hate it as much as I hate seeing people get injured because organisations don't/won't sort their shit out.
