Evening,
Once again I turn to this amazing think tank for opinions and advice. The issue is with regards to my father.
He had quite a serious trip at work yesterday and managed to break his ankle. He tripped on a open stop cock in the ground that had its cover missing.
Its been reported many times with no apparent remedy to repair it.
A trip to hospital and 5hrs later he was at home in plaster with crutches. His manager initially laughed at him, quoting ''get back to
work''. My father simply hobbled off and called someone to pick him up. Work hasn't tried to contact him at all, with the exception of
a text message stating how long do you think you will be off work ?
Now I've told him to fill out an accident report asap, try to get a colleague to photograph the missing cover and contact an injury law firm. The
only problem is he's worried about repercussions on his return to work and the fact its a family company, he doesn't wish to rock the
boat.
The fact it is a family company and no one has contacted him really takes the P*ss.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Andy
Report it to the Safety Officer and get it into the firms accident book is the first priority.
quote:
Originally posted by Toprivetguns
Evening,
Once again I turn to this amazing think tank for opinions and advice. The issue is with regards to my father.
He had quite a serious trip at work yesterday and managed to break his ankle. He tripped on a open stop cock in the ground that had its cover missing. Its been reported many times with no apparent remedy to repair it.
A trip to hospital and 5hrs later he was at home in plaster with crutches. His manager initially laughed at him, quoting ''get back to work''. My father simply hobbled off and called someone to pick him up. Work hasn't tried to contact him at all, with the exception of a text message stating how long do you think you will be off work ?
Now I've told him to fill out an accident report asap, try to get a colleague to photograph the missing cover and contact an injury law firm. The only problem is he's worried about repercussions on his return to work and the fact its a family company, he doesn't wish to rock the boat.
The fact it is a family company and no one has contacted him really takes the P*ss.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Andy
Personally I would not go anywhere near a personal injury law firm. They tend to be aggressive parasites who are in it to maximise the profit their
firm can make. They will do whatever is needed to increase their fees as the court will recover these from the firm. Work done, interim reports
commissioned etc may not be needed or may be done at the wrong times just because they are good little earners.
Get your Dad to write as full a report of the incident as possible right now to act as an aid to his memory.
He needs to see his GP for proper supervision of his recovery, advice on activity, rest, etc so he gets better soonest and without problems. This also
places the GP in a position to write a report in due course which will be added to the orthopaedic consultants report if you do decide to seek
damages.
From the legal point of view all you know at present is that an accident you believe was preventable has occurred and his firm has in your opinion
been negligent in failing to take action to prevent it. You know the initial diagnosed injury. In the short term more injuries may become apparent,
like extensive bruising or unsuspected ligament tears, etc. You don't yet know how his recovery will go or if there may be complications. You
don't know if there will be any long term disability. You need all these if Dad is to reach a fair settlement in any claim he may make. There is
no rush to get an accident claims firm on it right away. Your own solicitor can advise, at least in the initial stages and can recommend a local
specialist for the actual action. These type of claims, properly handled can take a couple of years before they are settled due to the medical reasons
above, let alone the clanking cogs of the courts.
He also needs to be in touch with his firm to inform them of the injury, how it happened and for it to be properly recorded, his anticipated time off
work, sort details of his pay/sick pay etc. Don't just sit and wait for them to contact you. You have the moral high ground and will keep it if
you do the right things.
[Edited on 17/5/12 by Dusty]
Gentleman, thank you so far. All extremely valid comments I will pass onto him.
It is a riddor accident and the firm should report it to the hse big trouble if they dont need to keep records photo,s dates etc i am sure they will be allright about it if it isa a family firm he needs to speak to them not some arsehole forman or supervisor but speak to the head of the company they have corperate responsiblity
May I add that to the above that from 6th April 2012, legislation governing RIDDOR reportable accidents changed following a report completed by Lord
Young on behalf of the now Prime Minister.
This is only reportable if the injured party is away from the work place as a result of the accident for seven days following the day of the accident.
The company do not have to report it immediately as long as they do within a reasonable time frame following the seven days. The employee may return
to work on "Fit Note" supplied by his/her GP on light duties with the seven days which then eliminates the RIDDOR report to the HSE.
Not to rain on anyones parade but we are all responsible for the well being of the safety of ourselves and colleagues at work, the company should have
made arrangements to protect its employees regarding the missing cover and suitable signage should have been erected, but it also the responsibility
of the employee to avoid the area knowing that there is a risk.
The company may use the get out clause of saying that they were not made aware of the missing cover, evidence to prove that they were made a ware is a
must in a case like this.
Valid point above
HOWEVER
A serious reportable incident has occurred resulting in a serious injury.
If you trip over say an unmarked step it could be construed as a 50/50 tripping over an unmarked stop cock sticking out of the floor is a whe
different matter.
The employer could be bang to rights
You sure he wasn't trying to kick a hole in a concrete wall ?
I have experienced death and serious industrial accidents over the last 25 years, ranging from accidents at international companys who take training
& H&S very seriously, to small "family" companys.
In my personal experience, the smaller companies I have come across at these accidents, tended not to invest a great deal in training or H&S.
While your dad may recover from a broken ankle in the short term, it is an injury which he will probably not fully recover from, which will appear in
later life. As far as Im concerned they should pay for their scant disregard of their staffs safety.
Ive seen some horrible industrial accidents, a lot of them are avoidable if everyone takes it seriously..
Go to a decent local solicitor and have your free 20 minutes, compensation wont help your dads ankle in 10 years, but he might enjoy a holiday from it
now, and his employer might also get their sh1t in a pile and organise H&S
quote:
Originally posted by T66
I have experienced death and serious industrial accidents over the last 25 years.....
Sorry to hear about your dad, I hope he heals quickly. If you do get a PI solicitor involved and they start advising to "get physio" or
"get Xrays" via the NHS (nudge nudge wink wink) please (from me) tell them to fark off. The NHS is here to treat medical need not do private
medical litigation work and waste thousands of pounds of tax payers money just to artificially inflate a PI payout. The worst thing about those
parasites is they end up encouraging others to parasitically drain the resources we all pay for. If there's a medical need then for I don't
think anyone would suggest not going, but I've seen cases where I've been 100% certain the Xrays or physio "demanded" had no
function other than following the advice of some parasitic wankstain PI solicitor whose been trying to inflate a PI claim by creating "evidence
of injury" which will hopefully impress the court who won't see the little poo for what he/she is. The physiotherapy service round here is
pants and it's pants because it's overloaded with people who don't actually need treatment but know that each physio session they go
for increases a pay-out by £X. The fact that the payout is usually less than the total amount of wasted NHS resources is ignored. Get your dad to see
his GP and see what's actually needed, if the solicitor starts giving pseudo medical advice about doing this or that tell them to f off cos it
surely won't be anything other than BS and an attempt to defraud the NHS.
Oh well. Rant over Hope your dad gets well soon. I wouldn't get a PI solicitor involved but then that's because I think they're the
lowest of the low!
Sorry haven't read all the replies, but firm I work for don't like you being off more than 5 days as it becomes riddor incident,
so accident book then on your sick note tick "accident at work" that brings them straight in.
company I work for doesn't pay sick pay (the largest newspaper/magazine distribution company in the UK) strange policy unwritten company policy
is. "if you are injured at work get a solicitor to issue us with an intent to sue for compensation letter and we will just reply asking how
much" apparently it puts the 3 day malingerers off
tony
it 3 days at my lol
quote:
Originally posted by McLannahan
quote:
Originally posted by T66
I have experienced death and serious industrial accidents over the last 25 years.....
I must say you've recovered extremely well from your death accident(s)...