Injury at work.....

ks1976 · 4 December 2012 at 10:17PM

My son sustained an soft tissue injury to his biceps tendon at work on July the 31st of this year. Work seemed to accommodate his injury for a short while whilst he attended appointments with the hospital and physio department. They allowed him to do light duties for the period of his 1st fit note of 6wks but when he was issued with a second note for a period of 4wks stating a fazed return to normal duties they decided that they did not want to do that and put him straight back onto the duties in which he sustained his injury failing to offer him help and support when he was in pain and struggling. He was sent back to the drs at his employers request saying the note's provided by the dr were not enough and more information was needed. This happen so much that the dr told my son he was wasting much needed appointments and he needed to tell his employer that they would fine them for waisting there time if they continued to send him back as they felt the information they were providing was sufficient. Which I have to say I agree with..... Despite the dr saying light duties only no heavy lifting his employer has insisted on most days putting him on normal heavy duties meaning his injury is not getting any better. To make matters worse he is being told on a daily basis that he " is a waste of space" ! !That he is "not wanted on that shift anymore" to "f**k off out of my sight" "you are taking the p*** " on his last visit to the drs he was tested and appears to be starting with depression. He is 19 yrs old and everyday worries who will say what to him. I admit he is a typical 19 yr old boy and I am sure he can be cheeky but he isn't a bad lad.!His last fit note was put in the bin by his employer as they felt it wasnt acceptable so he had to get another one which was exactly the same. For one day they gave him suitable duties but today they have put him back to normal giving him a letter which say something along the line as you will carry out normal duties if you can not do this you will be sent home without pay if you do your normal duties and further injure yourself or somebody else you will be solely responsible not the company. Can they do/say this?
Thank you in advance for any help and/or advice.
!!

CAB_Malvern_Hills_representative · 6 December 2012 at 11:42AM

ks1976 wrote: »

My son sustained an soft tissue injury to his biceps tendon at work on July the 31st of this year. Work seemed to accommodate his injury for a short while whilst he attended appointments with the hospital and physio department. They allowed him to do light duties for the period of his 1st fit note of 6wks but when he was issued with a second note for a period of 4wks stating a fazed return to normal duties they decided that they did not want to do that and put him straight back onto the duties in which he sustained his injury failing to offer him help and support when he was in pain and struggling. He was sent back to the drs at his employers request saying the note's provided by the dr were not enough and more information was needed. This happen so much that the dr told my son he was wasting much needed appointments and he needed to tell his employer that they would fine them for waisting there time if they continued to send him back as they felt the information they were providing was sufficient. Which I have to say I agree with..... Despite the dr saying light duties only no heavy lifting his employer has insisted on most days putting him on normal heavy duties meaning his injury is not getting any better. To make matters worse he is being told on a daily basis that he " is a waste of space" ! !That he is "not wanted on that shift anymore" to "f**k off out of my sight" "you are taking the p*** " on his last visit to the drs he was tested and appears to be starting with depression. He is 19 yrs old and everyday worries who will say what to him. I admit he is a typical 19 yr old boy and I am sure he can be cheeky but he isn't a bad lad.!His last fit note was put in the bin by his employer as they felt it wasnt acceptable so he had to get another one which was exactly the same. For one day they gave him suitable duties but today they have put him back to normal giving him a letter which say something along the line as you will carry out normal duties if you can not do this you will be sent home without pay if you do your normal duties and further injure yourself or somebody else you will be solely responsible not the company. Can they do/say this?
Thank you in advance for any help and/or advice.
!!

Hi

From your description of events they are clearly treating him very poorly in respect of this issue and cannot say that if he injures himself or somebody else the employer will not be liable. He has incurred an injury at work and in general they should be helping him to return to full duties when he is able and taking steps to avoid any further problems.

The employer has many responsabilities in respect of health and safety including carrying out a risk assessment to identify problems and taking action to resolve them. Please follow the link below to a factsheet on accidents at work which outlines what they are and how you son can begin to resolve the problem.

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/work_e/work_factsheets.htm

You can find further information on employers duties in this regard on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website at www.hse.gov.uk.

Once you have looked at the information and spoken to HSE - he could look at submitting an official grievance about the way he has been treated. However it is likely that he would need help to do this so we would suggest that he visits his local CAB for this.

Follow the link below for information on resolving a problem at work :

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/work_e/work_problems_at_work_e/dealing_with_grievances_at_work.htm

Injury at work.....

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