OH Sacked from work

tinkerbell84

MIMI123 wrote: »

What im trying to say is that he was obviously sacked because he would not admit liability to the accident he had before xmas, so his employers have just picked up on something that has been common practice for 2 years. Just so they could sack him, because he has put a claim in against them

Unless they explicitly said that was why they were sacking him, I don't think you can assume that.

If breaching prescribed H&S processes counts as gross misconduct in the contract, then ignoring what he was told last week about the shutters is likely to be instant dismissal.

MIMI123_2

NO they didnt tell him not to do it thats my point that im trying to make.
No he didnt know the equipment was faulty otherwise he wouldnt have used it. But apparently the managers knew there were faulty dollies in use but carried on letting employees use them.

MIMI123_2

tinkerbell84 wrote: »

Unless they explicitly said that was why they were sacking him, I don't think you can assume that.

If breaching prescribed H&S processes counts as gross misconduct in the contract, then ignoring what he was told last week about the shutters is likely to be instant dismissal.

He was sacked before they told all the other staff not to do it.

SomeBozo

MIMI123 wrote: »

I think I may have confused people, My OH had an accident at work just before xmas last year involving a faulty piece of work equipment ie a dolly (which is a big cage on wheels) He returned to work after having 10 weeks off due to his injuries sustained in the accident. He had his back to work meeting with his manager who asked him to sign a piece of paper admitting liability for the accident my OH said he was not happy to do this as he was not at fault. The manager thens says "oh well I dont know what the HR dept will say about that ,Ill have to get back to you. The next day my OH goes into work and is called into the office and is told he is suspended and it is being investigated on a health and safety issue. He is then called back into the office the following week to be told he has breached health and safety by not pulling the shutters up at work ( nothing to do with his previous accident) and is given the sack he has had no previous warnings and has a good work record. He has his appeal tomorrow but he has heard that people were being interviewed for his old job today. To be sacked for not pulling up a shutter is totally far fetched and unreasonable. The company had been using a certain procedure which is against health and safety guidance for years but last week told the staff not to do it anymore, so why could they have not just said to my OH could you make sure you pull up the shutters please.

Hi MIMI

As with most stories on the board, there are 2 sides to every story.

It sounds to me like he had an injury with a piece of equipment (dolly). He presumably had time off fully paid. He put in a claim for financial damages for his injuries.

However, he also forgot to do something (the shutter thing) which has been done for a long time, and everyone else did it, but now the company is deeming this as dangerous and not to the letter of H&S.

The consequences of the shutter thing (financially for the company) are the same as the dolly thing (ie others may get injured, be off work with pay and "get a claim in".).

Hence, the pulled him up on it and sacked him.

I don't think this is right, however I assume the risk of the trolley injury is the same as the shutter injury. That is, everyone did it and used it and accepted the (unacceptable) risk.

Am I right in assuming that this is the first type of injury and claim in the company in this regard?

Bozo

MIMI123_2

Yet someone else who was caught driving around the warehouse at 40mph was given a warning, someone who played a prank on a collegue last week causing them to break their ankle verbal nothing has happened to them, someone who stole from the company last year (who was seen on cctv) was given a warning.

tinkerbell84

Is he a member of a union?

dmg24

Is there a reason why you are still posting under two usernames MIMI123? You are aware that AE's are not permitted on MSE?

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=17723057&highlight=mozza53#post17723057

MIMI123_2

SomeBozo wrote: »

Hi MIMI

As with most stories on the board, there are 2 sides to every story.

It sounds to me like he had an injury with a piece of equipment (dolly). He presumably had time off fully paid. He put in a claim for financial damages for his injuries.

However, he also forgot to do something (the shutter thing) which has been done for a long time, and everyone else did it, but now the company is deeming this as dangerous and not to the letter of H&S.

The consequences of the shutter thing (financially for the company) are the same as the dolly thing (ie others may get injured, be off work with pay and "get a claim in".).

Hence, the pulled him up on it and sacked him.

I don't think this is right, however I assume the risk of the trolley injury is the same as the shutter injury. That is, everyone did it and used it and accepted the (unacceptable) risk.

Am I right in assuming that this is the first type of injury and claim in the company in this regard?

Bozo

My OH only received 2 weeks sick pay whilst he was off as per company policy. Other people have broken their noses, broken arms and sprained wrists whilst using the dollies. But no one has ever had an accident whilst not pulling up the shutter, in fact my other half says it is more dangerous pulling up the shutter as you cannot see the person on the other side if they had an accident.As there are only 2 staff members in work at that time in the morning.

iashem

MIMI123 wrote: »

I think I may have confused people, My OH had an accident at work just before xmas last year involving a faulty piece of work equipment ie a dolly (which is a big cage on wheels) He returned to work after having 10 weeks off due to his injuries sustained in the accident. He had his back to work meeting with his manager who asked him to sign a piece of paper admitting liability for the accident my OH said he was not happy to do this as he was not at fault. The manager thens says "oh well I dont know what the HR dept will say about that ,Ill have to get back to you. The next day my OH goes into work and is called into the office and is told he is suspended and it is being investigated on a health and safety issue. He is then called back into the office the following week to be told he has breached health and safety by not pulling the shutters up at work ( nothing to do with his previous accident) and is given the sack he has had no previous warnings and has a good work record. He has his appeal tomorrow but he has heard that people were being interviewed for his old job today. To be sacked for not pulling up a shutter is totally far fetched and unreasonable. The company had been using a certain procedure which is against health and safety guidance for years but last week told the staff not to do it anymore, so why could they have not just said to my OH could you make sure you pull up the shutters please.

if the issue is under "health and safety guidance" why has he been disciplined surely "guidance" is different from Health and safety regulations, your OH has to prove that the procedure has not been enforced by the company and that he has been unfairly penalised, however if he has had some training which states the shutters must be pulled up at all times and has signed for this training he is not likely to win an appeal. If the company deem the incident as gross misconduct his good record will not have a huge bearing due to the seriousness of the problem

MIMI123_2

tinkerbell84 wrote: »

Is he a member of a union?

No hes not unfortunately. No one is in his company think they should join one though.