Can I make a claim for damages - work accident?

dickydonkin

T800 wrote: »

The employer has a duty of care over the employees, the same in law as the canteen lady. This duty of care extends itself to all employees too - who must take care not to endanger their fellow colleagues under the health and safety at work act. I believe this soup had been microwaved? If so, in the instruction manual it states to take care when removing food from the oven as it can cause injury. Such an incident should never have occurred, was avoidable and preventable. As a result, the claimaint has a right to compensation for the permanent disfigurement she has received. It is galling that some people would seek to trivialise the OPs injuries and dissuade her from asserting her rights.

Head against brick wall here.

It has NOT been established if it was the heat of the soup/bowl that was a contributory factor in the causation of the accident but it has obviously been relevant in the nature of the injury. Please do not assume the hot soup was the immediate cause of the incident.

What has the canteen lady got to do with anything? - I thought the OP's colleague dropped the bowl of soup.

T800 wrote: »

So you admit that she dropped it, as opposed to it being an accident?

Simply put, an accident is an unplanned event that causes injury or damage fact.

The incident was indeed an unplanned event that caused injury, however for the umpteenth time, negligence will have to be proven to have any chance of claiming.

geri1965 wrote: »

Or the company might invest in some more trays - which would be an awful lot cheaper.

So has it been decided following the result of an accident investigation that not using a tray was a contributing factor and/or immediate cause of the accident?

That was the OP's opinion/speculation - not the conclusion following a professional accident investigation.

dickydonkin

T800 wrote: »

You mean you dont know?

s.7

So whats your viewpoint then, or are you just here to ask questions.

And don't forget section 8 of the HASWA and regulation 14 of the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations - But I suspect you were already aware of these.

T800

dpassmore wrote: »

And don't forget section 8 of the HASWA and regulation 14 of the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations - But I suspect you were already aware of these.

What is your point regarding s8 in relation to this event?

And no i wasnt aware of the latter regulations, and made interesting reading thanks. How does it tie in with the OP?

Is it that she claims here that she recognised some time previously that their was a need for trays - yet failed to inform the employer until after the event happened?

T800

dpassmore wrote: »

Head against brick wall here.

It has NOT been established if it was the heat of the soup/bowl that was a contributory factor in the causation of the accident but it has obviously been relevant in the nature of the injury. Please do not assume the hot soup was the immediate cause of the incident.

Fair point, in the absence of any other information we can only go with the OPs version of events as the truth and give them the benefit of the doubt - otherwise there is little point in trying to discuss the matter. The OP claims that the bowl slipped out of the colleagues hand. The fact that the soup was hot led me to make the connection that it was due to the heat that it slipped out of control, a fair assumption in the absence of any other information.

dickydonkin

T800 wrote: »

What is your point regarding s8 in relation to this event?

And no i wasnt aware of the latter regulations, and made interesting reading thanks. How does it tie in with the OP?

Is it that she claims here that she recognised some time previously that their was a need for trays - yet failed to inform the employer until after the event happened?

It was you who started quoting criminal law in relation to the OP's situation - I was just elaborating further on employees duties under H&S LEGISLATION that has not been referred to.

As I have stated, like section 7, Section 8 is also related to employees legal duties.

dmg24 has attempted to explain to you (without success despite great efforts) that this legislation is irrelevant to the OP'S situation in respect of claiming.

T800 wrote: »

Fair point, in the absence of any other information we can only go with the OPs version of events as the truth and give them the benefit of the doubt - otherwise there is little point in trying to discuss the matter. The OP claims that the bowl slipped out of the colleagues hand. The fact that the soup was hot led me to make the connection that it was due to the heat that it slipped out of control, a fair assumption in the absence of any other information.

When undertaking accident investigations there is a golden rule and that is - you NEVER NEVER assume anything.

T800

dpassmore wrote: »

It was you who started quoting criminal law in relation to the OP's situation - I was just elaborating further on employees duties under H&S LEGISLATION that has not been referred to.

As I have stated, like section 7, Section 8 is also related to employees legal duties.

dmg24 has attempted to explain to you (without success despite great efforts) that this legislation is irrelevant to the OP'S situation in respect of claiming.

It is not entirely irrelevant. The reason is that if a report is made to the HSE, and it is investigated and shown that the employer was at fault. This would be of huge assistance to any other claim in the civil courts.

T800

dpassmore wrote: »

When undertaking accident investigations there is a golden rule and that is - you NEVER NEVER assume anything.

but you seem confused where you are. We arent investigating anything, we are discussing something on the internet based solely on what the OP has given us. Whilst it is commendable to seek only hard facts, at the same time you are closing yourself off to common sense. At this point in time we are dealing with limited information - should we just not discuss any further, or shall we try to establish based on common sense what the most likely thing is that happened?

teabelly

I think a claim could also hinge on whether the OP did all they could to minimise the injury eg putting ankle in cold water straight away to reduce the scalding.

If the soup is so hot it would scald then it would be dangerously hot to eat too. Weren't mcdonalds chastised for their overly hot coffee?

T800

I think there was an incident with Ryanair where a flight attendant spilt hot tea over a passenger, scalding them.

dickydonkin

T800 wrote: »

It is not entirely irrelevant. The reason is that if a report is made to the HSE, and it is investigated and shown that the employer was at fault. This would be of huge assistance to any other claim in the civil courts.

If you read my post, I was suggesting that in the OP's situation, criminal law will be irrelevant however, I accept that where an employer has been prosecuted in a criminal court and found guilty of breaches of health & safety, then yes - that could potentially assist in a future claim for negligence, however, that is not the case here.

A point that has not been made is that if the OP had lost more than three days work as a result of her injury, her employer would have a legal duty to report the accident under RIDDOR regulations and would need to be submitted within 10 days of the accident occuring.

If the type of injury or the amount of lost worktime does not come under these regulations, then there is no legal duty to report the incident to the HSE.

This is quite possibly the OP'S situation, therefore if the regulatory bodies have not been involved, it is unlikely that a prosecution in a criminal court will take place or enforcement notices issued, making negligence difficult to ascertain.

Of course that is not suggesting that to determine negligence, an employer has to be prosecuted in a court of law, however, we are discussing the OP's situation here.

Depending on the seriousness of an incident or unless the same employer is reporting an unusually amount of accidents, it is unlikely the HSE will investigate -their resources like many other organisations are stretched.

That does not of course mean that the company cannot undertake their own accident investigation, however, there is no legal duty to do so.

In the OP's situation, I think that it is unlikely that an investigation has been undertaken which has determined the immediate and underlying cause(s) of the accident - the reason I state this is that if there had been, the OP would know the cause by now and the outcome of the investigation would have been posted I'm sure.