accident while working....help needed please x

tia1803

ekkygirl wrote: »

Quote:
Originally Posted by silkyuk9
not one thankyou!

not one what???



The original poster neds to thank all the people who answered/helped

yes i have done....thanks

2sides2everystory

Just stumbled over this thread (sorry no pun intended )

dpassmore wrote:

I have to state that the response to your predicament from your employers at the time you were injured was at best lamentable, however, the reality is that you were injured as a result of your work and your employer is potentially liable, however, negligence would need to be proven.

I am not an expert but for a while I did used to sell Employers Liability insurance in particular and I think the last bit in the quoted text above is incorrect. Negligence does not have to be proven in EL cases. The law may have changed a little since my day but it was designed and exists because workers needed a simple "no negligence to be proven" route to compensation for accidents at work. Clearly there was not a safe system of work nor safe equipment e.g. snow shoes, nor safe colleagues to work with e.g. the one that insisted "get back out there!" as the OP got injured whilst doing exactly what she was asked to do.

In Australia, for goodness sakes, I am sure their version of the same compulsory (mandatory for employers) insurance called there and elsewhere "Workers Compensation Insurance", would even make the employer statutorily liable i.e. no need to prove negligence, even if the employee had their accident on the bus on the way to work Their law as I understand it, would even take precedence over the mandatory motor insurance passenger liability cover on the bus.

UK/EU law doesn't quite go that far but I am sure it easily covers the OP's situation.

Somehow I don't think the OP will have any major problems pursuing a claim on this one. Get well soon OP - the elderly and infirm at home need you more now than ever with that latest big freeze forecasted! Document everything as SarEl says, but the claim can wait if you are feeling well again soon - the old people can't!

Googlewhacker

tia1803 wrote: »

oh...sorry but i didnt know it was compulsory to do that before i had finished asking for any advise...and yes i thank everyone for advise and input...never had this on other forums...people usually finish the enquiry

It's not, doesn't bother me if I get thanked or not but some people get het up over it.

tia1803

well again i thank you all for you input and advise before anyone wants to get on at me...i did have more things to ask but think i best not...THANK YOU AGAIN!

dickydonkin

2sides2everystory wrote: »

Just stumbled over this thread (sorry no pun intended )I am not an expert but for a while I did used to sell Employers Liability insurance in particular and I think the last bit in the quoted text above is incorrect. Negligence does not have to be proven in EL cases. The law may have changed a little since my day but it was designed and exists because workers needed a simple "no negligence to be proven" route to compensation for accidents at work. Clearly there was not a safe system of work nor safe equipment e.g. snow shoes, nor safe colleagues to work with e.g. the one that insisted "get back out there!" as the OP got injured whilst doing exactly what she was asked to do.

In Australia, for goodness sakes, I am sure their version of the same compulsory (mandatory for employers) insurance called there and elsewhere "Workers Compensation Insurance", would even make the employer statutorily liable i.e. no need to prove negligence, even if the employee had their accident on the bus on the way to work Their law as I understand it, would even take precedence over the mandatory motor insurance passenger liability cover on the bus.

UK/EU law doesn't quite go that far but I am sure it easily covers the OP's situation.

Somehow I don't think the OP will have any major problems pursuing a claim on this one. Get well soon OP - the elderly and infirm at home need you more now than ever with that latest big freeze forecasted! Document everything as SarEl says, but the claim can wait if you are feeling well again soon - the old people can't!

Hopefully SarEl will come in here to clarify.

My role is to prevent accidents and ensure legal compliance to make it difficult for personal injury claims to be submitted - the obvious method is to prevent accidents in the first instance.

I stand to be corrected but I thought that the three main elements required to make a successful claim for a work related injury are:

1) Another person or organisation must have been negligent

2) The other person or organisation must have liability insurance (a legal requirement for a company in the UK).

3) The accident must have occurred within the last 3 years.

I suspect if all of the above criteria are not met - particularly the first point, a claim against an employer could be difficult and I also would imagine that a no win no fee company would disregard a claim without the above requirements.

ALL accidents are preventable and when they do occur there will obviously be a reason (or a chain of events) that caused the incident.

There will always be an immediate and an underlying cause and where a workplace is involved, it will almost certainly be a failing on behalf of the company due to its acts and omissions - i.e. negligence.

Even when stupidity such as horseplay by an employee causes an accident, it will be argued that lack of training, monitoring or supervision by the employer was a contributory factor - therefore technically liable/negligent - although in such circumstances, any compensation will be reduced due to contributory negligence on behalf of the employee - negligence works both ways.

I do agree that the OP will have a valid claim as she meets the criteria quoted above.

tia1803

thanks for all the advise!!!
so if i was to pursue this somewhere...would i then have to be careful about them dismissing me because i have filed against them?

Googlewhacker

tia1803 wrote: »

thanks for all the advise!!!
so if i was to pursue this somewhere...would i then have to be careful about them dismissing me because i have filed against them?

If you file and they dismiss you unless it was discriminatory in the eyes of the law (ie race, gender etc) then you would have no recourse as you have not worke there for 51 weeks (1 weeks stat notice makes it a year total)

tia1803

sorry for being dim but i dont understand that hun...i started in may this year so can they just dismiss me?

2sides2everystory

dpassmore wrote: »

Hopefully SarEl will come in here to clarify.

My role is to prevent accidents and ensure legal compliance to make it difficult for personal injury claims to be submitted - the obvious method is to prevent accidents in the first instance.

I stand to be corrected but I thought that the three main elements required to make a successful claim for a work related injury are:

1) Another person or organisation must have been negligent

2) The other person or organisation must have liability insurance (a legal requirement for a company in the UK).

3) The accident must have occurred within the last 3 years.

I suspect if all of the above criteria are not met - particularly the first point, a claim against an employer could be difficult and I also would imagine that a no win no fee company would disregard a claim without the above requirements.

1) Nope not necessarily, a breach of a common law or statutory duty is enough (there are plenty of those!). This article might add a little: http://a-level-law.com/tort/employers_liability/lecture.htm
2) Generally yes, but in this case the OP might be employed by an organisation exempt from buying EL cover e.g. the local authority. Few LAs do use their exemption thesedays I think, but even if they did, it doesn't exempt the employer from their common law and statutory duties which are the same as for any other employer.
3) Nope ... I am not sure that is generally correct either. For example, an employee may inadvertently have their hearing damaged by excessive noise at work. It might be many years before cumulative "accidental" exposures adds up to noticeable hearing loss.

Googlewhacker

tia1803 wrote: »

sorry for being dim but i dont understand that hun...i started in may this year so can they just dismiss me?

Effectively yes, if they sack you within the first 51 weeks and give you one weeks statutory notice then you could not take them to an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal.