Compensation Claim? lost End of finger

auqu74

Hi There,

I have started a compensation claim against my previous company I wont mention any names because its ongoing, but I was just wondering if anyone had any similar dealings.

i took the end of my left index finger off on a machine at work and was wondering what the rough amount of compensation is? I had 4 months off work and have not returned to this place of work. i now only work 3 days a week because I could not find permanent work and also have had to move into my parents house because we could not afford to live in our house and had to put alot of our belongings into storage.

Please somebody respond.

Hammyman

I remember around 20 years or so ago someone who I knew lost the end of their finger from the last joint. Got thousands in compensation as it was down to a missing blade guard on a machine.

Savvy_Sue

If I say "it will depend", I don't mean to be difficult. I think there are guidelines somewhere, but I don't know where I'm afraid, and the other question which WILL be raised is whether there was any contributory negligence, ie was the accident partly your fault? or was it all your employer's fault?

Emmzi

It will depend and partly it will depend on wether you were at all negligent yourself - all for the courts (or perhaps insurance companies and solicitors) to decide I am afriad, is a very complex area.

dickydonkin

auqu74 wrote: »

Hi There,

I have started a compensation claim against my previous company I wont mention any names because its ongoing, but I was just wondering if anyone had any similar dealings.

i took the end of my left index finger off on a machine at work and was wondering what the rough amount of compensation is? I had 4 months off work and have not returned to this place of work. i now only work 3 days a week because I could not find permanent work and also have had to move into my parents house because we could not afford to live in our house and had to put alot of our belongings into storage.

Please somebody respond.

As others have correctly mentioned, a lot will depend on the circumstances and to what degree of negligence was attributed to the employer or indeed yourself.

As an amputation is a 'major injury' reportable under RIDDOR, and as you were also off work for over 3 days, then by virtue of that, the incident was also reportable.

So - on two counts, your employer should have reported the incident to the contact centre to comply with the regulations.

An reported amputation can place the company on the HSE's radar and many companies fail to report accidents such as this in fear of a visit from an inspector - a risky strategy.

Ideally, your company should also have investigated the incident and determined what the underlying and immediate cause was, however, many smaller companies do not have the expertise to undertake accident investigations.

You should also have been involved with the investigation, however, as you have not mentioned this, I wonder if one has actually been undertaken.

I would suggest your starting point would be to ask your employer if the incident has been reported (if it had, you would have received a copy of the employers submitted form F2508) or ask for a copy of any accident report.
This will at least provide the employers version of accounts of the accident - documentation I suspect your solicitor has requested (assuming one is on the case).

More details on how the accident on the machine occurred would be helpful as it seems that you were obviously exposed to moving components - which could be your fault due to your actions, no safe systems of work in place, defeated guarding/ interlocks or a myriad of other causes - and that is what will go some way to determine the level of any compensation awarded.