accident at work

tubby210

M y wife had an accident at work she tripped over a damaged ramp hit the wall bruised her shoulder and sprained her ankle. I spoke to her employer and said we wouldnt sue if they paid her from day 1, toay she has been paid but not for the 1st 3 days which is the usual case for sickness. Straight after my wife had the accidnr her employers rang somebody to get the ramp repaired. The accident is all on cctv.CCan she claim and if so who is the best company to use?

Jarndyce

tubby210 wrote: »

M y wife had an accident at work she tripped over a damaged ramp hit the wall bruised her shoulder and sprained her ankle. I spoke to her employer and said we wouldnt sue if they paid her from day 1, toay she has been paid but not for the 1st 3 days which is the usual case for sickness. Straight after my wife had the accidnr her employers rang somebody to get the ramp repaired. The accident is all on cctv.CCan she claim and if so who is the best company to use?

Yes she can claim in theory - up to 3 years after the event for personal injury. Is she not in a union? Or do you have any home insurance that may include legal cover? Otherwise just stick a pin in the yellow pages and go for a no win no fee ambulance chaser to assess the claim - make sure its one where you pay nothing at all, not a percentage of your pay out.

paddyrg

So you want to sue for 3 days pay? I doubt most of those greasy compo companies will want to get too deeply into it for 3 days pay. She is being paid sick pay for being off work sick. If you did go for 'compo', be aware the amounts are generally quite low.

dickydonkin

Also, did she not look where she was going?

Quotes like this never cease to amaze me.

System

tubby210 wrote: »

. I spoke to her employer and said we wouldnt sue if they paid her from day 1, toay she has been paid but not for the 1st 3 days

So you tried to blackmail the employer and he called your bluff?

theoretica

This sounds as though according to the HSE this is a reportable accident under RIDDOR as she has been off for more than three days not counting the day of the accident and must be reported within 10 days.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/what-must-i-report.htm

Also for fairly full guidance see :
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/HealthAndSafetyAtWork/DG_10026579

tubby210

!!!!!! wrote: »

So you tried to blackmail the employer and he called your bluff?

so you think it is right that a company can decide not to repair a damaged item then when somebody injures themselves they dock their wages

System

They haven't docked wages, they have used the normal sickness rules.

tubby210

!!!!!! wrote: »

They haven't docked wages, they have used the normal sickness rules.

dont you think when it is there fault they should pay for all the days

fedupnow

tubby210 wrote: »

dont you think when it is there fault they should pay for all the days

I think it would be nice, yes. But by speaking to them and hinting you may sue I think you have forced them to do things by the book. If I were them I'd be thinking if I paid over and above what was required, it might be seen as an admission of something. In other words, I don't think you've done her any favours by 'having a word'.

I have no idea how her company works, but where I work H&S courses are forever drumming into us we are our own safety officer and if we see anything dangerous/broken/trip-overable we should report it and not use it. Had it been reported? If nobody had noticed it, had it been checked recently? There are lots of things to consider.

I would ask one of the no-win no-fee people for advice. But be careful, I've heard some awful stories where employers have put employees on top of their 'get-rid' list for far less reasons. For three days pay it hardly seems worth it. I'm not saying I think it's right or fair, but that's just how it is.

EDIT: And the earlier poster is correct, it should be reported - RIDDOR

dickydonkin

fedupnow wrote: »

I think it would be nice, yes. But by speaking to them and hinting you may sue I think you have forced them to do things by the book. If I were them I'd be thinking if I paid over and above what was required, it might be seen as an admission of something. In other words, I don't think you've done her any favours by 'having a word'.

I have no idea how her company works, but where I work H&S courses are forever drumming into us we are our own safety officer and if we see anything dangerous/broken/trip-overable we should report it and not use it. Had it been reported? If nobody had noticed it, had it been checked recently? There are lots of things to consider.

I would ask one of the no-win no-fee people for advice. But be careful, I've heard some awful stories where employers have put employees on top of their 'get-rid' list for far less reasons. For three days pay it hardly seems worth it. I'm not saying I think it's right or fair, but that's just how it is.

EDIT: And the earlier poster is correct, it should be reported - RIDDOR

Good post - and although potentially the employer may be negligent here, is it worth being 'blacklisted' for the sake of a few days pay?

And fedupnow is correct - some (not all) employers will do this.

Another valid point raised referred to the reporting of the defect.

I have no idea how her company works, but where I work H&S courses are forever drumming into us we are our own safety officer and if we see anything dangerous/broken/trip-overable we should report it and not use it. Had it been reported?

If the employer is not aware of it - he is hardly in a position to repair it. I did notice that the defect was fixed immediately after the incident.

Not an ideal situation I appreciate, but I hope your injuries heal quickly, you get back to work quickly and move on.