accident at work

uktrucker

had accident at work,me and a work mate were carrying an object down some stairs,which resulted in the object pushing me down stairs,and falling on my right knee.breaking a bone in my knee,have now got a full cast on leg,and walking on crutches.looking at making a claim,are these no win no fee companies any good.

sweetcharity48

hi , i had a bad fall whilst at work, im pursuing my claim through my union (unison), its not costing me a penny , if your in a union give it a try , but my claim has been going on a long time now , but we are looking to go to court in may this year, my accident was in december 2010 though ,so be prepared for a wait , my union said they would not have persued this long if they thought i didnt have a claim .

skintandscared_2

uktrucker wrote: »

had accident at work,me and a work mate were carrying an object down some stairs,which resulted in the object pushing me down stairs,and falling on my right knee.breaking a bone in my knee,have now got a full cast on leg,and walking on crutches.looking at making a claim,are these no win no fee companies any good.

How is the company at fault? Are you supposed to carry things down stairs as part of your job? An inanimate object cannot "push" you down stairs. The person at the other end of that object is providing the moving force! What would be the basis of your claim that your accident happened because your employer was negiligent?

Crazy_Jamie

'No win no fee' is not a type of company; it is a way of funding a claim. If you don't have a relevant legal expenses policy or a trade union that you can go to, the best way to bring a claim is to instruct a solicitor on the basis of a Conditional Fee Agreement (which is the technical term for 'no win no fee'). It is a perfectly standard way of funding personal injury claims. The actual choice of which solicitor to use is yours.

However, for a solicitor to take a case on a CFA, your case will need to have reasonable prospects of success. From the information that you have provided it is impossible to assess whether or not you would have reasonable prospects. Your employer has an extensive number of duties and obligations under various regulations, including one set of regulations relating solely to manual handling. However, claims don't succeed simply because someone has been injured. Your employer has to breach one of those duties, either by doing something they shouldn't, or not doing something they should. It is for you to identify what it is that your employer has done wrong. If you post more details here as to what you think your employer has done wrong, or how this accident could have been avoided, me and a few others may be able to give you a rough idea on prospects from a legal standpoint, but really your best bet is just to have a consultation with a solicitor (which should be free) and get them to look through everything for you.

pinkshoes

Who told you to carry the item down the stairs? Was there not a lif available in the building?

paddedjohn

Are you getting sick pay? are you off work?

dickydonkin

pinkshoes wrote: »

Who told you to carry the item down the stairs? Was there not a lif available in the building?

Perhaps it was part of his job - such as a furniture remover.

Maybe the accident occurred in domestic poremises - where no lift would exist.

Why would the OP have to contact his employer every time he needs to carry something down the stairs - particularly if such a task was a fundemental part of his employment?

RichardD1970

OP hasn't been back on forum after first two replies. Draw your own conclusions.

maninthestreet

skintandscared wrote: »

An inanimate object cannot "push" you down stairs. The person at the other end of that object is providing the moving force!

Are you familiar with the force known as 'gravity' ??

skintandscared_2

maninthestreet wrote: »

Are you familiar with the force known as 'gravity' ??

Yes thanks. I'm sure the OP is familiar with gravity too and perhaps should have taken that into account when moving an object downstairs. Is an employer now responsible for gravitational pull too then?!

What I was inferring was that if the OP is seeking to find someone to "blame" the more obvious candidate would be the person at the other end of the object. I didn't feel the need to clarify but clearly I should have done.

dickydonkin

skintandscared wrote: »

Yes thanks. I'm sure the OP is familiar with gravity too and perhaps should have taken that into account when moving an object downstairs. Is an employer now responsible for gravitational pull too then?!

What I was inferring was that if the OP is seeking to find someone to "blame" the more obvious candidate would be the person at the other end of the object. I didn't feel the need to clarify but clearly I should have done.

And if the 'obvious candidate' had not been trained in performing the task that obviously had an element of risk of injury - then the employer potentially may have to take some of the blame.

That is not my opinion - that is just the way it is.