Accidental damage at work..who pays?

judywoody

Just posted this in the insurance section..someone replied i should check if my employer could deduct the cost from my salary..just checked contract, can't find anything regarding accidental damage:
Something just crossed my mind as I am dealing with a minor issue at work.

I am a Support Worker and support adults with learning disabilities in their houses. So technically during my work hours I practically live there doing typical housework and activities..which means the risk for accidental damage is quite high...just like when you are in your own home.
The property is privately rented by the service user. A few days ago I was doing the ironing and quickly went in the kitchen to get clothes out of the dryer. Within a split second the service user got up from the couch and knocked over the ironing board and with it the iron. It only took a second to melt a stain in the carpet...argh...the SU is disabled, non verbal and a bit clumsy on his feet but my manager argued it was my fault for leaving the room..which sometimes is inevitably as i can't lock in the SU just when I do ironing... it was 15 seconds..anyhoo..so i have to pay myself .i don't have a problem fixing the carpet myself with leftovers from the shed..a knife and tape are only 2 quid but I was seriously wondering who would be liable if something had happened that needed to be replaced rather than cheaply fixed or my manager changes her mind and asks me to buyba new carpet instead of fixing it. Accidental damage can always happen in a job..and obviously the SU wouldn't be liable if it was the Support Workers fault. But how can I protect myself from major bills? Shouldn't there be an insurance to cover employees? Or should the employer have an insurance in place? Feel like I am in a vulnerable situation...I am a bit clumsy anyway😁

DomRavioli

You could have unplugged the iron; they may take it as it was avoidable - as your contract has no specific provision, speak to HR to clarify.

cootuk

As you are employed then I would say that your employer should have insurance in place to cover your actions, including accidental damage as this is a foreseeable event however careful you are.

The other issue is that the SU themselves could have been burned, so really the OP shouldn't be leaving potential hazards in place given the pre-existing condition of the SU.

This should be covered by risk assesments and training.
If the SU were to be injured then it would be argued that the OP had been negligent. The company may deem this gross negligence.

judywoody

DomRavioli wrote: »

You could have unplugged the iron; they may take it as it was avoidable - as your contract has no specific provision, speak to HR to clarify.

Well thing is the iron would have still been hot...he was actually sleeping on the couch so him getting up was pretty unexpected.. the nature of doing stuff like ironing and other household tasks is that you sometimes have to leave the room for a second or so.. especially when you are working on your own..

judywoody

cootuk wrote: »

As you are employed then I would say that your employer should have insurance in place to cover your actions, including accidental damage as this is a foreseeable event however careful you are.

The other issue is that the SU themselves could have been burned, so really the OP shouldn't be leaving potential hazards in place given the pre-existing condition of the SU.

This should be covered by risk assesments and training.
If the SU were to be injured then it would be argued that the OP had been negligent. The company may deem this gross negligence.

See my comment above..with supported living you can't always wrap people in cotton wool..he is regularly on his own in a room so it's not like we follow him around and as i said when you do stuff in the house, which is part of your job, accidents happen. I can see your point of view but since he was asleep i really didn't feel he was going to get up any second...especially because i only left the room for 15 seconds..i guess any kind of accident can be viewed as negligence when you start picking it apart in the aftermath. I actually put the board aside just in case but he still knocked it over...

HappyMJ

judywoody wrote: »

Well thing is the iron would have still been hot...he was actually sleeping on the couch so him getting up was pretty unexpected.. the nature of doing stuff like ironing and other household tasks is that you sometimes have to leave the room for a second or so.. especially when you are working on your own..

That's debatable. I would never ever leave a hot iron in a room with a sleeping child...it is expected that at any time, especially if they are half sleeping and hear you leaving the room, they could get up run around knock it over and an injury or damage could occur. I'm assuming that could easily be related to your SU. Anyway regardless of that your employer should have Public Liability Insurance to cover injury and damage to others as a result of your negligence. Ask to see a copy of the policy. The policy may have an excess which the employer may try and pass on to you but that depends on your contract.

InsideInsurance

As per the posts in the Insurance forum, depending exactly who is injured or who owns what is damaged then your insurer may or may not have relevant insurance. Likewise there may or may not be a deductible/ retention that the claim falls within or not.

All of this is a separate matter however to them looking to you to cover the costs of your actions