Accident, Compensation & my employer, advice please!

ChrisGTI

i just tried to post a link but it says that I can't as I'm a new user?

Anyway, if you follow these instructions it will take you to the manual and the switch instruction I quoted....

Go to Einhell DOT com, then click 'Product Showroom' then 'Tools' then 'Angle grinder' then look for & click 'TE-AG 115'. Click product documents, GB manual - it's starts on P.17

Thanks

Chris

pinkshoes

ThIs one:
http://products.einhell.com/te-ag-115.html

I assume you were using it with the guard?

Babbawah

Found it. Thanx.

This is not a 'dead mans switch' by any stretch of your imagination.

This seems to be just like the switch on any one of my collection of angle grinders.

Do you have any piccys of the injuries to your leg?

No, I'm not morbid. I'm just interested in whether the docs took any piccys in A&E?

ChrisGTI

Yes I was using the guard - not that it made any difference at all.

I do have pictures of my leg from when I was in hospital and also as it is today with it stitched up. After an hours worth of emergency surgery and a 3 day stay in hospital, it's not something I would wish on anybody. Oh and just to top it off, I was diagnosed with a blood clot in the same leg a few days later.

Without getting into an argument over the term 'Dead man's switch', let's call it a 'Kill switch' or Safety Switch' - all of which are meant to stop machinery instantly to prevent injury!

Thanks

Chris

stevemLS

Undervalued wrote: »

Indeed. In fact you have no claim against the manufacturer. Any warranty they offered would be in addition to your statutory rights with the retailer and certainly wouldn't have included personal injury.




Be careful doing this. Whilst I understand the sentiment it would almost certainly breach the agreement you will have signed with the no win no fee solicitor.

I think the first part of this is wrong. It was established in Donaghue v Stevenson (1932) that the manufacturer of a product owes a duty of care to the end user in tort. It is nothing to do with contractual rights nor is it a warranty issue. Whether or not the duty was breached in this particular instance is another matter.

Agree with the second paragraph.

ChrisGTI

jc808 wrote: »

Dont see how any of that 'caused' the grinder to go into your inner thigh. No offense, but have you ever used tools before, or do you maybe have some sort of learning disability?

Thank you for your productive comment. I am a qualified Mechanical Engineer, I have rebuilt racing cars for a living, I have been involved in Motorsport and building cars all of my life (all of the above have included use of an angle grinder amongst other power tools) - so I guess you could say that I have the knowledge, experience and common sense on how to use a power tool properly.

The Angle Grinder kicking back is what caused it to impact on my thigh. The disc shattering and being unable to turn the angle grinder off is the reason for my injuries.

If you're just trying to stir things up then I would appreciate if you kept your comments to yourself. Thanks.

dickydonkin

jc808 wrote: »

Dont see how any of that 'caused' the grinder to go into your inner thigh. No offense, but have you ever used tools before, or do you maybe have some sort of learning disability?

OK - perhaps not a sympathetic response, but it does raise a point.

A faulty safety switch would generally only be needed if something goes wrong during operation and playing devils advocate, if this was an accident in the workplace, I would be looking at what task you were doing, were you familiar with the item of equipment? was the area in which the tool was being used safe and was the grinder and the disc suitable for the task for which it was being used?

Something obviously went wrong for you to need the safety device and I suspect that if you did pursue a claim, any insurer would likely ask similar questions in determining liability.

The apparent faulty safety device may have been contributory factor into the severity of your injury but was unlikely to be a major element of the cause of the actual accident.

It sounds like a painful and nasty injury and I hope you recover soon.

jc808

Never seen a grinder come with an electronic brake. (Which is what you fail to describe despite your 'being involved in Motorsport' )- some power tools (eg some expensive chop saws) have an electronic brake that stops the blade near dead once the button is released (assuming you dont have the button locked in, ) but even that wont help much if it kicks back and your leg takes the brunt.

But blame someone else if you must

Tiddlywinks

Bit concerned that a chap with your experience and qualifications doesn't know what a 'dead man's switch' actually is.... it is automatically tripped when the user is no longer actively interacting with the device.

I'm not saying this to score points but terminology is everything when you are making a claim.

Also, your experience will be taken into account when determining the correct (or otherwise) usage of the tool in question.

Finally, just be aware that your company may wish to recover its costs (sick pay, temp worker etc) from your settlement - your legal rep should take this into account when negotiating.

Ozzuk

jc808 wrote: »

Dont see how any of that 'caused' the grinder to go into your inner thigh. No offense, but have you ever used tools before, or do you maybe have some sort of learning disability?

My uncle had virtually the same accident except it went into his knee, very nasty and one of the reasons I hate using grinders because they can jump around. I have a mate who also had same accident except he was up a ladder at the time!

I also wonder if the item was really faulty or if the accident happened because of inexperience. However, I think your comments are extremely out of order, saying 'no offence' doesn't give carte blanche to say what you want.