Accident at work, who's responsibility?

Fixthedog

Hi there, I'm new to this.
My husband recently had an accident at work where he is a joiner. Half a tonne of steel fell on him and he spent the next 5 days in hospital.
His boss has told him that is "well within his rights to claim" although he is passing the blame to one of his contractors (who is a very good friend of ours).
We would like to know where the responsibility lies. Whether it is that of the site manager or that of the individual contractor.
We only ask as my husbands boss is being difficult with his wages now as he has had to have 4 weeks off work.
Many thanks for taking the time to read and reply.

marliepanda

Are you saying you will only claim if it will affect the boss and not your friend?

If the site manager did everything correctly by the contractor went against that, then it would be the contractor.

It is whoever’s fault the accident happened who is to blame, not who you like the least...

Fixthedog

Thank you for your reply.
It isn't "who we like the least" it is the fact that his boss is being problematic with his wages. No point claiming against someone who doesn't pay his wages when it is a grievance with his wages that we have.

marliepanda

Fixthedog wrote: »

Thank you for your reply.
It isn't "who we like the least" it is the fact that his boss is being problematic with his wages. No point claiming against someone who doesn't pay his wages when it is a grievance with his wages that we have.

Does he qualify for sick pay, either contractual or statutory?

The wages issue is a different issue to who is responsible for the accident.

sangie595

Fixthedog wrote: »

Thank you for your reply.
It isn't "who we like the least" it is the fact that his boss is being problematic with his wages. No point claiming against someone who doesn't pay his wages when it is a grievance with his wages that we have.

There is no right to wages, regardless of who was responsible. A company would be stupid to pay wages after an accident as it would be tantamount to an admission of liability. Lost wages are part of the compensation claim.

Who is responsible is a matter for the lawyers, the insurers and possibly the courts- it had no bearing on whether you claim or not. You claim and let them sort out who, if anyone, is liable.

sitesafe

Fixthedog wrote: »

Hi there, I'm new to this.
My husband recently had an accident at work where he is a joiner. Half a tonne of steel fell on him and he spent the next 5 days in hospital.
His boss has told him that is "well within his rights to claim" although he is passing the blame to one of his contractors (who is a very good friend of ours).
We would like to know where the responsibility lies. Whether it is that of the site manager or that of the individual contractor.
We only ask as my husbands boss is being difficult with his wages now as he has had to have 4 weeks off work.
Many thanks for taking the time to read and reply.

Make sure it was reported on site. I believe it is the direct employer who is responsible for your husband and it's down to the employer to sue sub contractor if he believes it was the sub contractors fault. As well as being reported as an accident at work it should also be reported as a RIDDOR because it has resulted in your husband being off work for than 7 consecutive days but that should have been done within 15 days. A RIDDOR is the reporting of an accident that falls into a specific criteria
- and an accident reported this way can sometimes fall into more than one RIDDOR category. E.g. The being off work for more than 7 days is one, but the collapse of lifting equipment (just an example) is another. I can't recall if it means reporting it separately for each criteria or if it can all be done on the same form but the employer should know about this.
I think you best bet is to contact HSE and RIDDOR yourselves for a more accurate explanation http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg453.pdf

nicechap

Fixthedog wrote: »

Hi there, I'm new to this.
My husband recently had an accident at work where he is a joiner. Half a tonne of steel fell on him and he spent the next 5 days in hospital.
His boss has told him that is "well within his rights to claim" although he is passing the blame to one of his contractors (who is a very good friend of ours).
We would like to know where the responsibility lies. Whether it is that of the site manager or that of the individual contractor.
We only ask as my husbands boss is being difficult with his wages now as he has had to have 4 weeks off work.
Many thanks for taking the time to read and reply.

Fixthedog wrote: »

Thank you for your reply.
It isn't "who we like the least" it is the fact that his boss is being problematic with his wages. No point claiming against someone who doesn't pay his wages when it is a grievance with his wages that we have.

As a general principle everyone is responsible for H&S and avoiding accidents, so the circumstances of the event will be very important. So, if your husband removed a safety brake/ device .....

5 days in hospital? Presumably a RIDDOR report has been done? Your husband should ask for a copy.

Is your husband a self employed or an employee?

Who normally pays his him when he's sick?

Was this on a 3rd party's site or on his boss's premises?

Was the contractor employed by your boss or by a 3rd party e.g. project manager.

Ultimately, its a matter for courts to resolve where the above matters and many others will be covered.

TELLIT01

When you say the employer is being awkward about his pay can you elaborate on that? Is your husband at least getting SSP? If he's a full time employee he should be entitled to that at a minimum. Anything above that is down to what is in his contract.
As to where blame/responsibility lies, that will depend on many factors including whether the employer had implemented required H&S and if the contractor broke H&S thereby causing the accident.

Brynsam

sangie595 wrote: »

There is no right to wages, regardless of who was responsible. A company would be stupid to pay wages after an accident as it would be tantamount to an admission of liability. Lost wages are part of the compensation claim.

Whatever happens further down the line is neither here nor there if someone has a contractual right to company sick pay, which could be what OP means. Without knowing, it's impossible to judge if her husband has a right to 'wages'.

Savvy_Sue

and if the OP answers nicechap's questions we'll be a lot further forward. If the OP's DH is self-employed, then any talk of wages is misleading. If he's employed, then what he's entitled to receive over and above SSP is down to what's in his terms and conditions.

As for an insurance claim, that's down to the specifics of what happened and how it happened.

JayRitchie

if half a tonne of steel fell on him he certainly has a claim against someone. Start with his employers - the people operating the site. If they wish to counterclaim against another contractor thats for them to do. You need legal advice - the issue is not a few weeks pay - its the risk of long term effects.