Accident at work, who does it fall on?

StevenB12

Hey guys.

About 6 months ago I had an accident at work resulting in a fractured ankle. This resulted in time off work and having to wear a moon boot. Hospital recommended minimum 6 weeks off work, in total I had 1 week and had to use my holidays as employer wanted me to go on the sick which I couldn't afford.

Long story short I worked in utilities and was working on a blocked drain. The area was flooded with fat and grease, this lifted the manhole lid that couldn't be seen, nor could the chamber be seen. As a result I fell down it, luckily just about knee deep. I reported this to work and continued to work the day (an extra 9 hours) which meant limping all day lol.

The accident happened on a domestic property which belonged to a housing association we do work for, our largest contract. If I was to claim would this fall on my now previous employer or the housing association?

I'm still getting trouble with the ankle now, I didn't do anything at the time as I still worked there and thought they might have been a bit better about the situation instead of asking me to take holidays etc.

Thanks for any info.

oh_really

StevenB12 said:

Hey

If I was to claim would this fall on my now previous employer or the housing association?

If there is a liability issue then it would fall on your employers insurer.

Robin9

Did it get formally reported  - accident book followed by notification to HSE.   ?

ssparks2003

Was your employer negligent? Did you follow all correct procedures and instructions? 

StevenB12

I doubt it got reported to HSE as it was a small family run business.

As for negligence not really as in that circumstance there isn't really a guide line. If you can't see you cant see unfortunately and no one was to know that the manhole chamber was exposed or where it was sadly.

tacpot12

You really need some specialist legal advice to help understand where your  employer or the HA was negligent. Do you have any home insurance? If so, you might have some legal expenses cover as part of this. If you do, you will have a legal helpline number, you can call to get advice. If you don't, you will need to find a specialist personal injury lawyer, and discuss whether you have a claim. Don't agree to use them. You employer might  refer you to their insurers who might  settle for a small sum without much of fight. How much do you want or need? It it's just enough to cover the time you have had off, I expect they will willingly settle for this. 

General_Grant

StevenB12 said:

I doubt it got reported to HSE as it was a small family run business.

As for negligence not really as in that circumstance there isn't really a guide line. If you can't see you cant see unfortunately and no one was to know that the manhole chamber was exposed or where it was sadly.

But did you complete an accident report form?  I doubt they would report it if you didn't complete an accident report form.

StevenB12

tacpot12 said:

You really need some specialist legal advice to help understand where your  employer or the HA was negligent. Do you have any home insurance? If so, you might have some legal expenses cover as part of this. If you do, you will have a legal helpline number, you can call to get advice. If you don't, you will need to find a specialist personal injury lawyer, and discuss whether you have a claim. Don't agree to use them. You employer might  refer you to their insurers who might  settle for a small sum without much of fight. How much do you want or need? It it's just enough to cover the time you have had off, I expect they will willingly settle for this. 

Yeah pretty much. If I was to be greedy then I'd say 6 weeks pay as this was the time I was recommended to have off. But in reality my issue was having to use holidays. So a weeks pay would be more than welcome.

StevenB12

General_Grant said:

StevenB12 said:

I doubt it got reported to HSE as it was a small family run business.

As for negligence not really as in that circumstance there isn't really a guide line. If you can't see you cant see unfortunately and no one was to know that the manhole chamber was exposed or where it was sadly.

But did you complete an accident report form?  I doubt they would report it if you didn't complete an accident report form.

I filled one in when I got back to work but I wouldn't be surprised if it went missing lol

KatrinaWaves

I’m not sure what you think your case is.

you had an accident. It was clearly no ones fault, you fell down a hole no one saw. The employer cant possibly be liable for that.

You could have ‘gone on the sick’ but chose to
take holiday as you didn’t want to drop to sick pay. I can’t see how it’s the employers responsibility any more than if you tripped over your own feet and broke your foot. 

Robin9

Small family business it might be but they have legal duties - an accident if more than 10 employees is one under RIDDOR...It's in an employer's interest to keep them - just in case you come back in 6 months, 6 years ............