Accident at work, who does it fall on?

Brynsam

KatrinaWaves said:

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.

Actually they could well be. Certainly worth investigating. OP, start with your local branch of Citizens Advice, or (if you're in one) your union.

A_Lert

I don't think the property owner would be liable. There's a flood due to blocked drains and your company has been called to fix that. It's kind of obvious and unavoidable the flood is going to be there.

You could maybe argue your employer is liable because they should have provided training, procedures, and/or equipment to deal with the hazard and they didn't.

unforeseen

A_Lert said:

You could maybe argue your employer is liable because they should have provided training, procedures, and/or equipment to deal with the hazard and they didn't.

Nothing so far to indicate whether they did or didn't. Maybe they did and employee decided not to bother with following it because they wanted to do it quickly rather than correctly

Manxman_in_exile

Hmmm...

If the employer was familiar with this particular Housing Association site - say either because the site had been attended before or because the employer had a plan of on-site utitlities because they were contracted to cover it - then I would expect them to know the exact location of manholes and service hatches etc and to ensure that their staff attending also knew where they were - whether the site was flooded or not and whether the manhole was visible or not.  Doesn't seem at all unreasonable to me to expect the employer - small family firm or not - to take such precautions to safeguard their staff and fulfil their duty of care.

Of course, it's also possible that the OP ought to have known as well if they had previously attended, or, if the extent of flooding was such as to make it impossible to see where they were putting their feet, that they should have proceeded with more care.  If the OP is involved in unblocking drains I would expect them to have tools (rods, poles etc) that could have been used to feel the way and ensure good footing.

StevenB12

Sadly I had not attended this address previously so had no prior knowledge to where chambers would be etc. 

KatrinaWaves

StevenB12 said:

Sadly I had not attended this address previously so had no prior knowledge to where chambers would be etc. 

And you have no training or tools to find them when they are submerged? 

Manxman_in_exile

StevenB12 said:

Sadly I had not attended this address previously so had no prior knowledge to where chambers would be etc. 

But had your employer/other employees attended previously?  Should your employer have known where the chambers were and warned you?  Or, should you have taken more care yourself?

74jax

StevenB12 said:

Sadly I had not attended this address previously so had no prior knowledge to where chambers would be etc. 

What is the usual way for this to be rectified.  So you attend somewhere submerged and don't know where the chambers are.  I'm guessing the risk assessment isn't to just wade in and hope you don't fall?  Is there not a plan etc that you follow?  Is this the first time this situation has presented itself?  If so, did you ask how to proceed?  If not, do you have a procedure to follow?