Injury at work, director denying knowledge of it

StevenB12

Hey all,

On Thursday (18th Jan) I was doing a routine task at work when I felt a sharp pain in my wrist, it got worse on the friday/Saturday, went to A&E on Sunday, had an x-ray with suspected fractured wrist, went back Wednesday to have a cast fitted, told my director etc and showed him my wrist.

I reported this via email on the Wednesday last week to my health and safety department, it was then brought up in a meeting that I wasn't involved in, my new manager has told the client the accident happened at home and my director denied all knowledge of knowing about it. 

Health and safety are now "playing it by ear" in terms of the next steps, as I've reported it being at work, but management have now said it was at home.

Where do I stand on this? 

Thank you

Brie

Were there any witnesses?  Did someone nearby hear you shout out in pain or similar?  Why would your director know about it, as potentially no one had got around to informing him.

What proof do you have that management has said it was at home?

StevenB12

Brie said:

Were there any witnesses?  Did someone nearby hear you shout out in pain or similar?  Why would your director know about it, as potentially no one had got around to informing him.

What proof do you have that management has said it was at home?

2 witnesses on site, I told my director as all accidents/injuries/incidents get reported to him, he knew a couple of days before this meeting. 

Director for the client, as well as the manager who was in the meeting (who said it was at home) told me, as he didn't want an investigation into it.

LightFlare

You need to make sure that it is reported correctly internally and also externally in accordance with RIDDOR
https://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/reportable-incidents.htm

Brie

OK so the director and manager are blatantly lying.  So how does that effect you?  If it means that you won't be eligible for any extra time off for dealing with your fracture that's a problem.  If pointing out their lies means they find a way to squeeze you out of the business then that's a problem.  If you pointing out their lies to a industry regulator then that's potentially a big problem for the business with lots of knock on effects.  

From a purely selfish point of view, if I was you I would be looking out for yourself.  If you are given every courtesy provided to someone who is injured at work then there's nothing you absolutely need to do.  If you are concerned about the company's lack of integrity then maybe you need to line up another job before you report it to whomever.

StevenB12

Brie said:

OK so the director and manager are blatantly lying.  So how does that effect you?  If it means that you won't be eligible for any extra time off for dealing with your fracture that's a problem.  If pointing out their lies means they find a way to squeeze you out of the business then that's a problem.  If you pointing out their lies to a industry regulator then that's potentially a big problem for the business with lots of knock on effects.  

From a purely selfish point of view, if I was you I would be looking out for yourself.  If you are given every courtesy provided to someone who is injured at work then there's nothing you absolutely need to do.  If you are concerned about the company's lack of integrity then maybe you need to line up another job before you report it to whomever.

Sadly I'm still at work, been offered no time off, not even one day. Still expected to drive even though it would void their insurance and put me at liability. 

Unfortunately there are several incidents that the group directors don't know about, with this being one of many. If it had been reported correctly from all sides so there's an official record, I wouldn't have been to bothered, accidents happen, but trying to erase it which could cause problems down the road for myself, isn't great 

TELLIT01

If I'm reading the OP correctly, the alleged incident happened on the Thursday but wasn't reported to their work until the following Wednesday.  If that is true, I can't say I'm surprised that the company might claim that the actual injury may have happened at work.  Why wasn't it reported at least on the Monday after having x-rays taken over the weekend.

Tucosalamanca

HSE website has lots of useful information.

If more than five employees, there should be a written health and safety policy that should be shared and accessible to staff.

Has the policy been followed?

Has the incident been recorded in your firm's accident report book?

Were there any witnesses, have any statements been taken, did you tell A&E that it was a work related injury?

There's also the matter of risk assessments.
Who carried out the assessment, who signed it off, was it suitable for the task you were carrying out, were you following procedures?

Has you employer started an investigation?

What are the immediate consequences for you, how do you want your employer to support you?

If you feel that you are not being supported or that your employer is trying to avoid their responsibilities, you could always start a personal injury claim against them. That will certainly sharpen their attention but might create other issues for you, I certainly wouldn't expect it to improve your daily routine (although it might ultimately lead to better policies/procedures within the company).

To a large extent, how do you want to play it?

StevenB12

TELLIT01 said:

If I'm reading the OP correctly, the alleged incident happened on the Thursday but wasn't reported to their work until the following Wednesday.  If that is true, I can't say I'm surprised that the company might claim that the actual injury may have happened at work.  Why wasn't it reported at least on the Monday after having x-rays taken over the weekend.

Because initial x-rays were only of a 'suspected ' fracture, has to go virtual trauma clinic before specialists view it etc to decide on what it is/treatment, hence the cast on the Wednesday, which is why I reported it once it was confirmed to be fractured. You also have 15 days to a report an incident.

StevenB12

Tucosalamanca said:

HSE website has lots of useful information.

If more than five employees, there should be a written health and safety policy that should be shared and accessible to staff.

Has the policy been followed?

Has the incident been recorded in your firm's accident report book?

Were there any witnesses, have any statements been taken, did you tell A&E that it was a work related injury?

There's also the matter of risk assessments.
Who carried out the assessment, who signed it off, was it suitable for the task you were carrying out, were you following procedures?

Has you employer started an investigation?

What are the immediate consequences for you, how do you want your employer to support you?

If you feel that you are not being supported or that your employer is trying to avoid their responsibilities, you could always start a personal injury claim against them. That will certainly sharpen their attention but might create other issues for you, I certainly wouldn't expect it to improve your daily routine (although it might ultimately lead to better policies/procedures within the company).

To a large extent, how do you want to play it?

I suspect a claim at this stage would probably end badly, currently on 9 month probation period (long probation periods here) so it would be an easier excuse to be let go. Having said that, not sure it's the best place to be if this is standard

sheramber

What task were you doing and how did it lead to a fractured wrist?