Accident at work, should I claim?

melissa1082

Hi, my son is a 21yr old plumbing apprentice who has worked for the same company since he was 17. Recently he was subcontracted to working on a construction site fitting all the new builds plumbing. The site foreman left him alone onsite at 3pm to go and get his wing mirror fixed, he asked him to shut the site up. At 4pm he was cutting some wood using a circular saw and sliced his finger off. He managed to call myself and I rushed to the site and took him to the hospital. He has know had to have his finger amputated to the first joint. He doesn’t feel his boss is to blame but is not sure whether to sue the site foreman/construction company as they had a duty of care and was negligent? Can anyone give opinion as to who is at fault and whether we should pursue this further? Thanks 

Brie

Well sounds like a major health and safety fail if his only way to get help is to ring his mother.  I would certainly want to have it all logged officially and a report done about any failings.  

Your son meanwhile is likely in shock as to what has happened and how it might effect him in the future.  He is probably feeling stupid for making a mistake and not thinking things through as to his employer's obligation to him as an apprentice.   I would think a plumber can get by with less than the full range of digits but will if change how he does other things?  It used to be an issue if someone had this happen and they were a musician as many instruments cannot be easily played if a finger is partially missing.  These days it will possible cause some constraints on computer work.  

fyi - I've seen a few people who'd had similar things (well worse I guess) and they seem to be getting ongoing compensation from an industrial injuries board.  He (with your help no doubt) should be asking his employer about whether he is eligible for that.  Chaps I've seen are much older and this is essentially a  weekly payment made based on the injury and the ongoing impact.  

DullGreyGuy

Does he live with you? Do you have Legal Expenses cover on your home insurance? If so the they are likely to give advice and provide representation if they think there is a claim to be made. 

How did the accident happen? Had he been trained on the equipment? Was he wearing any PPE that he'd been told to? Was the blade guard functioning?

I'm no expert on employers liability but these are the sorts of things that typically come up. If he's been told not to use the saw or has been trained to do XYZ but actually decided to use it and choose not to follow instructions then there will be nothing to pin on the employer. If he's been told to use PPE but none was available and the blade guards been bust for months then there may be a case. 

Ayr_Rage

Looking at it as an impartial outsider, there is far too little information to advise if there may be a claim against anybody.

As he has been in the job for over 3 years he must have had a lot of instruction as to what machinery he should be operating and whether he could do so unsupervised.

Why do you think the company/foreman may have been negligent?

LightFlare

As above - was there an equipment failure or failure to use equipment properly 

Marcon

melissa1082 said:

Hi, my son is a 21yr old plumbing apprentice who has worked for the same company since he was 17. Recently he was subcontracted to working on a construction site fitting all the new builds plumbing. The site foreman left him alone onsite at 3pm to go and get his wing mirror fixed, he asked him to shut the site up. At 4pm he was cutting some wood using a circular saw and sliced his finger off. He managed to call myself and I rushed to the site and took him to the hospital. He has know had to have his finger amputated to the first joint. He doesn’t feel his boss is to blame but is not sure whether to sue the site foreman/construction company as they had a duty of care and was negligent? Can anyone give opinion as to who is at fault and whether we should pursue this further? Thanks 

A truly horrible experience for you as well your son.

Impossible to give a valid opinion on the basis of such limited information. 

What are the grounds for suggesting the site foreman and/or construction company had a duty of care/were negligent? What has his employer had to say about the matter?

melissa1082

Hi, 

The duty of care comes down to leaving him onsite by himself, several people we have spoken to said he should have shut the site. I’m just trying to get advice. His actual employer was not happy and has been very supportive. Also he is competent in his work but as working onsite is new he never received an induction and also wasn’t aware of not using dangerous tools by himself. He was using the circular saw correctly but it kick backed. He is still in shock as only had surgery yesterday. Just finding out the right thing to do, it could have been worse and maybe he couldn’t have contacted someone ie passed out. Then who would have found him. I would like to prevent future injuries and feel duty of care was not provided on site. We have never experienced anything like this before, so are greatful for the opinions of others!

Grumpy_chap

melissa1082 said:

Hi, my son is a 21yr old plumbing apprentice who has worked for the same company since he was 17. Recently he was subcontracted to working on a construction site fitting all the new builds plumbing. The site foreman left him alone onsite at 3pm to go and get his wing mirror fixed, he asked him to shut the site up. At 4pm he was cutting some wood using a circular saw and sliced his finger off. He managed to call myself and I rushed to the site and took him to the hospital. He has know had to have his finger amputated to the first joint. He doesn’t feel his boss is to blame but is not sure whether to sue the site foreman/construction company as they had a duty of care and was negligent? Can anyone give opinion as to who is at fault and whether we should pursue this further? Thanks 

I know this is a hard situation for your son, but the tough question has to be asked whether he was in any way contributory negligent?

I assume he has reported the incident regardless via the company accident book and to his superiors.  Depending upon the extent of the injury and time off work, this may be a RIDDOR.
The fact the incident has been reported will mean the employer will undertake an investigation which may give an indication of who carries the responsibility for the incident.

The fact he was alone is probably not material in the incident happening.  Was he using the circular saw in any different way to if there had been others nearby?
Is there a lone working policy?  What activities are permitted under that constraint?
Was he following instructions?  If the Foreman left him alone, and the son was asked to shut the site up, why was he using a circular saw?  Is that part of the procedure for shutting the site up?
He is a plumbing apprentice, yet was cutting some wood with a circular saw.  Was that part of his job function (as a plumber), or was he cutting some wood for personal use?
Were all the guards in place for the circular saw?
Were all the clamps in place and being used correctly?
Were all the accessories being used correctly to drive the wood being cut through the cutting zone?
What training had your son received in the use of the circular saw?
Is your son an authorised user of the circular saw?
Was your son using all PPE?
Were all RAMS (Risk Assessment Method Statement) being followed?

Is your son a direct employee or contractor for the company?

All of the above questions will be asked by the company when they undertake their investigation.  The responses and the facts as will be established will guide the decision as to whether your son should consider a claim against the employer.  The extent to which your son is to blame will be determined through this investigation and the assessment of the same questions / answers.  The best you / your son can do is to consider those points himself.

It is worth your son recording the events as he recalls them sooner rather than later.

melissa1082 said:

Hi, 

The duty of care comes down to leaving him onsite by himself, several people we have spoken to said he should have shut the site. I’m just trying to get advice. His actual employer was not happy and has been very supportive. Also he is competent in his work but as working onsite is new he never received an induction and also wasn’t aware of not using dangerous tools by himself. He was using the circular saw correctly but it kick backed. He is still in shock as only had surgery yesterday. Just finding out the right thing to do, it could have been worse and maybe he couldn’t have contacted someone ie passed out. Then who would have found him. I would like to prevent future injuries and feel duty of care was not provided on site. We have never experienced anything like this before, so are greatful for the opinions of others!

Rather like this instruction he was given from the foreman?

melissa1082 said:

Hi, my son is a 21yr old plumbing apprentice who has worked for the same company since he was 17. Recently he was subcontracted to working on a construction site fitting all the new builds plumbing. The site foreman left him alone onsite at 3pm to go and get his wing mirror fixed, he asked him to shut the site up. At 4pm he was cutting some wood using a circular saw and sliced his finger off. He managed to call myself and I rushed to the site and took him to the hospital. He has know had to have his finger amputated to the first joint. He doesn’t feel his boss is to blame but is not sure whether to sue the site foreman/construction company as they had a duty of care and was negligent? Can anyone give opinion as to who is at fault and whether we should pursue this further? Thanks 

Why was your son still there at 4 pm and using a circular saw?  An hour earlier, he was instructed to shut the site up.
I do not say this to be nasty, but that is almost certainly the response the Foreman will give when questioned.
The Foreman may hold some responsibility and, in hindsight, maybe should have had the site secure and shut up at 3 pm when he had to leave to get the van wing mirror fixed.
However, from what has been shared so far in the thread, the Foreman's error in leaving the Apprentice to shut the site up may appear less significant than the Apprentice's error in not following the instruction.

melissa1082

He notified my son that he was leaving to take his car to garage and that when he leaves at 4.30pm could he make sure the site was shut up. He never told him to stop work, that’s why he continued, he has never been put in this position before. Normally end the end of the day my son would be there with just the foreman as all other workers leave at 4pm. 

la531983

No you shouldn't claim. Because you didn't have the accident.

HampshireH

Your son would need to prove his employer was negligent under the Health and Safety at work act.

Failing to carry out a site induction, issues Risk Assessments and Method Statement or failing to supervise an apprentice (if their policy states 100% supervision) could all be evidence of negligence. As could failing to provide correct PPE for the task in hand (if he hadn't been that is).

He called you instead of the appointed first aider in the construction phase plan. Does that mean he didn't have sight of that either?

He'd probably need legal advice on whether the facts of his case would be strong enough.

The employer has to have logged this as a RIDDOR to the HSE as mentioned above as finger amputation is a specified injury.

He needs to make sure it has been reported. He should ask his employer for confirmation and he should engage with their internal H&S investigation. I expect the employer wasn't happy as the spot light is now on them and they have a fair bit of work to do.