Non standard Personal injury claim

Spirit16

Esrlier this year I was risk assessing an offsite derelict building. During assessment I had a serious accident that required immediate surgery. I was off work for 3months in permanent pain and unable to walk during recuperation. I will be left with permanent damage and may need further surgery and normal life was turned upside down.
I can't claim against land owner  as company no longer in business. I am unable to claim against my employer on grounds of negligence or duty of care as it was myself they sent to do the site risk assessment and I had taken all necessary h&s precautions. 
Very well known personal injury solicitor has told me it's a tricky case and would be challenging to claim against er and probably end up in court against their insurer.
Has anyone encountered similar issue? Would there be a case to argue that I  have never signed a generic risk assessment for assessors going out to high risk sites?

Savvy_Sue

In a Trade Union?

What training had you received on Risk Assessments / H&S in your line of work? Is this documented? I believe there are professional qualifications you might hold and I did some union training; or was it just generic and in-house?

These are questions I'd expect the solicitor to have asked so feel free to ignore this if they did.

Is @dickydonkin still around? He seems to know his stuff.

LightFlare

Spirit16 said:

Esrlier this year I was risk assessing an offsite derelict building. During assessment I had a serious accident that required immediate surgery. I was off work for 3months in permanent pain and unable to walk during recuperation. I will be left with permanent damage and may need further surgery and normal life was turned upside down.
I can't claim against land owner  as company no longer in business. I am unable to claim against my employer on grounds of negligence or duty of care as it was myself they sent to do the site risk assessment and I had taken all necessary h&s precautions. 
Very well known personal injury solicitor has told me it's a tricky case and would be challenging to claim against er and probably end up in court against their insurer.
Has anyone encountered similar issue? Would there be a case to argue that I  have never signed a generic risk assessment for assessors going out to high risk sites?

Apparently not - as above - exactly what is your background/training in this type of work ?

Very hard to comment without knowing the full details of the incident and whether it could have been anticipated or was “an act of god”

Was the incident correctly recorded/reporting in line with current H&S guidelines (accident book, riddor etc)

I would expect an accident/incident of such magnitude and consequence to be reported to the HSE - what did they say and do ?

Undervalued

Spirit16 said:

Esrlier this year I was risk assessing an offsite derelict building. During assessment I had a serious accident that required immediate surgery. I was off work for 3months in permanent pain and unable to walk during recuperation. I will be left with permanent damage and may need further surgery and normal life was turned upside down.
I can't claim against land owner  as company no longer in business. I am unable to claim against my employer on grounds of negligence or duty of care as it was myself they sent to do the site risk assessment and I had taken all necessary h&s precautions. 
Very well known personal injury solicitor has told me it's a tricky case and would be challenging to claim against er and probably end up in court against their insurer.
Has anyone encountered similar issue? Would there be a case to argue that I  have never signed a generic risk assessment for assessors going out to high risk sites?

Does that mean they won't take it on at all? Or does it mean they won't take it on as a "no win no fee"?

As I think has already been asked. Were you properly trained in how to safely conduct risk assessments? If so, did you carefully follow that training? Were you provided with appropriate equipment (if applicable)?

Just because the accident happened whilst working and / or because the consequences were serious doesn't automatically make it the employer's fault.

Savvy_Sue

Spirit16 said:

I am unable to claim against my employer on grounds of negligence or duty of care as it was myself they sent to do the site risk assessment and I had taken all necessary h&s precautions. 

I'm going to come back to this. 

The questions we're asking about your training and competence matter, because employers are very much negligent if they send an inadequately trained or supervised employee to do something.

Of course, because H&S is EVERYONE'S concern, there may be situations where an inadequately trained employee should refuse to do something for which they've had inadequate training, or supervision is needed but not provided. The tragedies are when an apprentice or young person new to the world of work knows no better and doesn't know they can refuse to work unsafely, or when even an experienced worker does something unsafe because the employer is unreasonable.

Spirit16 said:

Would there be a case to argue that I  have never signed a generic risk assessment for assessors going out to high risk sites?

Have you ever signed a specific RA? What RAs are in place? What evidence is there that YOU were adequately trained for visiting high risk sites?

Undervalued said:

Spirit16 said:

Very well known personal injury solicitor has told me it's a tricky case and would be challenging to claim against er and probably end up in court against their insurer.

Does that mean they won't take it on at all? Or does it mean they won't take it on as a "no win no fee"?

This. NWNF is generally a high bar, because (reputable) solicitors won't take on no- or low-chance cases, because they'd go out of business. That doesn't mean an employer won't want to settle out of court, to reduce publicity - or genuinely because they're a decent company who want to do the right thing.

Undervalued

Savvy_Sue said:

Spirit16 said:

I am unable to claim against my employer on grounds of negligence or duty of care as it was myself they sent to do the site risk assessment and I had taken all necessary h&s precautions. 

I'm going to come back to this. 

The questions we're asking about your training and competence matter, because employers are very much negligent if they send an inadequately trained or supervised employee to do something.

Of course, because H&S is EVERYONE'S concern, there may be situations where an inadequately trained employee should refuse to do something for which they've had inadequate training, or supervision is needed but not provided. The tragedies are when an apprentice or young person new to the world of work knows no better and doesn't know they can refuse to work unsafely, or when even an experienced worker does something unsafe because the employer is unreasonable.

Spirit16 said:

Would there be a case to argue that I  have never signed a generic risk assessment for assessors going out to high risk sites?

Have you ever signed a specific RA? What RAs are in place? What evidence is there that YOU were adequately trained for visiting high risk sites?

Undervalued said:

Spirit16 said:

Very well known personal injury solicitor has told me it's a tricky case and would be challenging to claim against er and probably end up in court against their insurer.

Does that mean they won't take it on at all? Or does it mean they won't take it on as a "no win no fee"?

This. NWNF is generally a high bar, because (reputable) solicitors won't take on no- or low-chance cases, because they'd go out of business. That doesn't mean an employer won't want to settle out of court, to reduce publicity - or genuinely because they're a decent company who want to do the right thing.

That may be a decision that is more for their insurer's to make depending on the terms of their policy. Normally it will require the company to not in any way admit liability

Savvy_Sue

Of course, and it's entirely possible that both the OP and his employer acted negligently, but neither will want to admit this!

Spirit16

Savvy_Sue said:

Spirit16 said:

I am unable to claim against my employer on grounds of negligence or duty of care as it was myself they sent to do the site risk assessment and I had taken all necessary h&s precautions. 

I'm going to come back to this. 

The questions we're asking about your training and competence matter, because employers are very much negligent if they send an inadequately trained or supervised employee to do something.

Of course, because H&S is EVERYONE'S concern, there may be situations where an inadequately trained employee should refuse to do something for which they've had inadequate training, or supervision is needed but not provided. The tragedies are when an apprentice or young person new to the world of work knows no better and doesn't know they can refuse to work unsafely, or when even an experienced worker does something unsafe because the employer is unreasonable.

Spirit16 said:

Would there be a case to argue that I  have never signed a generic risk assessment for assessors going out to high risk sites?

Have you ever signed a specific RA? What RAs are in place? What evidence is there that YOU were adequately trained for visiting high risk sites?

Undervalued said:

Spirit16 said:

Very well known personal injury solicitor has told me it's a tricky case and would be challenging to claim against er and probably end up in court against their insurer.

Does that mean they won't take it on at all? Or does it mean they won't take it on as a "no win no fee"?

This. NWNF is generally a high bar, because (reputable) solicitors won't take on no- or low-chance cases, because they'd go out of business. That doesn't mean an employer won't want to settle out of court, to reduce publicity - or genuinely because they're a decent company who want to do the right thing.

Savvy_Sue said:

Spirit16 said:

I am unable to claim against my employer on grounds of negligence or duty of care as it was myself they sent to do the site risk assessment and I had taken all necessary h&s precautions. 

I'm going to come back to this. 

The questions we're asking about your training and competence matter, because employers are very much negligent if they send an inadequately trained or supervised employee to do something.

Of course, because H&S is EVERYONE'S concern, there may be situations where an inadequately trained employee should refuse to do something for which they've had inadequate training, or supervision is needed but not provided. The tragedies are when an apprentice or young person new to the world of work knows no better and doesn't know they can refuse to work unsafely, or when even an experienced worker does something unsafe because the employer is unreasonable.

Spirit16 said:

Would there be a case to argue that I  have never signed a generic risk assessment for assessors going out to high risk sites?

Have you ever signed a specific RA? What RAs are in place? What evidence is there that YOU were adequately trained for visiting high risk sites?

Undervalued said:

Spirit16 said:

Very well known personal injury solicitor has told me it's a tricky case and would be challenging to claim against er and probably end up in court against their insurer.

Does that mean they won't take it on at all? Or does it mean they won't take it on as a "no win no fee"?

This. NWNF is generally a high bar, because (reputable) solicitors won't take on no- or low-chance cases, because they'd go out of business. That doesn't mean an employer won't want to settle out of court, to reduce publicity - or genuinely because they're a decent company who want to do the right thing.

No generic RA's for going out to jobs. I have over 20 years of experience in this role. But nothing prepared me for a fall through a floor at a site I was visiting ahead of a job.
Thank you for your reply. It helps to give me a bit of a starting point on how to approach my employer

MyRealNameToo

Who's your employer's client then if you say the owner of the property was dissolved? 

Unfortunately contrary to all the ambulance chaser adverts sometimes things are just an accident and no one is liable for them even if someone sustained a significant injury. 

What would your claim be for? Just general damages/PSLA? Or has there been any special damages like loss of earnings?