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.