AllanB

Guys need some advice from anyone whos had this or knows about this kind of thing

Basically 17th march 2005 tripped over a floor port at work, the kind that covers the power connecters, phone and netowrk ports in the floor, that had been left up. Started to have a lot of pain a few weeks afterwards and tried to report the accident but it took 2 months to find the accident book. Once reported I was meant to have someone review this but this never happened despite chasing numerous times.

I saw our HR department in Oct last year who advised me to go the the doctors which I did who said I need physio which I verbally advised the HR dept. Nothing happend and as it got colder things got worse so another trip to the docs in Jan to chase the physio but nothing.

Chased HR and have given them permsission to contact my doctor but they say they have been too busy to follow this up.Oh I emailed them the permission around 6 weeks ago which they claim they have no record of so resent this around 10 days ago. They also asked if I had private medicial insurance to which I said no why should I as the accidnet was caused by someone negligence. Also members of my staff have had further trips over floor ports and I donlt feel this is being taken seriously. I am unable to shop on my own now as I cannot push a trolley and at times driving is painful.

Any advice or ideas would be gratefully recieived.

I'm not looking to make money form this but am concerned it may get worse and affect my quality of life.


AllanB

pslewis

Come on, you ARE looking for money ......................

Sue them!!

Pete

dpb

glasses and a dictionary - sorry to be so harsh.....

wakeboardar

2 months to find the accident book hmmmm

Jamescsti

There's pleny of people advertise on tv who can help!

camk

unless you can prove you went ot the Dr's right after it then it will look like you're fishing for a claim.

Terzo 333

What a contrary fcucker you are - you have, what you call ,an "ACCIDENT" but are then wanting to blame someone What did you do to hurt yourself so much ? Trip up and fall down six flights of stairs

Accidents happen. Move on. Or move to America.

Jer

Did you have pain at the time? Did you go to the doctors the day of the accident? If not it sounds like your at it.

bugeyeandy

Just look where you're going

Scoob99

iTrader: (1)

IIRC you have to report your accident at work within 48 hours, However your employer should make sure your work place is safe to work in and nothing should be in the way so you fall over it, Do you have a union? If so get on to them and get them to chase you case up, also call in a local health and safety inspector, and as for the accident book it should be kept in a managers office, also I would call your local C.A.B. who could adviase you more.
Cheers
Colin

AllanB

I didn't report the accident immediately due to them not being able to find the accident book and it didn't hurt much at the time. It was quite a big trip and I only avoiding hitting the floor by grabbing onto a corner of the desk that I nearly hit my head on as I went over.

It appears likely I have damaged the ligamnets in my knee and have some swelling to my ankle and my big toe that took the brunt now moves in its socket and on occasion I cannot out any weight on it.
I simply want them to cover the costs of the physio to ensure I don't suffer any complications at a later date. Surely a safe place of work is not too much to ask for ?



AllanB

little-ginge

Wow! That's a year ago, and you still havent got anywhere? The company has a care of duty to ensure, as far as possible , your health and safety whilst at work, including ensuring that floors, walkways, stairs and roadways are clear and safe.

It doesn't sound like your Company are going to help you with this - I can't believe it took them 2 months to find the Accident book - on this alone, they are failing in their duty as an employer!!

I would suggest you give your HR department one last chance - resend the email of 6 weeks ago, but update to say that this accident has, and is causing you problems. You do not wish to seek further advice, but it appears that this is your only option at the present time.

I have had a quick look on the interweb, and going by your account, you have tried to sort this amicably and informally, the next step would be perhaps to begin a grievance procedure. You would need to refer to any guidelines your employer may have set out for this. Or alternatively, you can always phone Citizens Advice, or the Health And Safety Executive to ask for advice - as a last resort you can always report your employer to the HSE, but this may cause you more aggro in the long term..

ScoobyDoo555

fwiw, a mate of mine had the same type of grief with his employers. he ended up parting company with them and going down the legal route. Be careful, it could get messy.

Dan

fast bloke

Allan - from reading your side of the story it sounds like you are after money. Once HR put their side of the story it is only going to be worse. My torn knee ligament was completely healed after 14 weeks. If you have torn/ruptured a ligament it wont take weeks to become apparent. It might not be immediately apparent, but if you can still walk an hour later you are a hard man.



(p.s. - Little ginge - it's a duty of care, not a care of duty..... get back to the hutch now... )

sprinterjdk

Allan - If, as your post suggests, the first time you mentioned this to your employer was a few weeks after the accident, they will probably tell you to go swivel as you didn't report the accident at the time. Also, they will point out that, while they have a duty of care, you also have responsibility for your H&S and should have closed the open floor port and taken more care in where you were walking. That said, your company sounds like they haven't got a clue how to deal with accidents at work.

If your injury is affecting your work, you may be able to talk your company into paying for some private healthcare based on the premise it will improve your ability to work. The company I work for provides private physio etc. for Musculoskeletal injuries wheter they were incurred at work or not as it is far cheaper for us to pay for treatment than have to pay for unskilled temps while the injured person is waiting for the NHS.

Your injuries do sound painful, but given the circumstances you may find it hard to make any formal claims against your employer.

Jon

OllyK

Personally, I'd have gone to the docs sooner. Then I'd have taken the docs advice and gone and had physio. I'd still be talking to HR while this is going on, and I expect if the company was found to be at fault that they would cover any expenses in getting things sorted, but I certainly wouldn't be waiting about for weeks or months to get my health sorted out.

Bram

Going with your company has a HR dept I take it more than five employees rule applys.

The issues of the company part in H&S are clear they must ensure a safe environment to meet the legislation and Factory Act as regards all its employees it has a duty to care.

Every employee must be trained and instructed in the procedure of that company on induction or starting. Your company must have a Health and Safety Plan/risk assessments and Safe systems of work.

All accidents must be placed in the accident book-this must be easily available along with near miss book and if the injured cannot enter it the line manager must do it. It is the responsibility of all to report risks, look after each others safety and report accidents to there line manager.

As in all litigation theres a joint shared responsibility which adjudged proportionally on each circumstance.

Failing by the company to act any policy regarding H&S should be taken up firstly with your, line manager, then Health & Saftey Rep for the company, then your union or as per any H&S Plan or grievence procedure of your employer and failing all that the HSE.

In my opinion your company are very lax in implementation of H&S along with everyone else including you, your line manager failed in supplying adequate leadership or management of the issue, your HR seem to be out there depth which is not surprising as they generally get lumped with safety and dont have a clue about such a complex issue, you failed in following clear procedure as regards accident reporting, your company failed in supplying a safe environment and safety procedures as regards reporting, training or induction, investigation of the accident, Risk, Safe systems.

You can also lump in to this your union if there is one allowing this company to be lax with safety and procedure of its members.

Drunken Bungle Whore

I'm assuming he doesn't have a TARDIS so time travel to take OllyK's valuable advice would be out.

Take Bram's advice - your employer has a legal responsibility to provide a safe place of work - and you have a responsibility to report any potential hazards. They've shown a typically lax attitude to H&S. If the next person that trips over the cable cracks their head open on the desk you missed they'd have a lot of tricky questions to answer.

If all else fails contact the HSE - they usually quite keen to pick up on these sorts of incidents.

OllyK

My point is, if you've not had the injury treated and it's 12 months old then it can't be that serious surely?

Simon K

Ring that fat bloke up thats in that "Have you been hurt at work ?" advert. Whilst on the phone to him, ask if he's ever heard of "Slim fast"?

SBK

Bram

OllyK- I looked at it the way that it was a total shambles how it was handled or an indictment how companies carryout H&S for their employees

OllyK

That's a separate issue IMO. Yes it needs to be sorted, but what resolution is AllanB looking for? To me if the injury is now so bad, 12 months on that he can hardly walk on it - why the hell doesn't he get himself to the physio as suggested by the doctor? Sure fight it out with the company during and after to get reimbursed, but I wouldn't put my health on hold for 12 months.

Karl 227

Allan, you should have acted quicker, I don't think your case will stand up very steadily, not even on both legs. I had a similar instance back in 2002 when the fly screens fitted to my office window were slightly ripped in one corner, I reported this (in writing thank God) on numerous occasions to our maintenance division but to no avail. Well wouldn't you know it, in July 2002 a female wasp flew into my office through one of the rips in the screen!! Unfortunately I was involved in writing a very complicated quotation at the time otherwise I may have noticed the potential danger sooner. The female wasp was able to approach me and sting me on the arm, well, I was disgusted to say the least. I went straight to our company doctor (taking copies of the previous correspondance along) and explained what had happened. I *also* feared that my quality of life would be affected, so I have been having councelling since the attack which seems to have helped, well that and the fact that I received fifteen thousand pounds compensation from the company because of the trauma that I suffered. I just need to find another job now

Diablo

All very valid and fair points.

However if you pursue this you can most probably waive good bye to any career prospects (at best).

If I switched on my laptop and it blew up in my face because if improper maintenance by my company, I would have something to complain about.

If I wasn't looking where I was going ad walked into a floor port I would chalk it down my own bloody stupidity and move on.

Its all about perspective, in the REAL world.

Mungo

You'd probably be surprised what would fly in court, if it ever went that far. If the victim can prove that the company had provided inadequate training with regards to the accident reporting procedure, and that even when the accident had been reported it then had no adequate follow-up and remediation procedures in place, the company will probably be seen at fault. Every employee does have a duty of care for their own wellbeing and that of fellow colleagues, but the employer does also. Leaving an open floor port unguarded would not be showing a duty of care to the employees.
Even if you do eventually get some compensation, I'm sure you'll agree it hasn't been worth the hassle, you'll likely be unemployable, either because of the court case, or because of your apparently chronic (in the medical sense) condition making you unfit to work. Easy to say now, but best be careful rather than just keen to sue.

jasey

Should have held out - the first offer is never the best

AllanB

Karl 227 thats was class by the way. ;-)

I've not paid for treatment as its not too painful all the time and have had it strapped up and been on ibuprofen as per the docs advice and they were going to get me physio in Ocotber but as its got colder the pain has got worse. Its bearable but I sometimes end up limping around. I also don't see why I should be out of pocket due to a lack of care and attention to safety.

At one stage I could not walk and spent a week on holiday sitting on the sofa.

I really don't care about compensation as thats not what i want just after the cost of the medical treatment to be covered. I asked about this as was asked have you taken out our private health cover. I just found the attitude towards this concerning especially as a member of my staff has had two trips on different floor ports that were left up and I am responsible for my staffs wellbeing. Having checked the records again today it took over a week for the last floor port that had partially collapsed to be fixed and that was after reporting it directly to the HR manager.

I think the feeling is kicking up a big fuss won't do my career prospects much good and maybe I should by an automatic and get my girlfirend to do the shopping now then !

I've emailed my new boss directly as my old one did nothing apart from tell me to think about legal action so I'll see what comes of it.


AllanB