Accident at work?!

[BenjaminD]

My friend's boyfriend had a fall at work today, he was asked to clean the high windows in the chip shop no one was holding the ladder he was using and he fell, hurting his back. When he fell the manager and over employees was apparently laughing, with no CCTV there isn't proof of the accident and nothing was recorded in a accident book.

Where does he stand in this?!

 

[saxondale]

Where does he stand in this?!

poor turn of phrase,


was he trained in using ladders?

 

[MASSEY]

This is an ideal case for the no win no fee vermin.

But he may lose his job in the process of the claim , depends how much he needs the job?

 

[What If]

Did he ask someone to stand at the bottom of the ladder? Did the ladder slip or was he over-stretching?

 

[BenjaminD]

He wasn't trained in using ladders.

What If - I'm unaware of the answer to either of those questions. :| I will try to find out however.

 

[akirk]

did he also use his own common sense?
did he say - someone needs to hold the ladder - and it was refused?

amongst other things folks do need to use their own brain as well...

Alasdair

 

[ccp consultancy]

He needs to make sure the accident is recorded in the book also he needs to ask for a RIDDOR form is completed - as this is a reportable incident

The problem he has is that Health & Safety has an equal responsibility place on the employee as it does on the employer - he should have made sure the ladder was safe, or refused to do the work until someone was holding ladder, or that it was secured safely

Was anyone else there to witness the accident

 

[saxondale]

He needs to make sure the accident is recorded in the book also he needs to ask for a RIDDOR form is completed - as this is a reportable incident

under which section?

 

[What If]

as this is a reportable incident

Have I missed something? Why is it reportable?

 

[arcon5]

To be honest... whether the op used common sense or not, he fell & hurt himself, then his boss laughed and didn't take it seriously!

Whether theres faults or not... this boss deserves whatever may come his way! Full stop!

 

[What If]

To be honest... whether the op used common sense or not, he fell & hurt himself, then his boss laughed and didn't take it seriously!

Whether theres faults or not... this boss deserves whatever may come his way! Full stop!

Please, do you really believe that the boss would have stood there laughing if the accident was serious. Or do you think this lad is being over-sensitive because he embarrased himself! I think its a little harsh to say the boss deserves whatever may come his way, you've only heard one side of the story!
If the boss was negligent (e.g. faulty ladder) then he has a right to claim. But why should a business owner (laughing or not) have to pay compensation to someone who doesn't have the mental capacity to stand on a ladder without falling?

Compo Britain - the ultimate disincentive for anyone to create jobs. FULL STOP!

 

[jumpingspidermedia]

My friend's boyfriend had a fall at work today, he was asked to clean the high windows in the chip shop no one was holding the ladder he was using and he fell, hurting his back. When he fell the manager and over employees was apparently laughing, with no CCTV there isn't proof of the accident and nothing was recorded in a accident book.

Where does he stand in this?!

So sad for him.

He can go after the company but he needs to gather enough evidence to do it so. They are right he can loose his job in the way,if he badly needed his job he might as well charge it to experience.

But those people who laughed at him are really bad!

 

[arcon5]

Please, do you really believe that the boss would have stood there laughing if the accident was serious. Or do you think this lad is being over-sensitive because he embarrased himself! I think its a little harsh to say the boss deserves whatever may come his way, you've only heard one side of the story!
If the boss was negligent (e.g. faulty ladder) then he has a right to claim. But why should a business owner (laughing or not) have to pay compensation to someone who doesn't have the mental capacity to stand on a ladder without falling?

Compo Britain - the ultimate disincentive for anyone to create jobs. FULL STOP!

I'm baseing my comments on what OP has said and I don't agree with the compensation culture. Infact far from. If op was negligent or just being clumsy, the employer shouldn't have to pay out hard earned money to keep him happy --- but at the same time, din't think i'm sympathising with him if they do take it further!!!

Clumsy or not, laughing? This guy has just had a fall and hurt himself! THey don't know how serious it is yet, if infact it is serious. So why the hell should they just laugh!!???? Make sure he is okay first, then the playful banter can start!

 

[saxondale]

did he end up battered and blue?




come on girls!

 

[What If]

I'm baseing my comments on what OP has said and I don't agree with the compensation culture. Infact far from. If op was negligent or just being clumsy, the employer shouldn't have to pay out hard earned money to keep him happy --- but at the same time, din't think i'm sympathising with him if they do take it further!!!

Clumsy or not, laughing? This guy has just had a fall and hurt himself! THey don't know how serious it is yet, if infact it is serious. So why the hell should they just laugh!!???? Make sure he is okay first, then the playful banter can start!

Again.....

do you really believe that the boss would have stood there laughing if the accident was serious. Or do you think this lad is being over-sensitive because he embarrased himself!

 

[arcon5]

Oh geeze.. get a grip!

NEWS FLASH: NOT ALL EMPLOYERS ARE NICE PEOPLE.

And why is it around here we always alsume the OP is lying somewhere? Fair enough some posts are just ridiculous and when you question them it turns out to be correct... but theres also many occassions where the assumption has just been paranoia or something.

I knew somebody that was due to start work at 10 one morning, got hit by a car on the way to work, the police phones her boss to tell her she won't be there and her boss responded with something along the lines of 'she needs to phone us herself or come in to work' as their policy was you had to phone before 9AM.

So is he telling the truth or just being over-sensitive? Maybe, maybe not. But too many people around here are too quick to jump on the

'find a reason to justify the employers actions' bandwagon. Quite naturally aswell since most people are employers and most of the time bend over backwards to help their workers just to have it all thrown back in their face... but sometimes its not the employee, its the employer being out of order.

FULL STOP.

 

[KernowQueen]

Quite naturally aswell since most people are employers and most of the time bend over backwards to help their workers just to have it all thrown back in their face...

you've just pointed out the main reason why tales of employee woe are often subjected to questioning, this particular forum is mainly employers - if the same question was posted on the something like the MSE forums, it would get a very different response as it's mainly employees responding.

as an employer who has had employees take the michael, it's perhaps a little harder to be subjective? i know we should, but...

 

[Jeff FV]

did he end up battered and blue?

No, but I think he might have ended up with a chip on his shoulder.

 

[Merchant UK]

Have I missed something? Why is it reportable?

If the injury causes the employee to have more than 3 days off work its reportable

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR), place a legal duty on:

• employers;
• self-employed people;
• people in control of premises;

to report work-related deaths, major injuries or over-three-day injuries, work related diseases, and dangerous occurrences (near miss accidents).
The quickest and easiest way to do this is to call the Incident Contact Centre with no need to fill in a report form. Just call 0845 300 99 23 (Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5:00pm) and speak to an ICC Operator who will complete a report form over the phone. You will be sent a copy for your records.

Also, the Work at Heights regulations are their to protect employees and using a stepladder should have its own Risk assesment, companies have been fined upto £5000 from HSE for not having Risk assessments or the correct types so although everyone started laughing at this poor chaps fall, they won't be laughing when HSE want to inspect their risk assessments

http://www.hse.gov.uk/falls/regulations.htm

The Chap that fell needs to get his back checked out with his doctor, as normally once you start getting back pain its very hard to get rid of it and is then something you need to live with.

 

[arcon5]

Merchant_UK, thats probably the most useful post in this thread so far!!!

The op has come here and stated the problem, its then automatically assumed the guy is after advise to sue. I'm not in a position to offer advise on employment laws, rights ect ect but maybe somebody could come along and offer more advise like:

• If the back problems persists what rights does he have to stay off work to recover?
• Is he entitled to and how would he go about SSP, even if just for a week to help him recover

 

[Consistency]

Oh geeze.. get a grip!

NEWS FLASH: NOT ALL EMPLOYERS ARE NICE PEOPLE.

NEWS FLASH: NOT ALL EMPLOYEES ARE NICE PEOPLE.

 

[saxondale]

No, but I think he might have ended up with a chip on his shoulder.

whole thing smells fishy

 

[saxondale]

Merchant_UK, thats probably the most useful post in this thread so far!!!

The op has come here and stated the problem, its then automatically assumed the guy is after advise to sue. I'm not in a position to offer advise on employment laws, rights ect ect but maybe somebody could come along and offer more advise like:

• If the back problems persists what rights does he have to stay off work to recover?
• Is he entitled to and how would he go about SSP, even if just for a week to help him recover

I always question "a friend of a friend" posts ..................... OP still ahsnt been able to answer the Q was the injured party trained on the use of stepladders (itself not disallowed)

 

[Atilla]

My friend's boyfriend had a fall at work today, he was asked to clean the high windows in the chip shop no one was holding the ladder he was using and he fell, hurting his back. When he fell the manager and over employees was apparently laughing, with no CCTV there isn't proof of the accident and nothing was recorded in a accident book.

Where does he stand in this?!

Begs the question why nothing was entered in the accident book.
His responsibility - or someone on his behalf if he couldn't manage it.