Accident at work

[tony3x]

My mums partner had an accident at work and was off for a couple of weeks as he hurt his back.

 

He is being encouraged to make a claim by his boss and the union as it appears the accident was caused by a breach of health & safety. He works for a cleaning company that is contracted to multi national company.

 

I am a bit concerned as he has only been with them for 6 months and it may go against him.

 

He has been given the company solicitor details and been told to pass them onto to whoever is dealing with his claim.

 

2 questions;

 

1) Should he continue with the claim

 

2) Should he use one of the non win no fee types or go with someone local

 

thanks

[lostfaith]

Was appropriate training provided?

 

From past bad experience go direct to solicitor not a claims management firm

[Emmzzi]

Did he have any actual losses?

 

Doe he have an ongoing health issue as a result of the accident?

[tony3x]

Training not an issue.

 

He was loading something into some bins and slipped as the floor was slippery where someone had been emptying butter carton into the wrong place (its a food manufacturer).

 

No ongoing issues at the moment but was off with a bad back.

[lostfaith]

Were there any witnesses? I'm asking these questions from my own experience of two work accidents in the past

[tony3x]

There are witnesses and by all accounts the accident is not disputed.

 

It appears there are H&S breaches and my concern is that he is being used by the contractor (his employer) to put pressure on the main company as apparently these issues have been raised previously.

[becky2585]

He has three years to bring a personal injury claim. Why not wait 18 months until he has two years service and therefore can't be fired for bringing such a claim?

[tony3x]

I thought that may be an option Becky but as he works for the contractor not the main company (who the claim would be against) I don't think it would matter as much.

 

To be honest I have tried to convince him to let it go as the claim, in my eyes, would not be high enough to warrant jeopardising his job.

[Emmzzi]

Hello,

 

I asked if he had any actual losses - financial? Did he or did he get full pay?

[ericsbrother]

You mention a union- simple thing is to ask union legal bods for advice on his particular event..

Compensation is not a prize, it is a cash sorry for when something lost cannot be replaced such as time or an injury that will affect the future. Basically if he lande on his a*** and had a few bruises and got paid for any absence from work that is as far as it goes. His manager may be encouraging a calim because the contracting co get to squeeze a few quid out of it on the back of his claim. He should look at the future risk of developing a permanent disablement rather than anything more immediate other than loss of pay.

[tony3x]

He was not paid full pay while he was off. The loss is in the hundreds of £'s rather than thousands.

 

It is difficult as he seems that he is being pushed by his employer to make a claim and they have said that it will not affect his position. May need to get this in writing....

 

Personally I think that as the loss was relatively minimal he may be cutting off his nose to spite his face.

 

As for future longer term disablement, time will tell although I think probably not as he cycles to and from work with no problem.

 

He is quite easily led and seems to think his employer is encouraging him for his interests, I am not so sure.

[ericsbrother]

His claim is aginst his employer as well as the company he is contracted to. TIf they are pushing him to make a claim it does look like his Co are trying to sidestep their obligations. However as he has lost money he should consider action but let his manager know it is them he will have to go after and they can make the claim against the factory.

[Ganymede]

He was not paid full pay while he was off. The loss is in the hundreds of £'s rather than thousands.

 

It is difficult as he seems that he is being pushed by his employer to make a claim and they have said that it will not affect his position. May need to get this in writing....

 

Personally I think that as the loss was relatively minimal he may be cutting off his nose to spite his face.

 

As for future longer term disablement, time will tell although I think probably not as he cycles to and from work with no problem.

 

He is quite easily led and seems to think his employer is encouraging him for his interests, I am not so sure.

 

By the sounds of it his injury was minimal luckily and so he would struggle to find a solicitor willing to take it on as it's likely to be a small claim, unless he's still in pain etc.