Industrial injury,advice please

[fred flange]

I was injured at work at the beginning of September,was kicked bloody hard in the leg just above my knee by a cow,causing a hypertension of the knee according to the doctor who i saw a week later as knee was swollen and getting more painful.
I tool a week off self certified to let it settle down on doctors advice which it duly did and returned on light dutys.Ten days later it was all swollen up and as painful as before so went back to doctors(saw a different one this time)who seemed to think i had cartilage damage in my knee which was causing the pain and told me complete rest would allow it to settle down and hopefully heal so was off for 5 weeks but he also refered me to see a specialist.
Now ive been back for 2 weeks saw specialist last week who has confirmed subject to a mri scan that there is damage to the miniscus cartilage and would need an operation.
My questions are when ive gone back to work after the 5 weeks off ive asked to do light dutys as i'm still carrying an injury which has totally been ignored by my manager,so much as i am now off sick again as from yesterday as knee is all swollen and bloody painful does he have a duty of care for me as someone ive spoken to seems to think and should i of recieved my normal salary instead of SSP due to a work injury and not self inflicted?

[elanfan]

This will all come down to whether your employer is liable at law. There will have had to be proven negligence on their part - I don't know the circumstances but I cannot see how if you work with animals a system could be put in place that prevents you being kicked.

[uknick]

I think receiving full pay or SSP is down to the terms in your contract of employment, or general rules for your organisation.

With regard to your employer's negligence, could they have foreseen the accident? If so, did they put in place the necessary procedures to prevent it, and, did you follow them to the letter? But, as stated above, as a farm worker it may be considered that getting kicked is an occupational hazard.

You may be able to get some free legal advice from an insurance policy you have, e.g. building and contents.

[blindswelledrat]

fred flange said:

I was injured at work at the beginning of September,was kicked bloody hard in the leg just above my knee by a cow,causing a hypertension of the knee according to the doctor who i saw a week later as knee was swollen and getting more painful.

SOrry, but that is one of my favourite work injuries ever.

FF said:

should i of recieved my normal salary instead of SSP due to a work injury and not self inflicted?

The circumstance isn't really relevant. It's about your contract. Personally I am amazed they haven't paid you though. I would have thought it was commonsense to pay someone injured at work in order to minimize potention claims.
I am not a lawyer, so my advice is just that of a layman, but I would write (or email) to your boss and say that you are suprised that they are not paying you for time off, given that it was a work-related injury and could they explain thier reasons.
I would think that might make them nervous enough to pay you, and if not then take some proper advice

[anonymous-user]

The OP's question is partly about the behaviour of his employer after his return from his initial absence. The employer may become liable for not making sufficient allowance for the injury, if it is exacerbated thereby, even if the original injury was an accident, with no one to blame.

[ALawson]

Does your employer have an accident book? Was your injury recorded in it?
If you were off for a week then the accident is reportable to the HSE under RIDDOR? Failing to report it isn't viewed to favourable, from memory the agriculture industry kills only more people than construciton.

Under the HSWA your employer does have duty of care to carry out a risk assessment for the work being undertaken (note it doesn't have to be recorded), likewise they need to ensure that people are competent to undertake the works.

You also have a duty care for your own well being and that of others to not do works which you know are likely to result in an injury.

Any injury at our works resulting in someone being off for 5 + weeks would result in a fairly through investigation.

As a business that I work for we do not pay more than SSP for weekly paid operatives as it is deemed to be a admission of fault.

What are you looking for from your employer? Full pay due to a fault of there's? Your employer may just be hoping you will ps off and forget about it!

If your knee is unstable (sounds like it) you will be need an arthoscopy which is a simple procedure and depending on what they do you should be back on your feet with some physio between 2-7 days, maybe on crutches depending what else they find.

I suggest you have a look at any contract you have or go and see a specialist. We normally get a fair few claims every year from people injured at work, the normal process is to check that everything we said we would do, we did. If we haven't followed process or where it is lacking "best industry practice" and we cannot prove negligence of the operative then it gets settled prior to going anywhere near a court.

Hope your knee settles down they can be a complete PIA.