Injured at work?
Discussion
tight fart said:
Dismissed on grounds of ill health.
Not that I’m ill.
Hospital advised I wear a knee brace whenever I could stress the knee to avoid the need for an operation.
They have 2 types of insurance for employees.
For the injury, dismissed the claim saying it was my fault I fell while carrying a crate.
Income protection, max up to 50% pay up to 3g years. Refused as I could deliver flowers.
How much of that do you have in writing (just curious).Not that I’m ill.
Hospital advised I wear a knee brace whenever I could stress the knee to avoid the need for an operation.
They have 2 types of insurance for employees.
For the injury, dismissed the claim saying it was my fault I fell while carrying a crate.
Income protection, max up to 50% pay up to 3g years. Refused as I could deliver flowers.
You can't be (legally) dismissed on grounds of I'll health, you have to be made redundant. It's a variation of usual redundancy, and complicated. Reasonable accommodations have to be tried first etc.
There are now a few approaches your solicitor can take. Ask them to go through the pros and cons with you.
As is typical with these things, it's not the actual accident that's going to cost them in the long run, but their management of the incident.
M.
As a Defendant lawyer, who used to manage a team of lawyers defending claims of this very nature for large insurance companies (and, if I recall, dealing with an incident very similar to this that we actually ended up paying), it sounds to me like you have good grounds for a claim.
Go and see a solicitor. Any of the big names will tell you within a matter of an hour whether you have a claim.
And you have 3 years from the date of the accident to pursue it, not from when the torn meniscus was diagnosed.
Go and see a solicitor. Any of the big names will tell you within a matter of an hour whether you have a claim.
And you have 3 years from the date of the accident to pursue it, not from when the torn meniscus was diagnosed.
An update on my claim.
I went with the no win no fee solicitor mentioned above. It was a bit of a faff, first you go through everything with a call handler, then again with someone who decides if you have a case, then again with someone I assumed was a solicitor (I’m still not sure) anyway I got to that stage before Xmas and I’ve been waiting for a response from my employer.
We got that and they have decided not to proceed with my claim on the basis that it was my fault I fell.
I find that strange as you could argue that for any fall.
I went with the no win no fee solicitor mentioned above. It was a bit of a faff, first you go through everything with a call handler, then again with someone who decides if you have a case, then again with someone I assumed was a solicitor (I’m still not sure) anyway I got to that stage before Xmas and I’ve been waiting for a response from my employer.
We got that and they have decided not to proceed with my claim on the basis that it was my fault I fell.
I find that strange as you could argue that for any fall.
tight fart said:
An update on my claim.
I went with the no win no fee solicitor mentioned above. It was a bit of a faff, first you go through everything with a call handler, then again with someone who decides if you have a case, then again with someone I assumed was a solicitor (I’m still not sure) anyway I got to that stage before Xmas and I’ve been waiting for a response from my employer.
We got that and they have decided not to proceed with my claim on the basis that it was my fault I fell.
I find that strange as you could argue that for any fall.
DId you issue an ET claim?I went with the no win no fee solicitor mentioned above. It was a bit of a faff, first you go through everything with a call handler, then again with someone who decides if you have a case, then again with someone I assumed was a solicitor (I’m still not sure) anyway I got to that stage before Xmas and I’ve been waiting for a response from my employer.
We got that and they have decided not to proceed with my claim on the basis that it was my fault I fell.
I find that strange as you could argue that for any fall.
Mortarboard said:
Don't go with no win no fee.
They rely on clean, quick and simple insurance claims.
Do you know if they even put in a claim with your employers insurance company?
M.
No I don’t know how far they got, I think just asking for reports from my employer, training then the accident report. They rely on clean, quick and simple insurance claims.
Do you know if they even put in a claim with your employers insurance company?
M.
tight fart said:
Mortarboard said:
Don't go with no win no fee.
They rely on clean, quick and simple insurance claims.
Do you know if they even put in a claim with your employers insurance company?
M.
No I don’t know how far they got, I think just asking for reports from my employer, training then the accident report. They rely on clean, quick and simple insurance claims.
Do you know if they even put in a claim with your employers insurance company?
M.
Your claim is against the employers liability insurers. For Tesco, its likely to be "self insured" up to a certain amount, but should have a claims management department.
Training is not enough. Risk assessment, and competence is required also.
Best of luck with it.
M.
tight fart said:
An update on my claim.
I went with the no win no fee solicitor mentioned above. It was a bit of a faff, first you go through everything with a call handler, then again with someone who decides if you have a case, then again with someone I assumed was a solicitor (I’m still not sure) anyway I got to that stage before Xmas and I’ve been waiting for a response from my employer.
We got that and they have decided not to proceed with my claim on the basis that it was my fault I fell.
I find that strange as you could argue that for any fall.
From your posts on this thread, one assumes that you are (were) a grocery delivery driver for a major supermarket?I went with the no win no fee solicitor mentioned above. It was a bit of a faff, first you go through everything with a call handler, then again with someone who decides if you have a case, then again with someone I assumed was a solicitor (I’m still not sure) anyway I got to that stage before Xmas and I’ve been waiting for a response from my employer.
We got that and they have decided not to proceed with my claim on the basis that it was my fault I fell.
I find that strange as you could argue that for any fall.
I assume also that you had some kind of training/induction before commencing work?
Was an assessment of the ground that you were going to cover before making a delivery specified within that training?
If it was, I can see why it's been deemed that you assessed the ground and the fall was your responsibility.
SydneyBridge said:
Have the seen the accident report? Is it correct?
Were HSE involved?
I think the only accident report was done when I returned to site on that day, I think I was still in a bit of shock and just wanted to get home, I’d also say there was no HSE involvement Were HSE involved?
It wasn’t something we had at work.
Muzzer79 said:
From your posts on this thread, one assumes that you are (were) a grocery delivery driver for a major supermarket?
I assume also that you had some kind of training/induction before commencing work?
Was an assessment of the ground that you were going to cover before making a delivery specified within that training?
If it was, I can see why it's been deemed that you assessed the ground and the fall was your responsibility.
Yes it was (Waitrose)I assume also that you had some kind of training/induction before commencing work?
Was an assessment of the ground that you were going to cover before making a delivery specified within that training?
If it was, I can see why it's been deemed that you assessed the ground and the fall was your responsibility.
Our training covered lifting crates without hurting your back.
I don’t remember any specific training to assess delivery sites, but when we raised concerns about dangerous drops we were told to get on with it or go home.
Drivers did collect photos of doggy drops that were sent to head office.
Not one was then deemed unsafe.
tight fart said:
Yes it was (Waitrose)
Our training covered lifting crates without hurting your back.
I don’t remember any specific training to assess delivery sites, but when we raised concerns about dangerous drops we were told to get on with it or go home.
Drivers did collect photos of doggy drops that were sent to head office.
Not one was then deemed unsafe.
Sounds similar to Tesco. I said one was dangerous at night. Took photos when I delivered during the day. There advice? Use my torch on my phone...bit tricky when carrying trays! Our training covered lifting crates without hurting your back.
I don’t remember any specific training to assess delivery sites, but when we raised concerns about dangerous drops we were told to get on with it or go home.
Drivers did collect photos of doggy drops that were sent to head office.
Not one was then deemed unsafe.
SydneyBridge said:
Is it because they are trying to use less/no plastic bags ?
That's an entirely unsatisfactory reason to change to a less safe work method. The correct answer may be some kind of stair ascender trolley, reusable bags of some kind, etc but it's the employer's responsibility to come up with the goods, not the employee's.The "dynamically risk assess" every delivery should not apply where work method changes appreciably; in my experience it's something that applies to routine tasks that do not change, so you're doing your usual delivery but have to stop briefly because Mrs Miggins dog is in the way or tread more carefully because a surface is wet, not "stop using carrier bags as used since the year dot and start using crates that need both hands and render you unsighted going down steps".
hidetheelephants said:
The "dynamically risk assess" every delivery should not apply where work method changes appreciably; in my experience it's something that applies to routine tasks that do not change, so you're doing your usual delivery but have to stop briefly because Mrs Miggins dog is in the way or tread more carefully because a surface is wet, not "stop using carrier bags as used since the year dot and start using crates that need both hands and render you unsighted going down steps".
That's exactly when a dynamic risk assessment should be used. A formal generic risk assessment is fine for fixed tasks with no variables, but if aspects of the task can change during execution, then a dynamic risk assessment comes into play.Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff