Accident at work

[happy2bhomely]

My sister works in a small office. Last week her employer held a bottle of cleaning fluid under her nose and squeezed it, for her to smell. She was taken by surprise and he squeezed too hard. The cleaning fluid covered her face and went into her eyes and mouth. It is similar to nail varnish remover. Her eyes were burning and she rinsed them with water. She asked to be taken to the hospital, but her boss insisted that she waited 5 minutes to 'see how it goes'. After 5 minutes he drove her to her gp surgery. Her gp told her that she should have gone straight to A and E but her eyes seemed fine and there was no damage done. Her employer gave her £50 in cash when he dropped her off 'incase she needed a taxi'.

She has gone back to work and her employer has apologised for the accident.

My sister has now been advised by friends to contact a solicitor regarding the incident. She has been told she may be likely to a pay-out of some sort.

Aibu to think that although her boss was a prat, he did not do this maliciously. She did not suffer loss of earnings due to the accident, and I think it is horrible that she is even considering this.

I'm with diddl.

I actually think she should raise a complaint with her employers, but not claim and make it clear she won't claim. The boss is a potentially dangerous idiot, and has harrassed her with his comments. He needs training, and the office needs an accident book. If she says nothing this kind of stupidity could easily happen again, with much worse consequences. And I would be concernedthat he was harassing her, even mildly that might mean he thinks he can get away with it.

I mentioned that 'constructive dismissal' thingy not because of one incident because the OP mentioned lots of comments and then an unrelated comment about about 'drawing like a little girl'.

It is a bit odd to waft cleaner around imo anyway.

I don't know much about the constructive dismissal thingy which is why I asked about there being somewhere else on mn to ask as this seems to be one incident in many.

Just getting another job pdq sounds good.

Also, it is gruelling going to court for personal injury. It can take literally years, and it is v stressful waiting for all the details and messing around. The ambulance chasers that say, 'where there's blame, there's a claim' rely on insurance companies doing the sums and thinking it cheaper to just roll over, pay a token amount and get rid rather than contest a low cost claim. If the employer doesn't have insurance and is likely to fight, then it really isn't worth the attempt for a minor thing (imvho).

In your sister's position I would start asking about the accident book and watch my back for any attempts to get rid of her before she can find a new job.

he should have an accident book
he should have the COSHH sheets for all chemicals on the premises

You could claim, but i'd advice finding a new job if possible