Accident at supermarket

[Chocolatethin]

DH is working away and has had quite a nasty accident at the entrance to a supermarket in the town he's working in. It's a bit difficult to describe exactly what happened but I'll try my best, I'm struggling to visualise the layout myself so apologies if it's confusing.

He was entering the store from the car park and it was dark and very windy and rainy so he was hurrying to get inside and visibility was poor. Outside the doors is a walkway and separating that walkway from the car park is a completely clear glass screen running all the way along the front of the store. Because the lights in store were on and it was dark outside it looked to DH as though the screen wasn't there and he barrelled straight into it, taking the full force to his face mainly.

He's broken his nose, gashed across the bridge of it, has a lump like an egg on his forehead and has knocked his front teeth loose as well as bashing his (already knackered from a previous injury) knee. The security guard came rushing out and picked him up, gave him some kitchen roll to mop up the blood and mentioned that this has happened several times before, including once already that same day.

So I suppose I'm asking if we should be taking any action? I won't be disingenuous and pretend a bit of compensation wouldn't be useful atm but it's also concerning us that this has happened multiple times before and the store have taken no action (some stickers or something so people can see the screen?) so it's likely to happen again.

I would raise it. I don’t know about the compensation point of view, but it’s obviously dangerous and they should make that right, removal or reflective tape along the length of it

Well he'd have to prove negligence on behalf of the store which may be difficult. Slipping on something spilled and not cleaned up is easier to prove than not looking where you are going properly and tripping for example

They are also likely to claim he wasn't looking properly so partially his fault.

Did he report it to the supermarket formally? If not then this could affect chances too

You could try a no win no fee solicitor. They only take on cases that have a chance of winning but their fee is often a massive part of the compensation. Depends if you can be bothered with the hassle and I'm fairly sure you need to have quantifiable financial losses.

Nothing to be lost by advising them they need to make the barrier more obvious though

Well he'd have to prove negligence on behalf of the store which may be difficult.

The fact that they're aware people are being injured and haven't done anything is a pretty strong argument for negligence.

You can never tell which way these things are going to go because they're subjective, and hotly contested from both sides, but I think it's worth pursuing.

Sounds like he was rushing and not really looking where he was going…..
How do you know it has happened multiple times at this store if it’s not your usual one and he is working away? Did they say that?

Yes, the security guard said it had happened several times previously, including another person that same day. DH spoke to the manager as well (think he just came over to see what was happening) but don't think he reported it 'officially'. I was a bit surprised the manager didn't ask for any details from DH tbh, I thought accidents had to be recorded.

He was looking where he was going, it was just impossible to see there was a screen with it being dark and rainy and the lights inside being on. I mentioned him hurrying because it meant he went into the screen with some force, not to imply he wasn't looking where he was going. He must have had his head up and been looking straight ahead or his poor face wouldn't have taken the brunt the way it did.

Definitely complain. With regards to compensation I guess there could be an argument for inadequate lighting making the entrance unsafe. What the guard said doesn't really matter unless the other accidents were recorded (which sounds unlikely)

I would say if the glass screen was completely clear with no stickers or markings on, it may be viewed as a hazard. I believe health and safety says that glass can't be completely clear without any stickers etc for exactly this reason. Maybe there's poor lighting outside the store too exacerbating the effect?

I know someone who worked for Barclays Bank and had a sort of similar accident many years ago and the lack of marking on the glass meant the claim was settled in her favour.

What I would do is go back to the store when it's dark - ASAP - and take some photos, then seek legal advice. The store might make some changes and then you won't be able to prove your case.

To have such severe injuries, he must have gone full force into the glass, poor sod. Surely there should be a barrier or handrail of some sort - or something! - on the pavement side of the glass to stop accidents? I'm not an expert but I absolutely think it's worth talking to one of those freebie solicitors.

Supermarkets can't just rely on people "looking where they are going" without taking proper precautions to make sure the environment is as safe as possible. What about an individual with impaired sight (not blind)? A clear glass sheet with no barrier and poor lighting would present a huge hazard. It wouldn't be as simple as "looking where you are going" if the weather is poor and the supermarket hadn't provided a safe environment for their customers.

I'm not really the kind of person who's normally inclined to sue for compensation but I absolutely would take this further OP. I hope your DH recovers soon.

Thanks Exhausted, he looked like he'd gone 5 rounds with Tyson Fury when he video called me earlier. I think he should have gone to hospital, he was dizzy and vomited a couple of times late last night so probably mild concussion on top of everything else. His mouth was still bleeding this morning where he banged his teeth and he's struggled to eat today because it's so sore. Thanks to everyone for advice so far, I really should be asleep so will check back tomorrow.

I've had a very similar accident going into a shop with double glass doors, culminating in a broken door for the shop and a broken nose for me. Shop said people were always hitting the door (only one half opened both ways , but there was no sign on the other to say that it only opened out .) Never thought of compensation though - I was just relieved that they weren't going to make me pay for the damage to the door.....

Needs to be logged in their accident book immediately through the store

Poor man. This is horrible, definitely take this further.

Firstly though, please get him to go to the hospital or GP, those are nasty injuries

Thanks for further replies, I have a question if anyone with legal knowledge could help? DH is leaving the area where this happened to head home around lunchtime today and it's 4 hours drive away from where we live so need to know if there's anything vital he should have done before he leaves? Too late to do photos of the entrance in the dark as he will be leaving while it's still light but he has done injury photos, does he need to go back to the supermarket and insist it's put in their accident book (it wasn't) or anything in order to not jeopardise a future claim?

This is going to be a tricky one ... it might be hard to prove negligence given he walked into something stationary. A good lawyer will argue that he was rushing from the rain and not looking where it's going and you don't have any real proof that it's happened before only the security guards verbal mention which you might find will totally change if asked again.
What I'm saying in a nut shell is don't rack up large legal fees on this just in case as it's not a clear cut case and you could end up worse off.

Are you seriously saying he did not attend a&e with those injuries?
Surely that's bonkers?

If you want to make a claim for the injuries he needs medical evidence of the injuries he sustained, now importantly if he has loose teeth and a broken nose he needs to go to hospital!!!!

Is your husband driving home 4 hours after a head/facial injury? Has he seen a doctor or been to A&E? He may have a concussion.

He needs to take, or get someone he knows, to take pics of the screen, of course. I imagine there is some form of stickers on it somewhere that he's unfortunately not seen though.

I think he did have a mild concussion but this happened Wednesday night and he says he feels fine now, apart from the bruising and sore teeth at least! I will try and get him to get checked over before he leaves though, just to be safe. He'd worked a 12 hour day before it happened so think he just couldn't face hours waiting in a&e and not much they could have done other than clean him up and check him over anyway so kind of get why he didn't. He does hate doctors/hospitals in general though, haven't even been able to get him to register with a GP since we moved house and that's been 9 years ago now!

Definitely no stickers pickleandpolish and it's clearly a hazard as others have done the same thing. As I said before he must have had his head up and been looking where he was going or he wouldn't have taken the full force of the impact on his poor face. He's been back on his break this morning and taken pics of the screen, it's completely clear with no markings whatsoever. Perfectly visible in daylight and good conditions but I can see entirely why he didn't see it in the dark and rain.

Hang on. You're saying he broke his nose but didn't go to A&E?

How does he even know it's broken?

He's broken his nose before so I took his word for it but suppose he might be wrong, think he's just basing it on how it felt last time. If it's not displaced there's not much they can do for a broken nose anyway I don't think. He has a gash across the bridge and swelling so even if not broken it's still a nasty injury

Well, good luck with explaining that one in court.

The supermarket will have an accident book called the BI510. They must record accidents reported to them on their premises/or accidents ‘out of or in connection with work’
They should investigate .
They should also have first aid or emergency aider (not Law but a first aid assessment needs to be in place to decide what they have)
But- they don’t have to report this to anyone under the regulations unless the person injured went direct to hospital from the site.
This is a known hazard though so if it were me and given his quite bad injury I’d be inclined to report it to the Environmental Health Team at the local council. They can then investigate and should respond to him with the outcome.

It could go either way.

However, with injuries that bad, it would have been expected he would have gotten checked out. The fact he hasn't and that it wasn't logged as an accident that night are not likely to go in your favour.

He could go back and ask for it to be logged, or contact the supermarket's head office and make them aware but I don't think you'll get much in the way of compensation with him not deeming his injuries bad enough to get them checked out. They won't just take his word for it that he has a broken nose. He could get checked now but they will likely wonder why he didn't get seen sooner with it being so bad.

Other people doing the same thing is slightly irrelevant unless they also had an accident logged, which I'm imagining they probably didn't otherwise I'd have thought they would have done it for your Husband too

It's always worth trying but as PP said, I wouldn't put yourself in the position of a high legal costs for it not to go your way. Try speaking to a no win no fee solicitor

Sorry but fretting about complaints and compensation when he's not even got himself checked over is arse upwards.
I would not be happy with him driving post possible concussion (and the rest) either. What if he blacks out and crashes? It'll be you guys being prosecuted then, not the supermarket.

He/we weren't really thinking in terms of going to court when it happened BloodAndFire, DH was dazed and in pain and I was focused on his well-being! If not going to a&e means we don't have a claim then so be it, it won't go to court if that's the case so don't think we'll need to explain but thanks for the good luck wishes