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.

If accidents are reported and customers leave details then it will get looked at immediately for safety

As a retail manager I do this all the time.

I don't believe the store has made any reports at all or it would be escalated. We had stickers on our shower screen displays. Part of health and safety audit

But.... you have no report to store, no medical report

Just his word for it. So you won't get far with compensation...which only drives costs up further for the rest of us actually.

He had worked 12 hours, was rushing... does he accept it was of his own making?

Hang on, he broke his nose, loosened his teeth, has a bump on his head, a cut on his face, done his knee in, made no complaint or log in store, sought no medical help, diagnosed himself with concussion, but wants compensation?

is there any part of you can grasp there is zero chance because he didn’t log and he didn’t even seek medical help?

Sorry and he drove after it happened?

Irrespective of compensation (which might be appropriate if he needed costly dental work for example) he absolutely needs to be checked out and to report it to the supermarket officially.

Compensation is one thing and prevention of more accidents is another.

If you are thinking of claiming then DH can take photos of his injuries and write a narrative of what happened . Time / date who he has spoken to etc. The fact he didn’t go to hospital immediately is a factor in terns of confirming injury but it’s not a barrier to claiming - the security and manager can verify it as party of the accident record plus he has photos.
Bear in mind your DH has 3 years to make a claim anyway.

if it’s about prevention then making sure they have a record in accident book , reporting formally to their head office and the council EHO are the first things to think about.

It's really easily done. I did it 2 years ago to our own patio door. My DH immediately installed some stickers so it wouldn't happen again. They weren't expensive, so I don't see why the supermarket couldn't have done the same thing. Heck, they probably even sell them!

Please complain to the supermarket and suggest they put up stickers.

Could you claim anything? Since the supermarket already knew they had a potential hazard and did nothing about it, then yes.

Walking into a glass door is embarrassing (we've all done it!), but can hardly been anyone else's fault except for the person who walked into the door? As Judge Judy says, if there is no evidence of injury then there was no injury.

If it happened earlier in the day then someone should have put a warning on the door until it had been assessed properly.
That's a failiure.

Tbf no one was thinking in terms of a claim when it happened, DH was dazed and hurt (and yes, probably embarrassed also!) so doubt he was thinking very clearly. I would have thought it was the supermarket's responsibility to ensure procedures were followed re: accident reporting, and also that they should have at least offered to arrange medical attention for him, neither of which happened. I fully expected some degree of flaming for daring to think of compensation but I think blaming DH for not following correct procedures is a bit unfair considering he was hurt and in shock. If that means we don't have a claim then so be it but I'm not sure the supermarket acted perfectly here either, which is why I posted.

It wasn't a door, it was a screen before you get to the doors. And yes, if it's clear glass with no markings and people have previously walked into it then it is at least partially someone else's fault/failure.

No one is blaming him for not following correct procedures, but it’s highly unusual to sustain the level of injury you describe , seek no medical help and then get in your car and drive.

If you call the store they are likely to send you out a £25 gift card

Is that what you mean regarding 'compensation!' ?

However if his teeth are dislodged , he has concusssion, and his nose is broken he can go get seen to now and have medical evidence this is the case.

I can't imagine a few stickers On such a large piece of glass would be effective?

This is bizarre, I had a dizzy spell in a supermarket once and fell over and they insisted on calling an ambulance and I was a healthy young thing at the time. The security guard was negligent in not calling an ambulance immediately. Your DH needs to get to the doctor and get his injuries checked out and have it down on his medical records that he got injured if you want to pursue it.

In the nicest way, are you sure he didn’t go out and have a drunken brawl and is telling you porkies because I really am very surprised the supermarket had this invisible glass and didn’t call an ambulance when he got this injured and didn’t log it in an accident book with his details.

I’m not !

OP knows her DH best so she knows if his account of events is likely to be true
However, with no information to go on other than what’s here it sounds unlikely to me

You’re not surprised that all three of these things are the case in one incident? That’s a lot of coincidences. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them was true but all three? On the balance of probability, I think he’s too embarrassed to tell the OP what really happened and that’s why he didn’t get medical attention himself either. Obviously the store will have CCTV of their entrance though so if it did happen it will be easily provable in court.

I think you should tell us what store so we can street view and see the screen, thats the only way we can see if your dh is just clumsy or if it is an actual hazard!

His front teeth have been knocked loose? The force a needed to do that to an adult is absolutely tremendous. Surely he needed to go directly to a and e and needed an emergency visit to a dentist the next day?
Who would allow a dazed, concussed, gashed, bleeding, broken nosed, loose toothed man in shock to pop back in his car and drive? Maybe one total idiot but both the security guard and the manager saw this and didn’t call an ambulance?
This isn’t really ringing quite true @Chocolatethin
Could something else have happened or could the injuries be overstated?

I think he should formally report it to the store. Check your household insurance for legal cover/advice.

Yeah I think op's dh story is looking full of holes TBH.
Or possibly his face is full of holes?
Seriously OP - if this is true he needs to go to hosp. If he's making up porkies you've got a problem. If you are spreading porkies on his behalf, well...

Not sure a security guard should be supervising ...a 6 hour wait in most places for ambulances. An ambulance for this kind of thing would not be priority

And if a security guard is supervising then the store is left open to thefts.! Distraction thefts are a thing!

First priority should be medical attention. A bit if a delay in seeking medical help can be explained but the longer the delay the more dodgy it looks. Damage to teeth can be really expensive and early treatment is vital.

Second priority is making sure the store put it in their accident book. The delay on this is more easily explained as he spoke to staff at the time and was in pain/shocked. If he can he should get the names of the staff he spoke to at the time and when he returns to report the incident.

He needs to enquire about CCTV and ensure that it is preserved too. This really needs to be done within 24 hours.

Then you can try and engage a personal injury solicitor. If you don't have legal expenses insurance there will be a deduction from the compensation but the amount they can take is capped. Your DH may have legal expenses insurance via trade union or professional memberships, home insurance or packaged bank accounts.

House insurance for an accident in a supermarket?