Accident at work resulted in broken hip should we claim?

[Purplehaze25]

My uncle recently broke his hip from falling backwards at work. After the accident no ambulance was called and no first aid person was present another employee helped him up and into their car and drove him to hospital (agony). After the initial shock and painkillers had worn off he told us he was pushed but wasn’t sure by who. He’s in his mid-sixties but has some learning difficulties so he’s not really able to deal with these matters himself he usually has help from his siblings. He’s been working at the factory for over 30 years.

Do you think we should put in a claim? The worry is he is treated unfairly if the company finds out.

Not with details that sketchy. With no description of how the accident happened and if he cant provide one it will hard to prove what negligence occurred.

If he was pushed then it's a police matter not a negligence claim.

That is appalling, so many health and safety procedures have been failed here. Your poor uncle!

Yes of course a claim should be made if possible. Do they have cctv in the area the incident took place?

The company will have insurance to cover accidents at work.

But negligence has to be proven. It's a common misconception that all you need to do is have an accident at work to make a claim. You need to prove they did something wrong.

Not calling an ambulance doesn't count as negligence

Make enquiries with a solicitor but you'll need a better description

How can the company not find out?

By all means consult a solicitor, but there's no clear evidence of negligence in what you say, he's no evidence he was pushed, and he'll be ripped apart in a court. He MIGHT be able to get a settlement, but not much, nor without the employer knowing, and his job will almost certainly be part of that deal.

Was it logged in an accident book at the time? He really needs to be clearer about what happened and the circumstances. If he just fell then there is no real grounds but if pushed it might be assault or if due to , for example, a wet floor being left unmarked the employer might be deemed negligent, He could make a complaint that procedures were not followed to assess his accident and call an ambulance.

We are in the process of trying to find out what happened exactly, we will see if there is cctv available, would they have to show us if there is? Does his employer have a duty to investigate what happened?

it would have to be a very certain clear cut case to pursue anything because I think my uncle would need a lot of convincing 😞 he’s the kindest soul you’ll ever meet

The employer should investigate in case it needs reporting outside the organisation under RIDDOR. Definitely should be logged in an Accident Book at very least. Is there anyone in hr responsible for Health and Safety? You could contact the council/HSE for advice.

For an injury that serious I would consult a no win no fee solicitor. They will navigate the process of getting CCTV and obtaining any documentation around the accident investigation done by the employer and will give an idea of the prospects of success from there. This type of data access request is often done as a precursor to a formal claim. I would say though that without your uncle being firm about the circumstances, if there’s no CCTV, willing witnesses or paper trail, it’s unlikely to get off the ground and it could be very distressing for him given his vulnerability.

As a pp said , this should be recorded as a RIDDOR - has the company done that? Has it been investigated by their H&S team if there is one, or recorded in some way?

Is he in a union? If so he should be able to get some free legal advice from them.

Regardless of the cause of the injury, the lack of first aided and not calling an ambulance for such a serious injury is negligent.

Speak to HSE about the circumstances. I’m so sorry he was treated like that. I wonder if moving him made it worse?

You / he has plenty of time to consider next steps, no urgent need to take action, but it’s clearly not a well run safe workplace.

The employer would usually report this as an accident at work. If this hasn't happened can your uncle report it to the HSE asap?

He needs to request CCTVof the accident however this will only show him and no other person due to GDPR. Don't state wlreasons why you need the CCTV as it can be refused for an offense or investigation etc as per GDPR or a subject access request. However it would probably be clear he was pushed in ccctv footage?

I puked contact a no win no fee solicitor for a free appointment 30 mins and take it from there. Has your uncle lost earnings as a result of his injury? Will your uncle be subject to sickness monitoring absence due to this accident at work or should I say malicious behaviour towards him by others at work. So sorry to read about this situation and I hope your uncle gets well v soon.

CCTV footage sometimes has to be requested within 30 daysof the incident so please do be mindful of this timeframe.

Yes .
ypu may not win but you’ll never know unless you try. I know of a colleague who had an injury at work- it could well have contributed to a serious illness. She claimed for an accident that wasn’t witnessed. I don’t know if she won but she will never work again. This maybe the case for your uncle. Old age pension doesn’t kick in until he’s 67. There a a few years of hardship for him if he’s early 60s and unable to work.

so yes I’d make enquiries with a decent no win no fee claims solicitors. you have nothing to lose.

first and foremost fun out what happened
What caused the fall was it faulty equipment or negligence/user error on your uncle’s part

whats there accident policy
we have to report ours tbh if he hasn’t made them aware he’s had an accident nothings going to happen

in my company it’s our responsibility to report accidents and if we had an accident that required hospital at and left site and said no we’d be disciplined for that

they investigate cause but that can having implications if it was your fault

Thanks to everyone who spent the time to reply it’s really appreciated and has been super helpful 💕