any personal injury lawyers out there? desperate

[LEMAGAIN]

My DP works for himself, he is a builder, he has had a guy working for him for the past month. The guy has slipped off a ladder and broken his arm, it needs pinning. The ladder was sound but DP says he was very technically using it ever so slightly wrong - as in, DP probabaly would have done the same thing. The guy over stretched and fell off the ladder and broke his arm, and the ladder. Apparently DP has public liability that covers it but i have a horrible sinking feeling that it is out of date - please god i hope not. Not sure a) if this is something the insurance would pay out on, or b) if DP would be liable anyway. The guy is working for him on self employed basis

Please can someone reassure me that this isn't going to end up with my DP being sued?? or are we at the mercy of the guy actually being half decent and accepting that accidents are just that, accidents. This will finish us.

In trouble with the HSE? I genuinely doubt it.

It is really important that he reports though (this accident may not even have been your DP's fault of course, but even so all dangerous occurances/accidents have to be reported if serious enough) and takes on board any recommendations they may make about risk assessments and compliance, if they bother to make any.

I had a client who had an accident falling off scaffolding, the employer had been issued with several correction notices by the HSE due to previous accidents and they still weren't prosecuted which made me very .

Thankyou georgie, that makes me feel better - its genuinelyl wasn't my DPs fault, but he should have done all the risk assesment bullshit - im worried that using a ladder to paint (even though thats what we ALL do - i know i teetered on the edge of our step ladder painting the walls in dds bedroom, heart in mouth - scared of heights) walls would be considered inappropriate, as i know or have heard how anal the HSE can be. And to think i considered working for them at one point

Well, I've got into this debate before on MN and been called an ambulance chaser, so am reluctant to enter into the rights and wrongs of the "health and safety culture".

Obviously as a claimant PI lawyer I have a vested interest! I do think though that working conditions even 20 years ago in many industries were unsafe and people suffered. Whether things have swung too far the other way we could argue about till the cows come home.

i wouldnt dream of calling you an ambulance chaser georgie - your posts have been really helpful. We are going to ring them now - bit scared, wish me luck. At least we can make sure we do things properly in future. In dps defence he is actually very aware of peoples safety, but just not officially if you see what i mean.

I'm sure it will be fine - it probably doesn't feel like it but the HSE are actually there to help. Good luck.

Well, we have phoned them, they wanted to know a fair amount of details, we can ring them in about half an hour to see if they intend to pursue it. Thanks again

I would just like to say a big THANKYOU to all of you - i don't think i would have even thought about the HSE if you lot hadn't flagged it up! We are going to make sure that our H&S is water tight in future i can promise you that!! At least now we have done the right thing and are not just waiting for a nasty surprise - yes, there still might be "trouble" i guess, but we are facing it.

The wonder of mumsnet strikes again!

AND bear in mind that IF your DP is found 'wanting', and IF the guy is awarded a payout- it will be reduced by a percentage according to his degree of liability in contributing to the accident. So if for example it could be decided the injured party is due 'x' pounds compensation, they will then say BUT the bloke was 70% responsible for neglecting his own health and safety/did something daft, so the insurance only pays out 30% of the claim. That is MY understanding!

Thank god you're insured! But I'd also second the advice to inform all those who need to know. SHOULD 'the worst' happen, it makes it clear you are aware of your responsibilities and are trying to act in a responsible manner.

DP has now informed the HSE and spoken to a lawyer at his insurance company - the HSE haven't got back to us yet, the lawyer said it is unlikely the guy could persue a claim as he is responsible to a certain extent for his own safety and should not have over stretched whilst on the ladder, it also turns out that he had told my DP he had had a "heavy night" the previous evening.