Accident claim

[tballrossi]

If a person has a accident at work and receives injuries but no one is to blame, could the injured person claim compensation from his employers,

[jackthehat]

If there is no blame.....how can there be a claim?

[ummmm]

No...it's simply an accident.

[danchip]

how was there nobody to blame

[EDDIE51]

There has to be a reason for the accident, this must be reported in the works accident book. Need a lot more detail to say if there is any blame.
Otherwise phone one of the 'Injury Lawyers for you' type places and ask them if you have a claim.

[EvianBaby]

Why should there be someone to blame Danchip? The OP might have tripped over their own feet.

[Davethedog]

If there is no blame does that mean it was your fault? Not being snide just asking.

There an advert on the TV about a bloke who puts a ladder up a wall falls off and makes a claim. I often wonder how.

[buildersmate]

To claim compensation you have to demonstrate a liability. Employers have a responsibility to provide a safe system of work for employees but that doesn't mean that an employer is liable for every accident that happens at work.
It is also true that employers have to have insurance in respect of employees accidental injury, but that again doesnm't mean the insurer will pay out.
You need to report the incident to your employer.

[tonywiltshire]

I do not think I have ever heard of someone saying anything similar to“ there was injury but no fault”. I do not understand how there can be injury without fault, injury should not occur under normal conditions.
If the accident occurred at work it should be reported to the employer that it can be recorded in the accident book and your employer will notify the Health & safety executive of any injury.

If you are positive there was no fault or negligence, which is defined as failure to act with reasonable cares so as not to cause damage to other people or property, or carelessness amounting to the culpable breach of a duty, there is no claim against your employer or anyone else.

[joko]

"I do not understand how there can be injury without fault, injury should not occur under normal conditions. "

so if you are walking along and simply trip over your own feet, or your trousers, or walk into a lampost, or trip down a kerb...who is to blame?

you yourself are to 'blame'

its called an accident tony

[tonywiltshire]

Thank you joko, but if you are employed the normal conditions that you work under should not result in injury.

[joko]

not in doing your job no, in things like using machinery etc, but you can trip and fall at any time for no reason... it has no bearing on the safety of the company

[tonywiltshire]

Agreed joko, that is why I said there could be no claim against the company.

[danchip]

if you trip over your own feet then you are to blame!

Other than acts of god there is no such thing as an accident, there is always somebody to blame!

[boxtops]

OH's accident in the street where he broke his kneecap was just that, an accident. Haveing worked in insurance in industry for many years, I know well that unless the employer can be held as negligent for keeping an unsafe workplace or permitting unsafe practices, the injured person can't take forward a successful claim. If you trip due to your own poor balance or fall over your handbag (for example) it's not the employer's fault.

I'd be interested to know the circumstances the OP is describing, just so we can have a better picture.

Today's blame culture has a lot to answer for, people are always looking for someone to provide compensation. Whatever happened to "being responsible for your own actions"?

[joko]

'acts of god' covers a lot though...



if you spilt yourown drink on your feet and then in turning round to get a cloth to wipe it up, you slipped on it...could you say the company is at fault for having a wet floor...?

[tballrossi]

thanks for all your opinions,just like to say that the day after the accident the method statements for the job was rewritten.

[jackthehat]

If you had elaborated on the circumstances, you might have received more relevant answers.

Would you care to explain what happened?

It may matter more than you think.

[boxtops]

If as you say, processes were rewritten after the accident, that just might be viewed as an admission that processes were wrong before.... we really need to know more, please!

[Marsons]

I think it is a case of proving negligence.
Where I worked once part of a ceiling suddenly fell down in the office.
Fortunately it happened at night so nobody was there.
As the ceiling had been OK for 14 years to my knowledge I do not think there would have been negligence on my employers part.

[Marsons]

I did hear of another situation which happened in a building near where I lived.
A building had a winding staircase with steel poles from the stair bannister to the floor and they widened when they turned a sharp corner.
There had been no problems for nearly 50 years.
One day a child got into the building and somebody caught him climbing through a corner gap 5 floors up.
Fortunately the man pulled him in and some new bars were fitted after the incident.
As there had been no problems for nearly 50 years I do not think it was the fault of the owner of the building at thay point.
If he owners had not taken action immediately after to remove the danger I think they would have been to blame for a future incident.