I had a accident at work on the 30th april 2007, was using internal straps to strap a load on a curtain sider, i was near the back door of the strallis and didnt know i was so close to the edge when i slipped out prob a 4 foot drop on to the deck was 4am in the morning. my injurys are collaterall ligiaments strain and the physio says i might need keyhole surgery after the physio. my knee took the full impact off the fall and very swollen and bruised and also my calf ankle is swollen and bruised, was rushed to A&E by ambulance took xrays nowt broken give me 2 pain killers then kicked me out typical NHS. And i rang my boss today, and he says i was just goner ring you lol my ■■■ he was, told him i wil bring sick notes in tomorow, and asked him if he will give me full pay i got the no answer im on STAT PAY, so i says i will make a claim then cos stat pay no good to me, then he says we can talk about it, too late im doing a claim.
Am i in the wrong guys any info would be appreciated.
steve
how on hell can you put in a claim, by your own admission you stated i was
near the back door of the strallis and didnt know i was so close to the edge
killer100:
Am i in the wrong guys any info would be appreciated.
I’m not sure how you’d stand on this, pardon the pun !! But seriously i would ask at the CAB (citizens advice beureau), it maybe as Ian says , but it depends exactly upon the working practises. Are/where their safe working practices to follow, where you instructed about them, did you follow them etc. Where you in the dark (at 4am?),was their adequate lighting etc…
I think it might have been my fault you fell out the truck. In THIS thread on the 30th April I wrote.
Coffeeholic:
While your suggestion seems like the obvious answer you have to remember the society we live today where people will sue for anything and everything at the drop of a hat, usually where they have done something stupid and want to make it look like they haven’t
Sorry if my post led to your mishap.
The way I see it is you dropped a bollock and fell out, nobody pushed you. It happens, I’m sure there are quite a few on here who have fallen out of trailers, I know I have, but the problem with claiming is that the H&S folk just come up with even more daft rules and before long we will have to have a full harness on, with a couple of mattresses strapped to us just to get in the trailer. YOU made a mistake, you aren’t likely to do it again in a hurry, so how can you make a claim blaming someone else? Get over it and move on.
On the plus side I’m getting better at this prediction thing.
Sorry to hear this, and without wish to pun it to death, I don’t think you have got a leg to stand on!
if you could prove that your employer was in some way to blame for your accident then you might have grounds for litigation, but by your own words,
i was near the back door of the strallis and didnt know i was so close to the edge
Your best ground would be to get him to let you come back to work on “light duties” at the earliest opportunity, and only resume full working when you feel up to it. That would get you round the SSP trap!
My boss stated to me when he was dropping me home from hospital, that he has give memos out and told the warehouse staff, that when loading wagons and trailers make sure the internal straps are put over whatever is loaded on to wagon or trailer. so when we come in we open curtains to check load then if need be we can strap the load because the internals will be there, he told me we shouldnt be climbing over stuff at 4am to get to internal straps.
Here is a thought .
If i owned my own haulage company and a driver had fell off the back of a trailer because of his or her careless actions and not taking their own health and safety into account I would only pay them what is legally required . If a driver then said to me that is no good i’m going to claim against you for compensation , that driver would never do another days work for me .
In other words sacked !
That is worth bearing in mind .
paul@midway:
Here is a thought .
If i owned my own haulage company and a driver had fell off the back of a trailer because of his or her careless actions and not taking their own health and safety into account I would only pay them what is legally required . If a driver then said to me that is no good i’m going to claim against you for compensation , that driver would never do another days work for me .
In other words sacked !
That is worth bearing in mind .
You can’t sack someone for making a claim. That would cost you more money at the ET.
Best bet is to ask the guy if there is any work you can do in the next couple of weeks. Sorry but I have to say this is YOUR fault and not the fault of someone else. Even if the straps were missing you should have got help or found some more.
If its a large haulier (DHL etc.) then I’m not too fussed what you do but a small haulier can’t afford the extra premium etc that this could bring. Next time be more careful.
Mate of mine at work recently fell out the back of the truck too. He was unloading pallets of frozen at a Co-Op store, ( yes… it’s not ALL handball guys… ) with somone on the ground helping him, ie he was dropping the pallets on the tail lift, lowering it, and ‘matey’ would then pull it off into the store. Guess you can see what’s coming… Yup, he forgets tail lift is in lowered position and, pulling a pallet towards the rear of the truck simply walks out into fresh air.
2 weeks off work, pretty badly bruised and lucky not to have come off far worse.
Upon his return to work, he gets whisked into TM’s office and given a disciplinary with a written warning, for not following proceedure / unsafe working practices,simple as.
The sick pay/ no sick pay thing is another issue, they brought a sick pay scheme in at the Co-Op a couple of years back but so many have blatently taken the proverbial with it that it’s now under review, as some just see it as extra paid holiday, so I can well understand Employer’s reluctance at paying this out.
paul@midway:
Here is a thought .
If i owned my own haulage company and a driver had fell off the back of a trailer because of his or her careless actions and not taking their own health and safety into account I would only pay them what is legally required . If a driver then said to me that is no good i’m going to claim against you for compensation , that driver would never do another days work for me .
In other words sacked !
That is worth bearing in mind .
You can’t sack someone for making a claim. That would cost you more money at the ET.
"Where there is blame there is a claim " does not fit into the accident being discussed here .Trying to claim for compensation for an accident which is clearly you’re own fault is taking the urine .Nothing to do with damaged equipment or anything like that , simply stepping off into thin air .
Trust me , like i said if i had my own haulage firm a driver trying to pull that stunt for moaning about the sick pay would be handed a P45.
killer100:
Am i in the wrong guys any info would be appreciated.
I’m not sure how you’d stand on this, pardon the pun !! But seriously i would ask at the CAB (citizens advice beureau), it maybe as Ian says , but it depends exactly upon the working practises. Are/where their safe working practices to follow, where you instructed about them, did you follow them etc. Where you in the dark (at 4am?),was their adequate lighting etc…
This is the most ‘realistic’ reply yet.
I can understand where the ‘your fault, you made a stupid mistake’ train of thought comes from but in this day and age all working practices have to be checked (and risk assessed) and the appropriate policies displayed, training provided and records of completed training kept on file. A pain in the arse I know but if (in this case) the employer hasn’t got any/all of the above I’d be tempted to say that K100 may well have a case.
The word we use at my work is ‘umbrellas’. Nowadays, these umbrellas need to be more ‘watertight’ than ever before.
HAIRYGORILLA:
steve
how on hell can you put in a claim, by your own admission you stated i was
near the back door of the strallis and didnt know i was so close to the edge
ian
They broke Health and Safety Rules.
If you do any work at all which involves getting on/off a trailer, there’s supposed to be steps and/or platform or raised floor.
MFI got fined £10,000 PER RDC because the equipment wasn’t there and drivers were jumping on and off the back to unload out of box trailers.
Coffeeholic:
I
The way I see it is you dropped a bollock and fell out, nobody pushed you. It happens, I’m sure there are quite a few on here who have fallen out of trailers, I know I have, but the problem with claiming is that the H&S folk just come up with even more daft rules and before long we will have to have a full harness on, with a couple of mattresses strapped to us just to get in the trailer. YOU made a mistake, you aren’t likely to do it again in a hurry, so how can you make a claim blaming someone else? Get over it and move on.
The thing is, the equipment should have been there to allow him to safely strap the trailer without the risk of falling off. For example, at the Jewson terminal in Hull, they have a set of wheeled steps, airport stylee, you can use to climb up and throw straps over the load.
i have had 2 accidents this year
1st one i fell off the top step of a rigid. i suspect the reason is down to bad design (scannie ) as the step is too far forward and they have put a metal plate at the top of the wheel arch which follows it down and stops where it meets the top step. my foot slipped and i fell straight back and landed on my kidneys. wasnt the clients fault so i filled in the accident books and went home
2nd one was opening a trailer door. the door was corroded at the bottom where it meets the frame. i forgot about it, opened the handle and it sprung open and hit me on the cheekbone. although this was technically down to maintenance, i carried on and not only finished the job but i went back out for a collection. Kitkat gave me a form to fill in but his boss took it away saying it was at a customers premises so they should investigate it even though it was nothing to do with them
i didnt even consider putting a claim in for either. accidents will happen. its all part of the job. i hate to think how many bumps and cuts i have had over the years. half the time i dont even notice them until i see/feel blood running or i spot a big bruise somewhere. vocational hazard
(the equipment should have been there to allow him to safely strap the trailer without the risk of falling off. For example, at the Jewson terminal in Hull, they have a set of wheeled steps, airport stylee, you can use to climb up and throw straps over the load.)
Im not saying ive got a case to claim I would just like some advice.
has soon has the crucial ligimant heals i can get off theses ■■■■ crutches.
Whcih in turn begs the question of whether you asked about the availability of such equipment before attempting to do the job without? Honestly? Thought not.
I know it’s an unpleasant situation to be in, but I fear you haven’t a prayer pursuing this one…
sorry lucy the company does not have such equipment for us to use, nor have i been shown any health and safety at all since ive been there which is about approx 11 months. and yes i was wearing safety boots and hi-viz padded jacket seen has it was 4am when it happened.
We can’t always hide behind H&S regs and rely on someone else to tell us what’s safe. When we’re out on the road we’re constantly performing risk assessments - judging speed, distance, position etc. and the same should apply in the yard. For example, if there’s a yard of empty space at the back of a trailer I’ll step in the bumber and haul myself in - I’m unlikely to fall out. If there’s 6 inches and the trailer has a tail lift I’ll spend a few minutes connecting and raising it to reduce my fall. My Hi Vis alone will not prevent me being run over so I’ll wait for the truck next door to finish reversing before I get out of the cab. A forklift running over my foot could still do serious damage even though I’ve wearing safety boots. The best bit of safety equipment I own is my brain.
Yes, I’ve had a near miss or two but they’ve been caused by my cutting corners or inattention so had I actually injured myslef it would have been my own fault.
Obviously if you’re expected to work in a manner you consider dangerous or the equipment you’re provided has failed you may have a case…
There’s probably quite a few of us here who’ve had accdents at work - I fell offa trailer, and yes it did hurt. I’ve had my fingers crushed when slinging steel bars - that hurt even more. You still wouldn’t get any where with a claim, otherwise we’d all be driving about with 100 feet of platform to go round the truck everytime we get to a drop - not much room for the other 11 drops.
The company I work for and our main customer are pretty safety obsessed - sped cameras on site & high viz everything but I’ve never had (or wanted) a platform around the truck when I’m strapping down. When I was on bulk tanks we had 1 place that didn’t allow you to stand on your own tank (even though it had handrails) but the “safe” contraption was more dangerous in itself & hard work. So everyone openned & closed lids offsite…H&S
Coffeeholic:
I
The way I see it is you dropped a bollock and fell out, nobody pushed you. It happens, I’m sure there are quite a few on here who have fallen out of trailers, I know I have, but the problem with claiming is that the H&S folk just come up with even more daft rules and before long we will have to have a full harness on, with a couple of mattresses strapped to us just to get in the trailer. YOU made a mistake, you aren’t likely to do it again in a hurry, so how can you make a claim blaming someone else? Get over it and move on.
The thing is, the equipment should have been there to allow him to safely strap the trailer without the risk of falling off. For example, at the Jewson terminal in Hull, they have a set of wheeled steps, airport stylee, you can use to climb up and throw straps over the load.
Are these steps the full width of the trailer, or full length if you have the side open and are strapping? If not then you can still step off into fresh air. These days it seems it is always someone else’s fault, what happened to thinking for your self and taking a bit of responsibilities for your own actions. He did something stupid, he should just accept that and move on. It’s going to get to the stage where we will be unable to do anything with the trailer without first climbing into harnesses, Michelin man style protective suits and surrounding the trailer with trampolines for when we do something dumb.
Those ladders for helping you get into the back of the trailer aren’t that safe anyway. a couple of weeks ago I pulled one out on the back of a DHL trailer, so I could climb up and close the shutter, in the process the ladder came out and trapped my thumb between it and the trailer. Hurt like hell and now my thumbnail is a3/4 black, purple and red. No one else was involved but who should I be suing for my stupidity?
Yup, he forgets tail lift is in lowered position and, pulling a pallet towards the rear of the truck simply walks out into fresh air.
