Whilst trying to get my batching plant back up and running yesterday after the winter break my area manager rang to see how we were getting on,the yard was covered in about 2" of snow and I slipped on a drainage gulley twisting my ankle,the manager heard this asked how I was and continued the conversation.
Myself and a Driver carried on repairing burst pipes and frozen pumps and eventually got the ■■■■ plant working.I got home and took my boot off and my ankle was slightly swollen but not to the point were it would stop you functioning properly.
Went in this morning and got the plant started up only to get a phone call from the manager saying he was coming up to investigate yesterdays incident,I said “what incident”,he said"when you twisted your ankle"I hadnt thought any more about it afterwards,anyway he turns up and says"did you fill the accident book in"I said "no"he says"I will have to suspend you until I carry out an investigation,you best go now"Im like wtf your suspending me for that,youll get a letter from HR telling you when the hearing is and then we will make a desicion as to whether we consider you safe enough to be left on a site on your own. Ive worked these plants for the past year and have put out plenty of metres of concrete and bar a fall at another plant I was at nowt serious has happened. We were at a meeting on Monday and the company is not expected to make any money this year so im just wondering any excuse to get rid of someone? My fallback trade is European airfreight, so I guess Im pretty much screwed.
well he is right you shouldnt be working on your own. what if the accident was more serious and you were seriously injured you would be quick enough to moan that you was on your own. also the insurance company would have a field day if they found out you was working on your own. 
just a manager covering his own back.
Fair point,but is suspension a little bit harsh?
jessicas dad:
well he is right you shouldnt be working on your own. what if the accident was more serious and you were seriously injured you would be quick enough to moan that you was on your own. also the insurance company would have a field day if they found out you was working on your own.just a manager covering his own back.
NO he is not right 
, (if) he was working alone his employers have a care of duty, they are responsible for their employees wellbeing at work ( as well as the employee himself ) , penny pinching employers are ever eager to cut back on wages, think you’ve just been tangoed matey.
Airfreight:
Whilst trying to get my batching plant back up and running yesterday after the winter break my area manager rang to see how we were getting on,the yard was covered in about 2" of snow and I slipped on a drainage gulley twisting my ankle,the manager heard this asked how I was and continued the conversation.
Myself and a Driver carried on repairing burst pipes and frozen pumps and eventually got the ■■■■ plant working.I got home and took my boot off and my ankle was slightly swollen but not to the point were it would stop you functioning properly.
Went in this morning and got the plant started up only to get a phone call from the manager saying he was coming up to investigate yesterdays incident,I said “what incident”,he said"when you twisted your ankle"I hadnt thought any more about it afterwards,anyway he turns up and says"did you fill the accident book in"I said "no"he says"I will have to suspend you until I carry out an investigation,you best go now"Im like wtf your suspending me for that,youll get a letter from HR telling you when the hearing is and then we will make a desicion as to whether we consider you safe enough to be left on a site on your own. Ive worked these plants for the past year and have put out plenty of metres of concrete and bar a fall at another plant I was at nowt serious has happened. We were at a meeting on Monday and the company is not expected to make any money this year so im just wondering any excuse to get rid of someone? My fallback trade is European airfreight, so I guess Im pretty much screwed.
Tell them you where stunned when you banged your head (of course you did) and have started to have memory lapses, that must be why you forgot to put it in the book. Tell them you may need them to send you to a doctor as you are having headaches. That should throw them into sufficient turmoil to forget about suspending you 
I wouldn’t say you didn’t have a leg to stand on, quite the opposite infact. Did the other guy fill in a form too?
pete-b:
jessicas dad:
well he is right you shouldnt be working on your own. what if the accident was more serious and you were seriously injured you would be quick enough to moan that you was on your own. also the insurance company would have a field day if they found out you was working on your own.just a manager covering his own back.
NO he is not right
dont know what you read but it was my post. if you see the bit highlighted that just agrees with what i have written.
airfreight
Whilst trying to get my batching plant back up and running yesterday after the winter break my area manager rang to see how we were getting on,the yard was covered in about 2" of snow and I slipped on a drainage gulley twisting my ankleMyself and a Driver carried on repairing burst pipes and frozen pumps and eventually got the ■■■■ plant working.I got home and took my boot off and my ankle was slightly swollen but not to the point were it would stop you functioning properly.
but again airfreight reading your post and highlighting certain bits it seems you wasnt working alone.
policies are there to be followed by employer and employee
suspension is a safe holding pattern to protect you just as much as your employer, it is not in itself a form of punishment.
Health and safety requires that you both have a duty of care to each other
saying that your employer had to risk asses your working enviroment
Cold
slip/trips/falls
were these done prior to you starting your job at plant
Nothing to worry about believe me ive been in worse disciplinarys.
do they know what there doing 
, when i got suspened they didnt realise until i rang them from home that it would be on FULL PAY, the bloke who suspended me said no chance until he checked into it.
he then wanted the displinary meeting the following morning , but i wasnt able to attend it for a week as i was tramatised by being suspended.
eventually i went and he said he now knew id only did what i did under sever provacation, so wanted to put it to bed and get back to doing the job, so i could start back there and then, but i said i needed a few more daysoff to get my head together .
after that i never saw a suspension , it was dealt there and then.
few years ago so maybe things have changed , but i enjoyed my fully paid holiday 
Just make sure that when you fill in the accident report you do it in such a way to help a “future pending claim”
Good luck.
All the batching plants I have been to in Kent/Essek/Surry etc, are all run by a single person, as most of the actual batching is done by computer.
Now batching plants are full of pipes, pumps, water, powder tanks, ladders, chemicals, slippery surfaces etc…
To my mind these places can be death traps, having witnessed a couple of trips myself, one where the guy needed fairly urgent treatment for a head wound…
A lot of the drivers are OD’s and as such have no authority to work on the equipment in these plants, but most like myself muck in and help anyway. Most concrete plants have to have a duty of care for employees inc OD’s. Now for this guy to be suspended for this strikes me as a company looking for excuses to ‘slim down’, my advice is to get H&S involved to see where you stand on this, get advice first.
Take into account the weather, was it safe to do the jobs you were doing on your own (Forget the driver for now) Should you have shut the plant, bearing in mind you cannot batch concrete under 3 degrees on a falling temp. Lots of things here need looking into.
Not saying either of you is right or wrong, but full facts need looking into etc…
I would just act rather strangely and give them something to worry about. If you can order 17 tonne of carrots and get them delivered to the plant. I know a bloke who can supply gravy browning. You could just use a spare mixer to make a nice casserole.
Wheel Nut:
I would just act rather strangely and give them something to worry about. If you can order 17 tonne of carrots and get them delivered to the plant. I know a bloke who can supply gravy browning. You could just use a spare mixer to make a nice casserole.
Mr Wheelnut, can I book you to organise my wifes Birthday party please? I imagine it would be a good night. 
anyway he turns up and says"did you fill the accident book
You don’t need to fill this accident book out straight after the incident,it can be done within a reasonable timescale.As long as it has been recorded, and it doesn’t need to be filled out by the person that had the accident.There was no reason why the manager { mr jobsworth} couldn’t have filled it out.
PS. i’d take some advise fae a claims lawyer,
pps. who is responsible for ensuring your yard is gritted? and was it gritted?
if it wasn’t gritted, then counteract your suspension with a claim for personnel injury.
Sorry for you Airfreight, a couple of places I tip cement into have one guy on his own in the batch plant and then he goes off and does the deliverys as well after signing my notes.
Can’t see why anyone could be suspended for falling over in an icy yard…
Blimey. Working mostly at weekends & not being a particularly early starter i very often find myself working alone at say 9pm on a saturday, often in a remote location. Not many folks about that time of the week.
Changing trailers on slopes in complete darkness, clambering over loads to strap them, etc. I often think “what if”? & make sure my mobile is in my pocket.
Airfreight, did the manager phone you on your mobile? Why was he not calling you on the office phone? No answer? Then he knows you are busy in the yard. When you answered, did you tell him so? If so, in my personal view he is jointly liable for your accident by distracting you.
PM me his email address if you like & I’ll draw his attention to this thread.
used to run a batching plant (yes on my own) but as it was in a quarry HS deemed it safe as there were other people present on site
For the quality of the concrete we were not alowd to batch concrete if the aggragate was frozen as this affected the strength of the finished product, so as we were well away from head office our sand and stone always seemed to be frozen till at least mid morning when things were cold
So I would be asking the question about the tolerance of the mix when sand and stone is frozen and sould I have been attempting to batch a load to a customer in said conditions 
just ask your slumpy what the job was and what the tolarances are as it could end up costing the company a few quid to replace out of speck concrete, just something to consider if things start turning nasty 
As others have said I don’t believe that you have to fill the accident report in immediately after the incident, you get some time to fill it out. I should imagine its in the Health & Safety Manual smallprint somewhere. If they persist in this action I would definatly take legal advice. It seems incredibly harsh and OTT to suspend you for that.
I’m not trying to be doom and gloom but have you been busy lately? Plenty of quarries, tar and concrete places closing round here due to lack of work. I’d be sure your boss isn’t trying to pull a fast one and get rid of you to avoid paying you redundancy etc.
Phew! What a horrid state of affairs. Mind you, you’ll do well to get much sympathy here. Posting a situation like that is just inviting invective. Be prepared (as you right royally have) to have your position and decision making capability picked over by the forum’s very own Dickensian Court of Appeal Judges. Just be thankful that it was a suspension. If you were to canvas for an appropriate punishment among members you’d no doubt receive replies ranging from stoning to deportation and possibly even the being re-located to North Yorkshire or the Wirrel.
Try phoning ACAS. They will tell you the correct procedure that an employer must follow in order to hold a disaplinary hearing. Start making a diary of events and record any meetings etc.