My brother had sustained a very series injury at work. He is paralysed from the waist down.it early days with his rehabilitation and really starting to worry us about his future. The HSE are involved and awaiting it's outcome. He is in the gmb union, who are ongoing with his accident.not sure onthe unions ability to fight a major personal injury.haa anybody any thought's on this specialised area of personal injury
If the employer has a union they should have a Health and Safety rep as well as shop stewards.
The Union Health and Safety rep will have an ongoing relationship with the employer's Health and Safety Manager over ongoing safety issues in the workplace, these discussions will be documented. You need "lunch" with the Union Health and Safety rep to discover a history of health and safety issues in the process that injured your brother. Ask for documentation.
The company should have First Aiders able to respond to serious injuries at all times work is taking place. Did a First Aider arrive on scene fast enough to stop other employees from moving the casualty.This was a back injury the casualty should not have been moved unless he stopped breathing or was suffering traumatic bleeding.
After the accident the scene should have been preserved (excepting First Aider and Ambulance crew access). Machines should have been closed down or made safe, vehicles eg forklifts should have been switched off and keys removed. Short incident statements should have been taken from all witnesses and people involved. Did the company do this correctly or did they destroy evidence?
The company will set out to prove that your brother's negligence was contributary to the accident and reduce his compensation, eg when using a strapper I was supposed to wear safety glasses over optical glasses, but my optical glasses steamed up and I couldn't see. If I had an accident the company would have claimed that my negligence contributed to the accident. However if the company had issued optical safety glasses I would have been safe and able to see.
If company procedures were unworkable and employees forced to take short cuts to get the job done the employer will claim contributary negligence, supervisors may have been training employees to take the short cut and it may have become tradition eg standing on the forks of a forklift to access the top shelf, everyone does it and the supervisor will tell the forklift driver there is no time to fetch the people cage.
The job of the family is to find evidence the the process that injured your brother was inherently dangerous and that the company had been told, was aware and did nothing about it.
Lifesavers are taught about the drowning chain eg a teenager meets up with stupid friends, they go to the canal and get drunk, they play truth or dare, the dare is to swim across the canal, the boy drowns, the other's panic and run away. You only need to break one link in the chain and nobody dies.
I was working in a pie factory, one employee was slicing a very dense pie with a big knife. It was hard and he was working slowly, the passing manager shouted at him to speed up, he went faster and cut through the webbing between his thumb and forefinger. I took him to hospital. The manager was to blame!
You need to find the chain of events that led to the accident. It might be that the manager had a argument with his wife and went out and got drunk the night before.
If possible find out about near misses, "I'm a good driver, I've never had a accident but I've seen plenty in my rear view mirror".
If the employer has been negligent and created the circumstances that led to this accident your bother may get full compensation (but it won't ever mend him) the employer may be fined and responsible people may be sacked, don't feel sorry for them even if they are good chaps, they'd only endanger other people.
the GMB is a big union and as such will have a legal department that should be advising you, if you feel that your local union branch is not up to the task I suggest you contact their head office
Thanks to everyone for the replies that will help me gain knowledge of were i find myself and especially Bramston on detail. Keep me going till the caravan season
For your family it is now the darkest winter, the spring will come, happy camping.
My last first aid course was very different from the previous 6, much new knowledge and procedure was gained from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, If a casualty can be kept alive until the ambulance crew arrive, the paramedics can reduce permanent injury even before they get to the hospital, chances of partial or even full recovery are greatly improved over previous generations. It takes time and it saps the hopes of the relatives, stay strong!
In the example given by daveyjp only licenced forklift operators should drive forklift trucks. Licences should be renewed every 3 years.
Ladders should not be used in a warehouse environment, airoplane steps replaced ladders years ago.
Mixing ladders and forklifts with untrained drivers is a recipe for disaster, who was in charge?
The comments of Bramston are starting to show up in our preliminary discussions with lawyers. Especially they will be wanting to show that my brother was part negligent. The unions want him to go with union solicitors. But this has that much riding on it we are looking elsewhere for.more expertise.Their has been other bad accidents on the site and the workers are not to happy with the management.Since I reported last their has been management sackings or is it just moving people out of the way. Industry is so short of skilled workers it won't be.long before they are back working. I wonder how many people will go ahead with witness statements in the weeks ahead. Their is the near misses and the events that dont get challenged to much or you are.out of a job.i am my brothers closest relative and it is daunting the trail ahead rehabilitation, living,housing, costs and loneliness. He lives south East London snd I live north east england and I can see it's going to grind me down.
On a lighter note it looks like I will be doing my camping on the south downs.thanks for listening.
Could you ask which solicitors the union would use and see what experience they have in this sort of case? If they are good it could save a lot of worry about paying for legal help.
BS5750 and ISO9000 Quality Assurace Managemnt
A company that works to this standard maintains an Operations Manual.
Each process and subprocess within the company is listed describing how the job can be carried out most efficiently and safely. When workers or supervisors determine a better way of doing the job if approved the manual is updated and the new method is made official.
This means that everyone is permanently working to rule with no loss of production.
If corners are being cut to increase production this will be at the expence of either product quality or safety.
The sign that a factory is becoming unsafe is a series of near misses and minor accidents in the same area. The company should be monitoring this. Companies have been known to destroy First Aid Books to hide evidence.
In recent years employee numbers have been cut while permanent staff have been replaced by agency temps (many of whom don't speak English), entry level workers are having to do their own jobs while supporting and supervising temps for no extra pay (sometimes there have been no pay rises in years).
In this environment short cuts happen and people get hurt.
I live in Kent, the South Downs are only a couple of hours away, it would be my pleasure to share a glass of chilled white wine at a campsite!
Based in the picturesque Surrey Hills this campsite is relaxed and informal, just like the working farm where it is based.
The campsite is on a working farm in the delightful Surrey countryside only a hour's drive from London or the South coast. Showering and toilet facilities are just a short stroll away. If you fancy making tea on your camp fire then wood and kindling are available at the farm's Produce Shop. You can also buy poultry, meat, sausages and burgers as well as eggs, home-made marmalade and local beers. If you dont feel like cooking there is a very good pub just 10 minutes up the road.
Thanks for the invite to the Surrey hills and a beer and a glass of wine. Hope to see you .he does not want to come north, he likes the country life. Actually he is around Horsham which is south West of london
That would be in the North Downs. If you want the South Downs, take a look at c&cc site Graffam. Near Petworth it is in a woodland setting and the pitches are amongst the trees. Note total ban on barbecues.
We are in West Sussex and it used to be one of our regular weekend breaks, many years ago.
Bang on ancient uncle, I got location wrong on previous posts, but thatt is were my brothers friend are. He is a country man I am more traveler/ biker / walker. We are ot the same, but can tolerate.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Accident at work
via mobile 07/2/2026 at 9:19pm
