What to do??

Willeye

Looking for some opinions from people on what I should do here please. Nearly 2 years ago now, I had an accident at work. A ladder went from under Me and I fell around 6ft onto my wrist, fracturing it pretty bad. I was out of Work for about 8 wks with pay. Since then my wrist has healed pretty good considering the state it was in after falling on it. Fractured in 4 places and I had To have an operation to insert K-wire into it to help it heal. Anyway right now I think its probably healed as much as its going to. It still dosent feel 100% and I haven’t got Full movement like I had before the accident. This affects me in instances where I’m lifting things, opening doors where you would have to twist a knob or handle, also I’ve played the guitar for years and when I’m playing chords and stuff down the lower Frets I feel pain and am restricted by the limited movement. The doctors in the hospital, 3 of them if I remember correctly said there pretty sure I’m gonna have Arthritis in the future because of the injuryAccording to the PIAB I have to claim within a 2 year period which is up in roughly a month. Anyway things are kinda tight at the moment in the job due to the recession etc.. it’s a small company, the boss has had to cut 2 peoples hours so far and one of his biggest customers is looking like they are going to ditch us so he could be shutting up shop in the new year. Also I might add I’ve asked over the years for a pay rises and every time I got excuses and how he has to pay more PRSI bla blab bla. I’m not on great money as it is. He’s always been a bit tight as in you have to chase him to be paid, expenses, overtime etc.. Don’t think he’s ever been forthcoming with what I was due as in I nearly always have to hassle him to get paid. Things are tight for myself at the moment, I owe around 10,000 euro in loans and credit card bills etc... My main fear is if I claim i’d be concerned that the company is not insured for this and that would certainly mean the company going under? Any opinions appreciated sorry bout the long post.

TheBlock

Willeye wrote: »

My main fear is if I claim i’d be concerned that the company is not insured for this and that would certainly mean the company going under? Any opinions appreciated sorry bout the long post.

Not really your problem. You had an accident in work, if this was due to negligence on behalf of your employer and you will suffer in the future because of this you should claim. I'd be pretty sure that they are insured for this most companies have to carry cover. Why not approach the boss and tell him why you are claiming against his insurance and gage his reaction.

gerrycollins

please dont say a thing to your boss. go to the PIAB and leave it with them. Did he do an accicdent investigation/reports or follow ups? if he didnt your only giving him an oppertunity to get this in order.

if you have been wronged the PIAB will sort you out dont know their time frame heard it was not the best but that was due to the backlog a few years ago.

as for insurance every company has to have some form of insurance especially when there are employees involved.

TheBlock

gerrycollins wrote: »

please dont say a thing to your boss. go to the PIAB and leave it with them. Did he do an accicdent investigation/reports or follow ups? if he didnt your only giving him an oppertunity to get this in order.
.

I don't understand why this would be a problem? The accident still happend and the OP is still suffering the effects. What difference does it make to the OP if the boss"gets his reports/ follow ups in order" thats between the company and their insurers if they have cover and if they don't it doesn't make a difference.

gerrycollins

TheBlock wrote: »

I don't understand why this would be a problem? The accident still happend and the OP is still suffering the effects. What difference does it make to the OP if the boss"gets his reports/ follow ups in order" thats between the company and their insurers if they have cover and if they don't it doesn't make a difference.

I know where you are coming from and I agree the obvious is well obvious. Its just that sometimes your best leaving thing in the hands of the professionals because sometimes the wrong word said could cost everything.

there are so many things the OP could innocently say that could cost him his case. we dont know who supplied the ladder? was the employee trained properly in the use of the ladder and is there a paper trail back to the OP file to say so. Was the proper ladder supplied?

plain and simple if the boss supplied the proper ladder and trained his staff accordingly then he actually has no case to answer, however the boss must prove that he supplied the right ladder and that the OP was trained sufficently.

the training record could be forged, the offending ladder destroyed if the OP gives advance warning of his intentions.

A closed mouth catches no flies.

Willeye

Thanks the block and Gerry for your quick responses. I have considered the blocks suggestion, I don't know it could go either way. But Knowing him i think he'll go down the route of trying to make me feel guilty and talk me outta of it to save his insurance cost increasing. Regarding training etc.. i had none and he hasn't done any checks or reports that i'm aware of since. The work i was doing when it happened was not my normal everyday work either. To be honest he seems to be very lacks about the whole thing, In that the day after i returned he sent me up to finish where i'd left off with the same ladder and i had to ask him for a man to come with me to hold the ladder while i was up it. I hope your right Gerry about having to have insurance for this type of thing when employees are involved. If i could know for sure i'll be going ahead with it.

mountainyman

To be honest willeye you'll need the money and you should sue.
He might have money problems but he has alot more money than you.

MM

Shelflife

MM how do you know he has more money then you???? just because your the owner doesnt mean that hes loaded, in most instances the staff get paid first and then the owner gets paid.

fwiw i think you are sueing to pay off your depts as opposed to any injuries you may have incurred.

Willeye

Well Shelflife i did say in my original post that i am partially disabled as a result which is permanent and the Doctor's 3 of them at different stages said theres a very good chance that i will develop arthritis in the future so i think these are good reasons alone for me to claim?

Shelflife

Willeye its simple really, if you believe that the employer was at fault and that you have been financially and physically discommeded then you should sue, your employer should have insurance in place.

the other side is that your employer paid you for 8 weeks while you were out and could contest the case, its not just a case of saying im sueing you and they get out the cheque book.

it can be a time consuming and costly business .

Willeye

You sound like your an employer yourself shelflife, thanks for you comments and everyone else

Shelflife

guilty as charged willeye, been down the sued road and had a day in the high court as well, took two years and stressful enough, i have no problem with people getting compensated for injuries at work as long as they are genuine ( im not suggesting yours isnt).

Its hard enough to run a business without the distraction of a court case, you may think employers have it easy but believe me once you start to employ people your problems multiply.

mountainyman

People who climb ladders they think might be unsafe at work don't tend to be loaded.

Willeye you should go to PIAB straight away.

MM

BeansMeansHynes

OP I cant believe that you have waited just under two years to start thinking about going through PIAB just because you say you are stuck for money and have debts to payoff.

By the sounds of things you had an extremely serious fall and have done some long term damage that will always be there. You should have started the whole PIAB process ages ago.

It is going to cost you a good bit of money to get the ball rolling, E50 application fee, E200-300 per Medico-Legal Reports that you will need to submit to PIAB (you might need 2 or 3) One for when you were first attended on by your GP and another to see what are the long term effects and how you are recovering. You will have to schedule all your medical expences and costs for PIAB and by the sounds of things I dont think that they will access the case and will more than likely go through the courts.

It will prob take a good 2 years before you will see any money, if any! You really should go and see a solicitor instead wasting your time on Boards asking peoples opinion's. Its not as easy as you think to try and get money from personal injuries. It is up to you the Applicant to prove everything.

Just my 2cents

Shelflife

MM he never said that the ladder was unsafe , and he may well have alot more money than the boss, you cant just assume that every employer is loaded , there are many out there that are finding things very tough and are mortgaged to the hilt.

how do you know that the OP was not at fault in his use of the ladder or broke the guidelines set out for its use yet you tell him to run to the PIAB
and incur even more costs along the way.

not all employers are evil slave drivers you know.

Willeye

Thanks again for the advice people