Accidents at work involving roll or stock cages are very common – we take on a lot of accident at work claims from defective cages and the like. One such example of these sorts of claims involves overfilled cages.
In today’s economic crisis, all businesses are trying to be as efficient as possible to cut costs and keep themselves afloat in these difficult times. You could say that a lot of Britons are somewhat overworked; I heard some statistics on the radio recently saying that we are one of the hardest working nations in the world, and we work much longer hours.
Sadly, with cost cutting comes corner cutting. Corner cutting can lead to health and safety breaches and subsequent injuries. As the topic of this article suggests, I’m discussing overfilled stock cages here. In these difficult times, packing as much stock on to one delivery lorry as oppose to two could save hundreds or thousands of pounds in the long run for a business.
So how can an overfilled stock cage end up injuring you?
Well the weight is a classic example – the stock cage has to be of a weight that allows the user to be able to move it without struggling because it’s too heavy. If the cage is too heavy, you could inure yourself trying to move it. If it becomes too difficult to control because the weight of the cage is causing you difficulties in keeping hold of it, you can again end up injuring yourself. Both these are scenarios in which you may have a claim against your employer.
If the cage collapses, or bursts (so to speak) due to being overfilled, then this is another scenario in which you can end up being injured. There may be policies and procedures in place so that employees shouldn’t overfill cages, but if an employee is to ignore this and causes an injury to you, you may still be able to make a claim against your employer through vicarious liability. This generally means that the negligence of an employee often falls on the employer for the purposes of compensation.
Workplace rules and regulations are strict and numerous – your employer, generally speaking, must keep you safe at work. If you end up injured in the line of duty, you may well have a case against your employer. Call our free claims helpline on 0800 634 75 75 for specialist advice about making your claim for compensation.
