Store rooms can be fairly dangerous places if employers fail to follow basic health and safety regulations. The most common types of store room accidents are usually caused by the room being too full or dangerously organised (or not organised at all) which normally causes trips, slips from spillages, and accidents involving working at height with ladders or steps.
Employers have an important general duty to make sure that all areas of the workplace are safe to navigate; so when it comes to a stock room being organised and not overfilled, we can apply The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. These state that all traffic routes shall be safe to navigate. So if you fall because you can’t properly get round a stockroom as it’s too full, you may have a claim for compensation.
If you trip because stock is on the floor when it shouldn’t be, you may also have a claim. Commonly this comes down to one of two things – either poor organisation on your employers part meaning you could apply the above regulations again, or something called vicarious liability.
Vicarious liability is negligence caused by another colleague. If a colleague failed to follow basic procedure and left stock in a traffic route in a stock room, you may still be able to claim from the employer as they can be held vicariously liable for the employee’s negligence.
Another common type of store room accident is caused by ladders. The regulations that normally apply are The Work at Height Regulations 2005 and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. You must be supplied with the right type of ladders so they are of a suitable height and do not allow an employee to have to overreach and potentially fall, and there has to be sufficient ground area for the ladders to be safely deployed and used. If there isn’t, and you fall as a result, there may be grounds for a claim. If they don’t supply you with any ladders and you are expected to climb shelving or racking, I am fairly confident we can help you make a claim!
Store room injuries can be fairly serious, especially if you have a fall from a height. You can easily end up breaking something from a fall from even a short height of six or so feet. A store room injury should always be reported to your employer straight away, and if you feel that your employer could have prevented the accident or the injury from occurring, we may be able to make a claim for you.
Employers have a responsibility to have a policy of employer’s liability insurance. All we do is make a claim from the insurance to recover compensation for your injuries and any losses or expenses, like lost earnings from time off work, or medical expenses from treatment.
Give us a call on 0800 634 75 75 and we will see if we can help you out with a claim for compensation.
