There are many workplace rules and regulations that employers must abide by – and if we can prove they have breached important health and safety law, we can pursue a claim for personal injury compensation for you.
But what happens if you are injured due to the negligence of a colleague? Whether they work for your employer or they’re contracted externally, if you are injured because of a cleaner failing to adhere to important regulations, you may have a claim for personal injury compensation.
Your Rights
We can talk about the regulations when it comes to wet floors at work, which is primarily 12 (3) of The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations; but it can be simpler than that. These regulations put a duty on your employer to take all reasonable steps to prevent a floor from being wet, but when it comes to a cleaner failing to follow the rules, it can be different.
Vicarious liability is a term that means the negligence of an employee falls on to the employer. As such, even if an employer has loads of policies, inspection systems, staff training programs, etc, they can still be liable if an employee chooses to ignore it or fails to uphold the law. In a case like this, the classic examples are:
- The floor being mopped and no wet floor sign, warnings, or cordons deployed; and
- Tripping over a vacuum cleaner cable
In either of the above scenarios, the fact that the employee has been negligent means that, essentially, their employer is negligent. Whether this means that your employer is vicariously liable, or their own employer is if they are contracted externally, you should have a good claim for personal injury compensation.
What to do
Reporting the accident is important, and you should make sure a report form is completed. Medical attention is of course in your best interests as well, so make sure you see your GP or see some form of medical professional as soon as you can.
For advice about making a claim, call us on 0800 634 75 75 as its highly likely in these circumstances that we can help you with a claim on a No Win, No Fee basis, and we may be able to offer a 100% compensation agreement as well. If we can show that the colleague has been negligent, we can allege that the employer has been vicariously liable for their actions.
Will I Win?
Normally in cases of vicarious liability like this, you have a very good chance of being able to win your claim. It’s definitely something you should contact us about as you could be owed thousands of pounds in personal injury compensation.