Warehouses can be inherently dangerous places to work in which is why health and safety in such places needs to be of paramount importance to both staff and employers. I’ve worked in warehouses myself so I’ve seen what can potentially go wrong – and with my years of service in the personal injury claiming world, I have spoken to many warehouse accident victims in my time.
So where do you stand if you are hit by a falling object in a warehouse?
The Law
In The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations, there is a specific section dedicated to being hit by falling objects that reads as follows:
13. (1) So far as is reasonably practicable, suitable and effective measures shall be taken to prevent:
(b) any person being struck by a falling object likely to cause personal injury.
I think the law is fairly clear here. There is a duty on an employer to take steps to prevent a person from being hit by a falling object, and in a warehouse that it likely full of stock on high up shelves and where objects may be loaded on forklift or pallet trucks, the risk of being hit by a falling object is there.
There are many ways an employer can stop this happening though – having guards or rails to stop stock falling, and ensuring loads are secured on shelves or on any moving truck should prevent a fall. But we all know that staff can cut corners or fail to do things properly which can lead to an accident.
Ultimately, if your employer has failed to take steps to secure stock or loads, and / or if a colleague has failed to adhere to procedure or this, you should have a good claim. Your employer’s failure can be seen as a breach of the regulations, and a colleague’s failure can be what we call vicarious liability. This means that, essentially, the negligence of a colleague falls on to your employer.
You should be in a good position to make a claim for personal injury compensation – we should certainly be able to investigate it further on a no win, no fee basis.
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