We are lucky in the UK to have rather strict Health & Safety rules to make sure we are not come to any harm. However, there are microbes and gases that can’t be seen by the human eye – and when they’re breathed in or consumed, the human body’s reaction can be painful.
People endure poisoning of some kind all the time and on a daily basis. The most common form is probably from food poisoning from poorly cooked, contaminated, or out of date food. If it’s your own fault, there’s not a great deal you can do about it – but if you get it from a restaurant or from contamination that was out of your hands, you may have a claim.
There are certain things that you need to consider though – for one, it can be very difficult to actually prove that poisoning has occurred in some way that is out of your hands. If you get food poisoning from chicken, how do you prove that the producer had caused the meat to be contaminated or spoiled as oppose to it coming down to your cooking skills? I’m not saying anyone would lie, but the burden of proof for claims is generally on the victim – so it can be very difficult.
The other thing to consider as well – whilst throwing up for three days straight is unpleasant and inconvenient, it probably doesn’t warrant you getting a lawyer involved. For a lawyer like us to recover our legal fees from the other side, your claim must be worth at least £1,000.00. We normally judge this by at least four to six weeks worth of suffering. Unfortunately, a few days of (albeit horrible) sickness and pain doesn’t necessarily mean it’s worth enough for a solicitor to be able to take it on.
You may have a claim, but it could be something you need to pursue with a small claims court as oppose to with a lawyer.
There are other forms of poisoning of course. Chemical poisoning from a gas at work would be something you can look to claim compensation for. If you are exposed to anything that could poison you in the workplace, your employer has the duty to make sure you are provided with appropriate equipment to ensure you are not in any danger – breathing apparatus, or gloves if you have to handle a potentially poisonous animal, for another example.
Proving the claim can be a little easier if your employer failed to provide you with appropriate equipment – but the same rule about how severe the suffering is applies as well. Hopefully it won’t be anything that would put your life in danger if you actually need specialist equipment when working with something that could potentially poison you.
If you believe you have been the victim of negligent opening, call our claims helpline on 0800 634 75 75 for free, no obligation, legal advice.
