Kitchens are often dangerous places. I’m talking about workplace kitchens here, and they’re often very busy places indeed. I’ve worked in the catering industry myself – lots of people stressed out and rushing around working in a place full of sharp tools, hot liquids and substances; plentiful dangers all around.
So if you are injured in a workplace kitchen environment, can you make a claim for personal injury compensation?
It’s all about the circumstances…
I do say this a lot, but that’s because it’s totally true! Whether you can claim for personal injury compensation or not is all about how the accident was caused. Essentially, if your employer is negligent in the duty of care that they have for you, you may be able to claim from them.
So the circumstances as to how it happened can allow us to assess if we believe there has been negligence or not. Some examples could be:
- Slipping on a floor – whether it’s on spilled liquid, oil, food, etc
- Tripping on utensils, boxes, product or other hazards left negligently in a walking area
- Burns from hot liquids, food, or objects
- Colleagues injuring each other through a lack of care
We must prove that the accident could have been reasonably prevented in order to make a winning claim. Your employer has a duty by law to take reasonable steps to prevent someone being injured in the workplace.
To stop slips and trips, there should be cleaning and inspection procedures as well as policies and procedures that staff are trained in to be able to avoid such accidents and injuries. The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 actually state that:
12 (2)(a) the floor, or surface of the traffic route, shall have no hole or slope, or be uneven or slippery so as, in each case, to expose any person to a risk to his health or safety;
When it comes to burns, if it could have been prevented by the use of gloves (such as heat proof mittens) then we can argue that your employer is in breach of The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 which state that:
4. (1) Every employer shall ensure that suitable personal protective equipment is provided to his employees who may be exposed to a risk to their health or safety while at work except where and to the extent that such risk has been adequately controlled by other means which are equally or more effective.
What if a colleague injures me?
If we can prove that your employer has breached the regulations and that has caused an injury, you many have a claim. But what if the negligence was actually caused by a colleague – what can you do then?
Suing your colleague isn’t very feasible, but there is a term known as ‘vicarious liability’ which essentially means that the negligence of an employee falls on to your employer. So if a colleague is at fault then you may be able to claim from your employers insurance!
For more information contact us on 0800 634 75 75 and we’ll see if we can help you out.
