hi just wondering weather to do a no win no fee on my work
basically what happened is i got bleach in my eye at work there was safely goggles there BUT they had been moved and no one told me where they had been moved to after it happend i ran straight to customer service and the put a call out for a 1st aider i was waiting around 15mins and then there checked the rota and discovered there wasnt a 1st aider on in a result i had a untrained sercuity guard help me out but it didnt do much good i then had to continue the rest of my shift on my own and had to make my own way to hospital which i discovered i had a chemical burn on my eye

what im wanting to know is , is it against the law to have no 1st aider on in a public place such as a supermarket im waiting on a accident company to contact me just wanting to know ive tryed to google it but no joy

thanks for the help

i dont know on 1st aiders but TBH if you knew you should have worn googles and rthey were provided(regardless of being moved) i doubt there is any case fro you to score money as you seem to want

seems its an open point as to whether they are required or not
http://www.hse.gov.uk/firstaid/legislation.htm

HSE would be able to confirm

however the fact its a public place has no bearing on employee provision

The Regulations do not place a legal obligation on employers to make first aid provision for non-employees such as the public or children in schools. However, HSE strongly recommends that non-employees are included in a first aid needs assessment and that provision is made for them. An update on this topic is available on the ‘What's new’ page.

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ok thanks for the reply il soon find out ive sent my details n everythink off were a try i suppose lol

did you fill in an accident form at work? if not ensure you do

yeh its in the book made sure of that

If you knew there were safety goggles that had to be used when handling bleach and you didn't use them then really it's your fault. Unless a supervisor TOLD you to handle bleach without goggles, it was your responsibility to make sure that the correct handling procedures were in use. You should have refused to handle the bleach until the goggles were found.

Surely you were told about handling regulations in your job? Your employer has to inform you of these before you handle hazardous materials.

If you knew all this and still handled the bleach, well, come on. Those apron strings should have been cut years ago. Sueing your employer because you ignored regulations is creating the litigation culture that's killing common sense and self responsibility in the UK.

:yeahthat::nono:

1986Uno45S said:

If you knew there were safety goggles that had to be used when handling bleach and you didn't use them then really it's your fault. Unless a supervisor TOLD you to handle bleach without goggles, it was your responsibility to make sure that the correct handling procedures were in use. You should have refused to handle the bleach until the goggles were found.

Surely you were told about handling regulations in your job? Your employer has to inform you of these before you handle hazardous materials.

If you knew all this and still handled the bleach, well, come on. Those apron strings should have been cut years ago. Sueing your employer because you ignored regulations is creating the litigation culture that's killing common sense and self responsibility in the UK.

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Spot on, it would be up to you to refuse to do the job if the correct safety procedure could not be followed and you were aware of this. I doubt a solicitor would touch the case to be honest.

Especially as you said on this public forum, that you knew you had to wear goggles.

It's unfair to sue a company because you didn't want to look for the goggles. Injury laws are there for accidents and abuse of health and safety laws, but the more of these type of claims the more likely companies are to try and avoid payment for people who really need it.

If no written procedure exsists for handling the bleach, or if you have not recieved some instruction in the correct way to handle it and/or seen the MSDS sheet, or if management were aware of the fact you handled bleach without precautions and turned a blind-eye to it you may have a case IF you can prove it as fact. However you will need a pretty good reason as to why you didnt use the goggles in the first place, the fact you couldnt find them wouldnt stand-up if your management can prove they have taken all reasonable steps they can to prevent you becoming injured.

Its quite likely that your employer will take action against YOU for ignoring their procedures relating to safe working practises.

I read your post again, you said you had to continue your shift alone. Did they not let you go the hospital to get checked out until you finished work.

If that is true, then it is out of order, you should have been allowed to seek medical advice.

I think his main question though, was about there being no first aider on duty.

Was the PPE Issued to you directly or shared?

Do you have a place to store your PPE so that it is kept clean?

Was you aware of the need to wair PPE doing the paticular task?

Was there a supply of eyewash or fresh running water close to the area you use bleach?

And WTF was you using bleach at work for they dont even use it in hospitals now it should have been Substituted for something less harmfull

IIRC you need to have a first aider if you have more than "X" number of employees, then an additional one for every "Y"

but you waited 15 minutes before realising there was no first aider then did something about it????

playing devils advicate didn't you think to rinse your eyes out yourself??

I have been a first aider at work & we were not obliged to provide first aid to members of the public, our insurance only covered us to administer first aid to work colleagues.
In fact, on the course, we are encouraged to 'walk on by' for reasons of litigation - you can save a life but they'll still try to sue you for something.
As first-aiders, we can buy our own insurance to cover us for providing aid to the public but it can be expensive.
Although I have given aid several times, I have not given my details.
As far as an employer is concerned, they provided PPE & you knew they provided PPE therefore I must assume that they also gave you training - and that could be as simple as "when using bleach, always wear goggles" although with companies these days I'll bet it was a proper session which you signed an attendance register (and your company will already have put a photocopy of this along with details of the training on a copy of the accident/incident book).
As far as I am aware, employers have a duty to provide facilities but I don't think they actually have to provide a first-aider, simply a competent person. This person will have responsibility for ensuring first aid supplies and equipment are available & working/in date.

My daughter was injured in ****** (a large supermarket) a year ago and they called for the first aid team, useless bunch they were, and they failed to write down all the facts of the injury, it somehow got translated to something that would cover them legally but that has backfired on them As pointed out if they failed to let you seek proper medical help then you would have a case there.

what the hell is wrong with some people in this small country
yes i,m an old git & get right to the point i like the people on here that dont mince thier words at least they have guts, i like this site for many reasons but when i come across someone looking for sympathy after he f**s up & looks for££££££ in compo......in not so many words you have to take co
ntrol of your own safety this is the first rule of life for goodness sake:eek
am i wrong too hard or what

Realistically, everything hinges not on the provision of trained first aiders but on H&S. The company has discharged its duty by providing first aid facilities (the fact that there are first-aiders suggests there are first aid kits around).

Under HASAW act 1974;

health and safety at work of his employees;

(As the OP knew there are goggles & that he should be wearing them, I would say that the employer has fulfilled its obligations)

other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at work;

Whereas going off on a jolly & ignoring any advice given in training, the OP decided to splash bleach everywhere!
(because, let's face it, how many of us handle bleach at home & manage to get it in our eyes?).

I know of a situation where a chef was cleaning out an oven with a Mr. Muscle type foamer. Goggles were provided & kept in the same cupboard as the foamer but had never been worn (still in their plastic wrapper). Chef leans into oven, sprays foam & gets some splashback.
Not only did they lose their pay for the time they were off sick BUT they also had pay deducted for the time the first-aider was out of the building taking said chef to A&E.
This all may seem extremely mean & stingy but agency chef had to be brought in to cover & other staff had to cover for the aider's absence - as well as the first aid kit being replenished (water, bandage/patch).
On top of this, when the company's H&S bod came to visit, they discovered that not only were the goggles untouched (so had not been used in 2 years) but the spray was not being stored correctly. Additionally, there was a huge bundle of wire wool also being stored in the same place - and this room was next to the plant room & was the main route for all the hot water & heating pipes - so a fairly tropical temperature!

as it says above it's you're responsibility to wear the goggles provided by the company. the accident was your fault because you couldn't be arsed to look for the said goggles.

as for the 1st aider bit, i don't know, but you still won't have a case because the accident was still your fault.

it'll take a while to get an answer out of the claims people, they won't take on a case unless they know they've got a definate win, they're there to make money remember.

jimboy said:

what the hell is wrong with some people in this small country
yes i,m an old git & get right to the point i like the people on here that dont mince thier words at least they have guts, i like this site for many reasons but when i come across someone looking for sympathy after he f**s up & looks for££££££ in compo......in not so many words you have to take control of your own safety this is the first rule of life for goodness sake:eek
am i wrong too hard or what

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I'm with you all the way Jim, the country has gone to pot on a free wheel.