Insurance Companies And Their Cop-Outs!

Did you ever hear about the 17-year-old workshop apprentice who needed to earn some extra dough?

It was coming up to Christmas, the nights were closing in, and he didn't have enough money to buy his girlfriend a present. One day in the workshop, he had a gruesome money-earning idea…

He’d seen the compensation ads. He’d heard guys joking about ‘losing a limb to go on holiday’. So he looked it up…

It turned out his little finger was worth “up to £5,000”. He didn't need his finger that much, he decided. And he urgently needed the £5,000 more! 

So one morning in the workshop, when nobody was around, he prised the guard away from one of the workshop saws. He placed his little finger on the metal bench across the hole for the blade. He gritted his teeth… 

Blood splattered up in his face, and he screamed.

Was There a Duty of Care?

A nasty situation, and a tragedy. So, what are the health & safety implications?

In theory, the company was responsible for the acts and omissions of their employees, even when employees circumvent the safety measures. So our apprentice’s finger should indeed have been worth about £5,000. 

If the case goes to court and the company wants to defend the case, they've got several options available to them…

First, a claimant must prove that a duty of care was owed. Which in this case, it was. A duty of care was breached and the injury was a direct result of that breach. 

The duty of care was breached because it wasn't a safe place of work. He was able to remove the guards on the saw, which allowed him to cut his finger off. So from that point of view, our apprentice can prove his case. 

Who Can Prove What?

The insurance company has to then prove that a duty care was not owed, or that the injury wasn't a result of the breach. Clearly, in this case, they can’t prove this. 

What they CAN prove is contributory negligence: that he contributed to his own negligence. In which case, what percentage did he contribute? 

In the investigation, it will come out that our boy had been talking about money in the workshop. He’d even told a colleague that his finger was worth £5K, and that he didn’t really need it. So in theory, he contributed 100% towards his own negligence because he did it on purpose.

On that basis, he shouldn’t get anything. Which would perhaps seem the “fair” outcome if an employee has deliberately injured themselves to game the system. 

But for the insurance company, to go to court and pay solicitors to defend the case using contributory negligence would cost more than £5,000. So it's cheaper to pay out than to defend the case in court.

Where does the money for the payout come from? It comes from you of course! 

The insurance company simply increases your insurance premiums - and often the excess you need to pay if there’s a claim.

So, What Can You Do As An Employer?

The first protective measure is to ensure that correct supervision is in place and that all your safety measures are unremovable. Next, make sure that the necessary training and support measures are in place. 

In the end, our apprentice didn’t get the full £5K; they came to an arrangement where he got £2,500. But of course, none of this matters. He’s still without his little finger. Forever. That's a massive price to pay. 

Could The Company Be Prosecuted?

Going back to my article on reasonably foreseeable, then yes it could… 

Was it reasonably foreseeable that our apprentice might do something like this? Based on workshop conversations, yes it was. 

Did they do everything that a reasonable employer would have done? They hadn't given him the training and they hadn't made sure that the guard wasn't removable. They also hadn’t put the correct supervision levels in place. So no, they hadn’t done everything reasonably foreseeable - so potentially they could be prosecuted as well. 

So, a painful situation all-round! 

As always, prevention in H&S is better (and cheaper) than cure!

Next time we’ll look at the risk assessment I made when smuggling restricted goods in from Uganda! (Can you guess what? Clue: it wasn’t drugs!) 🙂.

Moira

P.S. Ensure your employees make informed decisions by providing them with the necessary knowledge. SafetyNow offers comprehensive training programs, including Nebosh and IOSH certifications. Head over to www.safety-now.co.uk. There’s never a dull second – and that’s a promise!

P.P.S. I publish these articles every two weeks. Join my free email list to make sure you never miss a gruesome update!