Newbie Making a claim for injury at work over 3 three years ago

[Quovadisuk]

Firstly Can I say hello as a first time posting :
This enquiry relates to a family member who has had several accidents at work causing (at the time ) Just bruising and pain two her knees .This relates to the wearing of requested employer uniform and shoes and a leaking pipe in the washroom that despite management being aware did nothing causing the slip and fall bruising her knees The second incident when wearing the shoes occurred when moving from one floor surface to another the shoes suddenly gripped causing the second fall THe shoes were subsequently removed from the uniform request to wear this was in 2015 In April 2018 a child at work { she is a child carer and educator for young children ) drove a bicycle into her legs and ankle when her back was turned causing a fall once again , but this time the knees got substantially worse to the point her Gp This month has told her NOT to attend work due to the huge swelling and pain in both her knees .She has also been advised she requires surgery for knee replacements

Whilst I am aware that normally claims cannot be made after a period of 3 years , I understand this can be reviewed or three years after you discovered the injury was linked to the accident – whichever date is later.

As she has had the recent injury of the child riding the bike into her legs that seems to have aggravated what could be the real cause of her problem could this clause apply in this instance do you think ?

what makes this worse is that the employer has changed dates on the letter concerning the request to wear the ill fitting shoes ie Crocs and despite confirming that a letter had been sent to her union concerning the first accident for review it now transpires that they didn’t . Fortunately a copy of that letter was given to my relative which proves it had been written and is in her possession suitably signed and dated by the employer . It has been only this week being at home she has contacted the union to find out what exactly has been going on with the report and found it was never received ( or sent? ) despite being assured by the employer it was still being dealt with To me this all seems unfair so I have stepped in to help where I can I have arranged for her to see a specialist to ascertain the exact extent of her injury which is later this month To date I have approached several claims specialist but all to date have declined to take up the case Could I ask for any learned opinions on this one please kind regards

[Peridot]

Hi Quovadisuk,

It is a tricky one I'm afraid. It would be very difficult to demonstrate that a degenerative knee condition requiring knee replacements could be linked back to a previous slipping/tripping incident over 3 years ago. Not impossible of course but it would take a lot of proof for the Court to even consider allowing a claim to be brought out of time.

If this was a mesothelioma type claim or asbestosis where someone had worked in an industry some 30 years ago and had no reason to believe anything untoward had happened while at work, who then gets a diagnosis and can link this to working with asbestos in the past then the Courts are sympathetic to this and will often allow a claim to be brought out of time, well after the time they actually contracted the disease as they were completely symptom free for many years. Until they receive a diagnosis they would have no knowledge of the issue that has been caused by their employer, not protecting them as they should have been around the asbestos. So in those sorts of circumstances the 3 year limitation clock starts ticking at their date of

their

knowledge of the condition.

Unfortunately many of us will suffer with knee and back issues in the future which will more often than not be unrelated to anything we have done at work or any trip, slip or fall we may have, although this could of course exacerbate a problem we already have. In addition a knee injury is evident immediately so the Courts would take the view your friend has had 3 years to bring a claim and she chose not to I'm afraid.

The next point is that for any personal injury claim to be successful there must be a casual link, that the slip caused this injury, as well as demonstrating that the employer has been negligent in their practices when the accident occurred.

Did your friend attend the hospital/GP following the accident at work. Has she continually been returning there due to the issues. Had she ever been about her knees before the accident? This would all turn on showing that the issues she has now were as a direct result of the accident. Even if she did manage to find a lawyer willing to take it on and try and argue the reasons for the claim to be allowed (which I'm afraid I don't think would be successful) there would have to be a huge amount of supporting medical evidence that said yes all or the majority of the problems were as a direct result of the slip at work. Again I'm afraid to say I suspect any medical evidence would not support this.

I suspect she will not find a solicitor who would take on her claim under a no win no fee or conditional fee agreement because the likelihood of the claim being successful are pretty slim in my opinion. There may be a solicitor who would take this on private fee paying basis but again I wouldn't recommend this as I suspect the cost will be very large and if your friend lost the claim she could find herself liable for her employers costs too which will no doubt be even more than her own.

Although I have every sympathy for your friend and it may well be that you could show the employer had been negligent I think she would struggle to show that her knee problems now are down to the accident at work over 3 years ago.

[Quovadisuk]

Thank you for you time and consideration in offering a reply In my mind I thought this may have been the situation but at least I have tried ...Thank you once again.