hi all. As most of you know i have some bad burns from some voluntary work i did through the company i work for. The burns and blisters will more than likely scar, or so im told.

Everyone who know's me thinks that i should make a claim. Im a bit unsure what to do, im told im too nice lol.

If i did want to go down that route how would i do it?

to be fair, its not the companies fault you had an alergic reaction to the plant.

 

If they left a spade on the floor, you stood on it, it shot up and pierced your head - fair enough claim.... but something thats natures fault - seems a bit over the top....(imo of course)

who would you sue? work?

They have insurances to cover this sort of thing if you did decide to claim. Personally, I wouldn't but that's my morals.

not sure if you would have a strong case though. How is it the companies fault you are allergic to a certain plant? how could they foresee it? It was not through their negligence that you were injured you see

 

Im not being difficult just looking at how a judge might view it!

Saz that in thought, Salted Peanuts have to have a warning of 'May contain nuts' on the packet purely to stop people claiming if they are allergic lol

contact an industrial injuries solicitor out of your of the yellow pages, and get a no win no fee agreement, that way if there is no chance of winning the solicitors wont take the case and then you know where you stand, if they do take the case then they must think there is a good chance of winning. although just be aware scarring and personal injury doesnt usually get that much money in court, maybe only a couple of grand.

ok, to explain things a little further...

I have actually said similar to the above that i don't want to claim. There was apparently a full risk assessment done on the site, there was only 2 pairs of gloves between about 6 or 7 of us.

Also i have not had am allergic reaction to any me the plants, have done loads of gardening before too.

It appears that i have been got by either japanese knotwed or hogweed which if the sap gets on your skin it badly burns and blisters you. This is not because im allergic.

No1 was told about it prior to working or anything.

 

Personally i hadn't even thought about claiming. But everyone here and most people at work too think that i should.

My brother in law is actually a

Gardener and is now management and looks after parks etc

He thinks they are in breach of something or other, can't remember what he said now. Apparently tho i should have been told of dangerous plants and weeds etc. Also i should have been provided with certain clothing etc.

 

Again i want to make it clear that i had not even thought about claiming and im just a bit in limbo not knowing what to do now but everyone is telling me i should.

Im just confused

what you want is for us to say yes claim, you have been wronged and and need compensating, that way when you do claim you will do it with a clear concunse lol

 

just go for it, i would if i had those fookin things oin me

why are you asking a bunch of strangers with no ligal clue if you should make a claim, the only person that can answer that is yourself.

Legally: if they only had 2 pairs of gloves between 6 or 7 of you then it looks like they might be a little negligent in thier approach. However, you might have contributed by not asking for them so your claim might be reduced...

 

Morally: You said voluntary work, so the charity/agent who commissioned you will not be able to ask you or any firm again for this type of work, as they will have to get special insurance in place to cover all eventualities in the future and they probably have not got the funds for this, hence requiring volunteers rather than professional gardeners or groundsmen and so the type of work will probably never get done in the future...

 

I'd say it's up to you and how badly you feel you were treated.....

 

I used to be able to drive cars and Bikes on the sand in my hometown of Pendine. After Clarkson and his cronies came to the 9 miles of sand to test a few cars for an episode of top gear (where the landspeed record was once held) we had flocks of cars coming to do the same....later that year some boy racer nearly ran over a kid buried in the sand and now the council have closed the beach as they can't cover the insurance costs of the increased risks........not quite a similar thing, but depends on teh reasons you volunteered for this work in the first place i suppose and whether you 'd like that to be able to continue? ....they probably have cover, but the more that claim the more the insurance cost rises the more we're prevented from 'living' in this country...

i did mention the lack of equipment but then just made do with what we had in the end.

StellaZ - to be honest the reason that im asking is because everyone is telling me to make a claim but personally i didn't want to and thought i shouldn't.

Its hard to make a choice when you feel pressureised in to making a claim. As i mentioned i hadn't even thought about it myself. Everyone else here is saying that i should.

 

With regard to the comment of a rake being left lying around and me stepping on it and being injured thats the sort of thing i think i'd say well i should have seen it.

I was not aware of plants which were hazardous to human skin being in the garden.

 

Chris- the reason im asking on here is that literally everyone here is saying i should and i was wondering what others thought of this sort of thing.

I lot of people these days make claims when they aren't actually injured at all. For example iv tripped over an open drain before and twisted my ankle, grazed my shin and banged my knee but i just thought i should have seen it at the end of the day.

When doing the gardening stuff no1 was spoken to about do's and don't or even what we needed to do exactly. There was no protective clothing apart from 2 sets of gloves which pretty much went on 1st come 1st served.

 

The place is council run and although we volunteered to help this place trust me they are not hard up. Its a very impressive place plus i believe the claim would be against my company which is one of the biggest insurance companies in the world RSA, we did have insurance for taking people off site etc.

 

On the plus side i heal very very quickly. Going back to the nurse tomorrow so will see what they are now like

From all your previous posts , including the many woes you`ve endured with your car , you have always come across as a very decent and accepting kind of lad . My advice would be to stay that way . Your friends , or whoever is advising you to claim , may mean well but that doesn`t put them in the right , morally .

Too many people these days are salivating over the slightest opportunity to make a quick buck over the slightest mishap in their lives . People used to just say " Fook ! That was a Bast*rd " , and just get on with life . Now they want to blame and claim . I call it greed .

 

BTW it was a horrible thing to happen , while you were doing a good deed , and I hope you get better soon , mate .

Take Care

I'd say that you should only claim if these injuries are putting you out of pocket, in which case the insurance cover can pay out and you're not doing it for a simple financial gain.

 

If its not costing you any money, I'd just see it as proper charity work...actually giving something up...albeit a few scars but then everyone has those eh! Fingers crossed yours will reduce in size and fade in time though!

 

End of the day...if all you get out of claiming is a financial gain...I prob wouldn't do it.

Thats exactly my thing. I don't want to claim just for the sake of claiming. I don't feel right about it which is the reason for the post in the first place. I just kind of started feeling like I should be claiming which I didn't want to. Besically people here around me including the hundreds of people that work here want me to claim and all think im stupid for not. Kind of made me think am I right in thinking I shouldn't.

No point asking us.

 

Go see a claims lawyer first off to see if you actually have a case or not.

 

If I were you I would claim, IF you were not told about the danger plants and they knew they were there and asking you to do things with them then its their fault and should cough up.

They have a lot of different plants and things from around the world there. It was maintained etc by proper gardeners however the council have made cut backs.

We weren't told anything at all to be honest mate.

go see a lawyer bud. no point in asking anyone on here as none of us have any clue about these matters. If they say you can claim then claim, if not tehn you know your answer

i think you have answered the thread yourself mate "you dont feel right about it "

 

forget peer pressure and put it down to experience , you were doing charity work and all that a claim would do is ( as said earlier on here ), force the charitable organisation to purchase insurance which cuts into the donations....so you will be in effect taking from others less fortunate perhaps ??

the Arabs have a saying "la shukra ala wahjib" ill get my thanks in heaven !!!

anyway i do hope you have a full and speedy recovery mate

 

steve

as said many times above, its not down to us. me personally, im sickened by the claims culture "you looked at me funny so im going to sue you cos its always worth trying as i wont lose a penny if i lose" - not at all saying this is your case tho mate in fact IMO it isnt. if there is a dangerous plant that is commonly known to cause skin problems like yours standing around with no warning then that is a gross oversight on the part of whoever put it there/bought it. this is the difference between signs saying "dont walk into this wall / dont fall over" and "this tree will hurt you if you touch it". you can have a stiff upper lip and put it down to experience, you can complain to them but not sue, or you can go the whole way.