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#1 Posted : 08 December 2005 14:57:00(UTC)
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Posted By Kenny McGillivray Hi all This organisation carries and delivers parcels and goods and often carries on behalf of other carriers. A medium size box arrives at the depot and when being moved to another bay for loading into truck, employee is badly injured by very sharp knife protruding from bottom of box. Employee is unable to see knife as it is sticking out of bottom edge away from where heis lifting. All employees have been trained in moving and handling which included an awareness of possible hazardous boxes. Box had notice on saying handle with care and was coded to mean it contained fragile goods. Knife was wrapped in paper,is some 10 inches long and sharp as a razor. It could only fit diagonally as it was too big for the box hence it tried to escape. What are your thoughts re section 3 or what? regards Kenny McGillivray
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#2 Posted : 08 December 2005 15:22:00(UTC)
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Posted By David Kimmins Kenny I would say, "Your employee had an accident, you own that accident". I would also say (and I do not know the extent of your service) but in terms of duty of care, do you have a minimum packing standard or guidelines for people who provide you goods to move? If not that would be a miss. Again, you say the knife was razor sharp, wrapped in paper and had to be placed in the box diagonally. The fact that it punctured the box and cut an employee means it was not adequately packaged, and maybe the answer was not, 'had to be placed in the box diagonally', but rather that it was in the wrong sized box. If there is a financial implication to this accident you could possibly subrogate this to the company who provided you with the inadequately packaged box and then maybe they to the packer of said box. However this site being what it is I am sure there are contrary opinions to my humble one. David
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#3 Posted : 08 December 2005 15:59:00(UTC)
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Posted By J Knight Kenny, Tend to agree with David on this I think, John
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#4 Posted : 08 December 2005 16:20:00(UTC)
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Posted By Mark Talbot In terms of personal injury, all involved in the chain of events would be liable. You for not ensuring a safe system of work; despatcher / other carriers for failure to use correct packing and protection (knife should be properly wrapped too - it is foreseeable it can cut through paper). In terms of RIDDOR - your duty to report assuming the three day rule is breached.
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#5 Posted : 08 December 2005 16:26:00(UTC)
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Posted By Kenny McGillivray Thanks for the reponses so far. Yes I have reported as per 3 day. It has also prompted us to look at our systems as you would expect. Hope we can all learn from this and anyone else watching!! Kenny
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#6 Posted : 08 December 2005 17:05:00(UTC)
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Posted By Stupendous Man You may also wish to go to the firms you carry material for (any your own couriers/sort staff), advise them of the incident and compile a short list of descriptions that should arouse suspicion if they are presented in lightweight packaging, i.e: tools; equipment; knives; kitchen equipment; etc..
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#7 Posted : 08 December 2005 17:20:00(UTC)
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Posted By Richard Chalkley As suggested, it may be an idea to alert all those that you deal with of the details of the accident. With the injured parties consent you could alert those you deal of the details of the accident and hence the consequences of badly packaged goods. On another note - as this may give rise to a claim, have you notified your insurers? They can be most helpful and are at their best when involved from the start. Richard.
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