Posted By kellyfarmiloe Hi i was wondering if anyone could offer some good advice basically my husband had an accident at work which resulted in him tearing the ligaments in his foot & ankle he went to hospital and was told to rest for a few days and to see how it went. after 2 days of unbearable pain.swelling etc husband went to see our gp who told hime to rest and signed him off work for 2 weeks,now comes the important bit his works OH called him in to see them and without even looking at the foot/ankle said he was fit for work (even though he could not drive,get any shoe on that footetc) the OH said that she could overrule our gp saying he was fit for work(he is a hgv driver)even though he couldnt drive using that foot. what we need to know is can they overrule or not??? thanks for reading this thanks inadvance Kelly

Posted By Guillaume LeChat Ref OH - was that an OH nurse or an OH Physician?

Posted By JayJay Kelly ! Has anyone from the company your husband works for carried out an accident investigation or interviewed him ? Has this been reported to the HSE under RIDDOR ? Sounds like they wanted to get him back to work so they didn't have to report it. Surely if your husbands Gp has put him on the sick then he's the person to sign him off. Not too sure if the OH nurse can over-rule this but i wouldn't have thought so.

Posted By Red Ones Sorry to hear. I too would ask the innocent question whether they feel it needs to be reported under RIDDOR (knowing that it does). I would also ask the OHN if your husband does return to work under their instruction, given the GPs sick certificate is still current, is your husband covered under the company's Employers Liability Insurance? I would be very concerned, not only about your husband per se, but would also express concern that his GP says he is not fit to return to work on the grounds of his own medical fitness. The GP has recommended rest as part of the healing process, should your husband return to work whilst under guidance from a professional medical practioner not to do so, should your husbands injury be aggrevated by continuing to work who would be liable. The worst case scenario could be an aggrevation of the injury that could partially incapacitate or restrict his ability to do his job in the future; would the company then be liable for any potential loss of income, settlement on mortgage insurance etc, as they instructed against the advice of the competent professional medical practitioner (your GP) It sounds harsh and would be likely to iritate the hell out of the employer, however the GP has made a recommendation in the interest of the IP. It is in the employers interest to see the employee return to full fitness even if this results in a temporary inconvenience to his business. If the employer is so concerned about loss of income perhaps they should consider pursuing the contractor who left the site in the state that they did.

Posted By Ian Mitchell Good morning. This all sounds quite apalling to me, although obviously I only know your husband's side of the story. As a point of clarity, RIDDOR is the 'Reporting of Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations' to the layman - if you already knew I apologise. Give it the full title when challenging them as it looks like you have done the research and are not just making hollow threats! Of course, they have actually broken the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 by not providing your husband with a safe place of work! Confirm with the GP that he is correctly diagnosed, challenge the OH practitioner, and if they resist quote their legal obligations. If they disregard your concerns you could either seek damages as said or contact the HSE, although hopefully it will not come to that and the employer will see sense. Good luck, and please keep us updated. PS if this approach works please remember to tell your friends that H+S professionals are practical and approachable people and not the clipboard wielding automatons that Mr. Clarkson and co tar us with!!

Posted By Bill Elliott Agree with all the above advice however, your husbands employer & OH may be requiring a return to "light" or other duties not associated with driving and that would be an acceptable alternative. I would also dispute that an OH nurse can overrule the GP, my understanding is that company OH provide advice to the employer about the employees ability to be at work or not -the decision is not theirs (the OH) but managements. It would seem your husband would benefit from some professional advice is he not a member of a Trades Union who are very well placed to get support and often free legal advice.

Posted By CRT Hi, my advice would be to ignore them unless they offer "light" work that will not aggrivate the injury further. your hubbie has been signed as unfit for work by a GP, so the GP has to sign that he is now fit for work. If they get "heavy" tell them you will see them at an industrial tribunal and get in touch with the relevant enforcing authority

Posted By gham Yes (assuming he is an employee) Section 3 (2) of RIDDOR (2) Subject to regulation 10, where a person at work is incapacitated for work of a kind which he might reasonably be expected to do, either under his contract of employment, or, if there is no such contract, in the normal course of his work, for more than three consecutive days (excluding the day of the accident but including any days which would not have been working days) because of an injury resulting from an accident arising out of or in connection with work (other than one reportable under paragraph (1)), the responsible person shall as soon as practicable and, in any event, within 10 days of the accident send a report thereof to the enforcing authority on a form approved for the purposes of this regulation, unless within that period he makes a report thereof to the Department by some other means so approved.

Posted By p winter Hi Kerry sorry to hear of your husbands injury. Please think long and hard before you threaten this employer with the enforcing people, tribunals etc. If it is a bullying employer you will not in the long term win (even if right is on your side) This bit will be contraversial - a company with an OH nurse must surely have access to competent H&S advice. Might this be where the problem lies, a H&S manager under pressure to reduce accident figures? Can you perhaps approach your husbands boss or HR dept and explain the situation. I can't really see how anyone can argue with a doctors note - even if they suspect (and clearly this is not the case) malingering

Posted By Farmer The question is how fit is your husband-- the OHN has considered that he is fit for work -- based upon your comments it would appear that he would not be able to carry out normal duties -- if the OHN has indicated that he is fit for work then an assessmet of capabiltities should be done and passed to his supervisor indicating what areas of work he can and cannot do--employers insurance is still valid regardless. The main issue is one of compulsion -- if your husband has been signed of sick due to injury by a GP then he may take off time -- however he is still under a contract of employment and the employer has a right to review his capabilties The accident is still a Riddor as the he has been incapacitated from work The issue is one of rights -- if your husband does not feel comfortable of his capabilies he should ask to see the assessment of his capabilities -- that is if one has been done -- he has every right to refuse to work -- as does his employer to challenge a GP opinion