Evening, Had a PI claim come through to us as a contractor, Employee has had an accident but come through direct to us as a contractor. Should this not go through their Employer first as he/she has the responsibility to provide a safe place of work? Although I realise we all should have a duty of care. As a matter of process should the employee claim through their employer first and then the employer try to counter-sue us? I ask because our employee did not receive any on site training or viewed any kind of RA so in my opinion this should be thrown back to the employer under sect 4 of the HSAWA and also the workplace regs 1992. Advice would be welcome.

Unfortunately he is probably trying to cut out his employer who would no doubt enjoin you into the claim. You don't mention if you were the PC on the job, if you were, then ultimately you would be liable for what happened on your site. As Kate says, gather all the info you can re the incident and pass to your insurer. Good luck

Amended: As I see it, under the 'legal' aspect - the duty and 'contract of employment' is between employee and employer. The employer has duties under the HASAWA (as does employee), but the contractor also has duties under said act (Section 4 at a guess). Therefore, the employee puts his claim to the employer, they present their documentation to the Insurers and its taken from there!