Rank: Guest 
|
Posted By halesowen Baggie
An employee at work had a minor accident at work where a pallet collar struck him on the forehead, he sustained a graze to the head and was sent home as a precaution.
The next day he came into work and said he was only in as he would not get paid if he didn't come in, he explained that he had visited NHS direct online and they had told him not to drive for 48-72 hours.(He drives a lift truck, but was not allowed on one after the incident, He also drove himself to work).
When I got into work I immediately told his line manager to get him a lift home and his manager arranged for another employee to take him home.(I was not taking any chances, although he jumped out of the car when he got outside the gates and continued to get his car and drive himself home).
My question is where do we stand with NHS direct online as a company, we had no doctors note. What would have happened had we allowed the employee to drive the truck etc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By Richie
HB,
If you are ever sceptical regarding self certification then demand the IP visits their GP or your own occupational health professional.
As the IP has not actually been seen by a health professional by consulting NHS direct, there is nothing stopping you forming company policy to make all IPs actually see a health professional, save for sensible exceptions such as for true influenza during an outbreak.
NHS Direct is a portal to advice for the general public regarding whether or not they need to seek professional advice at all, and if so the best innitial access point, be it GP, A&E, Dentist, Optician etc. In my experience the advice given by them in the case of a head injury would be to attend A&E or to see the GP. They may say that the outcome is likely to be a spell off driving, however it seems a little odd thet your IP was not strongly advised to seek proper consultation of some sort.
I have to say the IP would be on my on my radar if the situation arose in my workplace.
Richie
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By Emyr Evans
Personally, in the absence of a certificate from a GP or Occupational Health advisor - I would have kept him in work.
I would have arranged a meeting with him / line-manager / HR and an union official (if relevant) and tried to negotiate the best & safest option.
At worst I would have restricted his duties to non-FLT driving (if he felt dizzy, any side effects) - he has already ignored the advice of the NHS in driving to work and he seems fit enough to do minor duties - cleaning, admin, assisting to collate accident reports at end of year.
I'm a little surprised that he did not self-certify himself for sickness absence for 3 days (on medical advice gounds) - which would normally mean that he is paid in full for his absence.
I would also enquire why - if the NHS advice line advised him not to drive for 2-3 days - he has ignored this advice? He is placing his own & other road-users / pedestrians safety at risk in driving to work and could be liable to personal negligence proceedings if he were to be involved in a RTA.
If he chose to ignore the NHS advice and wanted to drive the FLT (at start of shift -before you turned up) - then he placed himself and his colleageues safety at risk & that negligent behaviou could result in his prosecution unders HASWA 1974.
There may be a lot of work required in bringing about a safety culture change in the company - this employee and his line manager have not taken the advise of health experts (NHS Advice line)
To your real question on NHS advice line - I don't know (guess not enough case-law around currently) - but he has not been examined by a professional and therefore the symptoms may have been "coloured" a bit.
Also, being cynical - I would
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By Tabs
Basically there is no difference to NHS Direct and a GP. In this case, I doubt very much a doctor's note would have been issued if he had gone to the GP.
Anyone could visit the doctor's surgery after work and still fail to tell you that they had been instructed not to drive.
It sounds that your actions were correct. I am not medically trained so won't comment on the NHS Direct recommendations other than you were wise to follow them - he obviously wasn't.
If in the future you require a doctor's note, simply ask the person to attend a surgery after speaking to NHS Direct - though there may be a charge, because self-certification is the protocol for that period of absence.
It is impossible to say what would happen if he drove the fork lift. If you mean what would happen if he caused an accident whilst driving when advised not to, your company and he would have been liable. The split of liability would be determined by the Court dependent on who knew what beforehand.
Any Court would expect you to have excluded him from driving duties.
I am a little surprised that he believes he won't get paid though. I expect my employers to pay for time lost due to accidents in the course of their business ... maybe he was mistaken?
|
|
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum.
You cannot reply to topics in this forum.
You cannot delete your posts in this forum.
You cannot edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You cannot vote in polls in this forum.