Small injury in shop

bubbles o hara

Hello folks.


Firstly let me say, this is not a potential compo claim..it's not that serious. It's just a general question.



Today my sister was shopping in a well known store. She was looking at shorts, and as she bent down to replace a pair, she got a bang on another rack that she hadn't seen. It turned out there were three columns of racks, but the middle one was obscured by the length of the shorts on the highest rail.

For a moment she was stunned by the impact of the bang, but thought no more of it until the blood started to trickle down her face. At this point an assistant who had seen what happened, came over and offered her a chair. The lady went to get some water and returned with the supervisor and security guard?



They couldn't have been more helpful and took my sister's phone number and address and said they would be in contact soon.

My question is, is this normal procedure? My sister didn't make a fuss, nothing like that, so why would the shop need all these details?


Thanks for any answers, much appreciated.

ARNOLD J RIMMER

It will be company policy to fill out an incident report when something like that happens. It doesn’t matter how minor the accident was. Company policy will dictate that information needed to be gathered.

micar

Well they can't just ignore what happened.

Everything has to be documented.

There are folks out there who would claim as it's easy money particularly if there is potential for scar to be clearly visible.

Used to work in a dept store....circa 2001.

A woman went to pick up a heavy box from the ground and it drop an her foot......nothing serious. But the first thing she said was " I could sue you for that" rather than ouch my poor foot. I was shocked at her first reaction.

Stephen15

Do shops have a right to take your name and details and can you refuse if you are asked. If you do refuse could the shop bar you. I know shops often fall victim to claims and have to say every time I see an ambulance outside a shop I think it's probably a claim.

Peregrinus

You can refuse, but why would you? And certainly if you are thinking that you might want to bring a claim against the shop the last thing you would think of is refusing to assist in documenting the fact that the incident occurred.

Sam Quentin

Maybe they will send her a voucher!

bobbyss

ARNOLD J RIMMER wrote:

It will be company policy to fill out an incident report when something like that happens. It doesn’t matter how minor the accident was. Company policy will dictate that information needed to be gathered.

I was in a well known store and I pointed out a potential danger to the floor manager. (Hanger kind of things they attach things to for display). Some were facing out like daggers at head height that could easily pierce your eyes. He seemed to agreed with me. Do they have to document that also?

4ensic15

bobbyss wrote: »

I was in a well known store and I pointed out a potential danger to the floor manager. (Hanger kind of things they attach things to for display). Some were facing out like daggers at head height that could easily pierce your eyes. He seemed to agreed with me. Do they have to document that also?

They have to document incidents and hazards. If they remove the hazard after it is brought to their attention they do not have to document it.

coylemj

Does the Health & Safety Authority require that all workplace accidents be documented? I know the OP's sister was a customer and not an employee but does it still need to be documented and reported to the HSA?

Just wondering if there is a statutory duty to log the event and not just in case there's a compo claim.

seagull

I'd imagine that their insurers insist on all incidents that could potentially lead to a claim being as thoroughly documented as possible.

Peregrinus

Most businesses of any size would have internal protocols requiring accidents to be documented, regardless of what the law requires or what their insurers require. This is very much in their interests, because (a) if they have information about accidents, they can take more effective action to prevent them, and (b) if they are sued in connection with an accident, it helps greatly to have captured and preserved information about the accident.

Stephen15

Peregrinus wrote: »

Most businesses of any size would have internal protocols requiring accidents to be documented, regardless of what the law requires or what their insurers require. This is very much in their interests, because (a) if they have information about accidents, they can take more effective action to prevent them, and (b) if they are sued in connection with an accident, it helps greatly to have captured and preserved information about the accident.

Does CCTV not cover that? Any well run business would put CCTV evidence before word of mouth or writing on a piece of paper surely and has every inch of their shop floor covered by it.

joeguevara

What does your sister want to happen? Does she/will she have a scar on her face? Is she affected by the incident?

If she is she needs to do something about it and if the shop was negligent by having a rack that could cause harm, then she should proceed. If she isn’t affected then she should be thankful that the shop seemed to do a lot to take care of her.

I am a bloke with thankfully a nose that is not broken but plenty of scars. I wouldn’t bother if the above happened to me. However, if I was a girl who got a cut because of a shops fault and affected my looks then maybe I would proceed.

Peregrinus

Stephen15 wrote: »

Does CCTV not cover that? Any well run business would put CCTV evidence before word of mouth or writing on a piece of paper surely and has every inch of their shop floor covered by it.

Not every business is a shop. And not every CCTV system captures everything from every angle and in every detail.

It's not a question of having CCTV systems or a protocol for recording accidents and incidents; there is no requirement to choose between them. Most businesses will have a protocol for recording incidents. They won't abandon it the day they install a CCTV system; why would they?

Stephen15

Peregrinus wrote: »

Not every business is a shop. And not every CCTV system captures everything from every angle and in every detail.

It's not a question of having CCTV systems or a protocol for recording accidents and incidents; there is no requirement to choose between them. Most businesses will have a protocol for recording incidents. They won't abandon it the day they install a CCTV system; why would they?

True but every business premises still should have CCTV whether it be a shop or another business.

4ensic15

Stephen15 wrote: »

True but every business premises still should have CCTV whether it be a shop or another business.

Even at that, the CCTV will only have the details of the incident itself. There will usually be follow-up with the victim of an accident. What if the victim is ok after 3 weeks and a year later claims to have suffered devasting injuries in the same incident?

Eggs For Dinner

Proper protocols will involve compiling an accident report involving supervisors, appropriate staff and witnesses. CCTV footage and cleaning records (in the event of slips or falls) need to be retained.

Adults have up to 2 years to give an intention to sue and it is common practice for claimants to leave it as late as possible to take advantage of records being mislaid, staff leaving employment and becoming untraceable and CCTV footage being overwritten

PlaneSpeeking

bubbles o hara wrote: »

Hello folks.


Firstly let me say, this is not a potential compo claim..it's not that serious. It's just a general question.



Today my sister was shopping in a well known store. She was looking at shorts, and as she bent down to replace a pair, she got a bang on another rack that she hadn't seen. It turned out there were three columns of racks, but the middle one was obscured by the length of the shorts on the highest rail.

For a moment she was stunned by the impact of the bang, but thought no more of it until the blood started to trickle down her face. At this point an assistant who had seen what happened, came over and offered her a chair. The lady went to get some water and returned with the supervisor and security guard?



They couldn't have been more helpful and took my sister's phone number and address and said they would be in contact soon.

My question is, is this normal procedure? My sister didn't make a fuss, nothing like that, so why would the shop need all these details?


Thanks for any answers, much appreciated.

Hi, I'd agree with what most said about it being an accident book kind of deal.

However, I would disagree with it not being a potential compo claim - to my mind it's exactly the case that SHOULD be compensated!

Not the victim's fault in any way;
Negligence from store;
Noticeable injury

Not the cases we've read where thousands are paid out for nothing.

I hope her face is recovered now.

august12

Something similar happened me in an airport last year, was making my way to departures and next thing, was flat on my back, before I had a chance to dust myself down, I was surrounded by airport staff, got quite a nasty fall with throbbing wrist and knee, had slipped on a piece of buttered scone, they had photographed the evidence straight away, I was taken aside and my details taken, was given ice packs, staff we're extremely helpful, that was the last I heard about the incident and wouldn't cross my mind to pursue it, but I haven't suffered any effects from it.