I had an accident in work the company dismissed me saying I lied and made up the accident
I told the truth.
If I had lied surely this is a crime?
Why didn’t the company report it to the police?
Is it fraud!
Any thoughts-I should mention the accident wasn’t recorded in the book and CCTV footage has gone missing!!!
An explanation of the circumstances might help our online Sherlocks, CSI, CIA, FBI, MI5, BBC, and ITV.
More info needed not snippets. We’re not mind readers.
Don’t you think you should shed a bit more light before trucknet csi investigate it !! 
DEAR SIRS,
here,s a brief discription of a accident i had in work, i was on the night shift at a major food supplier shunting the trailors mostly grays and adams 45ft all with fridge units ,the first trailor of the night was already on the bay ,the tractor unit had dropped it there on the previous shift afternoons.
When the trailor was full the loaders let me know and i pulled the tractor unit infront of the trailor (scania) with a window on the rear for good visability i connected the fifth wheel up correctly ,heard the click , put the handbrake on ,got out of the cab checked it visably ,on the king pin correctly then got up on the catwalk connected the abs line then the red air line, 2 seconds later the trailor jolted forwards pushing me onto the cable housing fracturing my ribs then i fell backwards cutting my leg.
There wasn,t much room between the fridge unit and the trailor unit,the yard was on a slight slope(downhill) to make it easier to load the food etc.
I was in severe pain when i got off the floor i found the trailor brake hadn,t been applied,one of the loaders
heard the loud noise and came to the door and asked me if i was ok.
I replied no i thought i was going to kill myself,they havn,t put the trailor brake on(afternoon shift).
I immediatly told the supervisor what had happened ,i was the only hgv driver on duty this gave him a serious problem.I had no first aid ,i wasn,t taken to hospital and the accident wasn,t recorded in the accident book.I stupidly carried on and finnished the shift while the supervisor went for a ■■■ to decide what to do he never came back.
After talking to a number of hgv drivers and mechanics ,i should have checked that the trailor brake was applied this was my mistake ,when i connected the red air line this released the back brakes on the trailor which was now full on a slight slope up tight against a wall so impossible for the trailor to go backwards,the concluesion was the brakes came off the weight was transfered onto the tractor unit causing it to pince under the pressure thus pushing me onto the cable housing causing the accident .
The previous shunter driver on afternoons has admitted to me he failed to apply the parking brake.To be fair to him he has never failed to apply the parking brake in all the time i have been shunting Nearly a year ,he ex military and was meticulus.
The company said that i had lied about the accident,and that came from the transport supervisor(bearing in mind he has no hgv licence and has never dropped a trailor in his life)then i was asked repeatly if i had slipped tripped or fell somewhere else,no what i said was the truth.i even offered them to lie detector test me ,they turned this down of course.Then one of the top men transport supervior number 2 asked me if i had made up the entire accident so i could spend time with my new born baby!!!what .
The yard was covered by CCTV cameras ,simple look at the footage then you will see what i said was true.
I WAS TOLD YOU CAN,T SEE THE CCTV FOOTAGE BECAUSE OF THE DATA PROTECTION ACT,but the cameras cover the inside of the fridge pointing at the back roller shutter door,the main yard covering all the lorry ,and another camera pointing down the offside of the lorry showing me falling backwards.and the whole accident.
The company never trained me ,or give me any written instructions or risk assessments are they in the wrong.
THIS IS A VERY BIG COMPANY THAT TURNS OVER MILLIONS OF POUNDS A YEAR.
HOW DO THEY GET AWAY WITH IT,EVEN GETTING OUT OF ATTENDING A EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL,IT SEEMS THEY ARE ABOVE THE LAW
I have all licences ,i had been doing the job for nearly a year.the problem was the afternoon shift driver had failed to put the park brake on,aswell the trailor involved was very tight on space,this wouldn,t have happened with any other trailor as the gaps are much much bigger,every body makes mistakes ,i admitted mine and there seems to be an agenda of not recording accidents within that particular company,which in the long term may prove detrimental…to all.
There is a safety device called a parnell or purnell safety brake which could have stopped the accident occuring most major supermakets fit them ,but they cost money… :lol
SORRY I HAVEN,T POSTED THIS ACCIDENT EARLIER AFTER READING OF MUCH WORSE ACCIDENTS THAN MINE
Just wanted to know have the company broke any laws?
Any ex coppers out there.
I’m not sure where you want to go with this.
The reality is, It was your own fault. I’m not trying to offend you, But that’s my opinion.
I can’t see why they sacked you, surely it would be in the companies interest to re train you and keep you on side, rather than making an enemy of you.
Very badly managed setup? Or have you done things wrong in the past and this was the last straw?
If you want to access the cctv footage, then contact a solicitor asap. he will apply for a copy under advanced disclosure legislation. You can do this yourself, But a solicitors letter will carry more clout.
If there is any evidence to suggest that the recording has been tampered with in any way, Then it’s a very serious matter. It carries a very high sentence. Perverting or attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Forget about who is to blame, that can be an entirely different debate.
What you are saying is that you are being dismissed for making up an accident.
If this is the case then they could, but don’t have to, report you for attempted fraud (presuming they think you were going on to claim compensation/sick pay)
What they are trying to achieve is any ones guess.
It could be to get rid of you on the cheap, stop you claiming compensation or even to stop HSE investigating and fining the company, all three or even more.
You have rights but failing to put the accident in the accident book or go to hospital leaves you open to accusations of falsifying the accident.
You have a couple of options but if you are a member of a union then that will help and that would be my first point of contact.
You could try a no win no fee firm, regardless of whether you approve of them or not they have their uses. Saves going down a solicitor route and getting a big bill for nothing.
Citizens Advice Bureau (Not that I’ve evrr been to them).
You could go to the HSE but that will get complicated and leave yourself open to fines and prosecution for failing to do things correctly (both the incident and reporting). There’s good chance they will be involved anyway at some point.
Lastly and the most drastic is to report yourself to the police for fraud and let the investigation go from there.
I doubt that the police wouldn’t want to know about an industrial accident unless someone was killed.
You need to go to a solicitor, preferably one with industrial accident experience.
If money is a problem you could try the Citizens Advise Bureau for advise.
I don’t suppose that you were in a trade union?
If you were, the boot would be firmly on the other foot.
As it stands, to be blunt, everyone up the management train is covering their arse and you are carrying the can.
Without a contemporaneous record (the accident book) there’s little evidence to support you.
However the company should have a written policy or process regarding dropping/picking up trailers. If it doesn’t, then you could report them to HSE. They probably won’t get prosecuted, but may have to pay substantial costs to the HSE for the investigation and advice.
If it does have a policy regarding trailers, then you’d have to check if it specifically said it was the shunter’s responsibility and not yours, to check the application of the trailer parking brake.
You will find some interesting reading here
hse.gov.uk/press/2013/rnn-em … arkins.htm
Good luck
tachograph:
I doubt that the police wouldn’t want to know about an industrial accident unless someone was killed.You need to go to a solicitor, preferably one with industrial accident experience.
If money is a problem you could try the Citizens Advise Bureau for advise.
Isn’t this kind of event a RIDDOR because it involved an “uncontrolled vehicle movement”?
I don’t know the procedures at other non-tesco supermarkets, but at tesco you don’t go on the back to couple until you’ve slid the moving 5th wheel forward to make sufficient space to GET up behind the cab. Anyone seeing split coupling, using a mobile device (including a satnav) is instantly banned from site.
Meanwhile, the tesco trailers red air button automatically comes on when you remove the red airline, so there’s no danger of a lunge in the trailer as you connect the red suzie on.
Was the ‘tug test’ done twice when you connected up ?
Forget the could have, should have, would have and focus on the issues of which there appear to be two, as they stand NOW.
Issue 1: The Accident
What employers must do for you
Decide what could harm you in your job and the precautions to stop it. This is part of risk assessment.
In a way you can understand, explain how risks will be controlled and tell you who is responsible for this.
Consult and work with you and your health and safety representatives in protecting everyone from harm in the workplace.
Free of charge, give you the health and safety training you need to do your job.
Free of charge, provide you with any equipment and protective clothing you need, and ensure it is properly looked after.
Provide toilets, washing facilities and drinking water.
Provide adequate first-aid facilities.
Report major injuries and fatalities at work to our Incident Contact Centre: 0845 300 9923. Report other injuries, diseases and dangerous incidents online at hse.gov.uk.
Have insurance that covers you in case you get hurt at work or ill through work. Display a hard copy or electronic copy of the current insurance certificate where you can easily read it.
Work with any other employers or contractors sharing the workplace or providing employees (such as agency workers), so that everyone’s health and safety is protected.
What you must do
Follow the training you have received when using any work items your employer has given you.
Take reasonable care of your own and other people’s health and safety.
Co-operate with your employer on health and safety.
Tell someone (your employer, supervisor, or health and safety representative) if you think the work or inadequate precautions are putting anyone’s health and safety at serious risk.
Issue 2: The Dismissal
Dismissal is when your employer ends your employment - they don’t always have to give you notice.
If you’re dismissed, your employer must show they’ve:
a valid reason that they can justify
acted reasonably in the circumstances
They must also:
be consistent - eg not dismiss you for doing something that they let other employees do
have investigated the situation fully before dismissing you - eg if a complaint was made about you
If you’re a part-time or fixed-term worker, you can’t be treated less favourably than a full-time or permanent employee.
You must be given at least the notice stated in your contract or the statutory minimum notice period, whichever is longer.
There are some situations where you can be dismissed immediately - eg for violence.
You have the right to ask for a written statement from your employer giving the reasons why you’ve been dismissed if you’re:
an employee and have completed one year’s service
employed under a fixed-term contract which has ended and not been renewed
Your employer must supply the statement within 14 days of you asking for it.
maestegboy:
The company never trained me ,or give me any written instructions or risk assessments are they in the wrong.
The company should train you, instruct you on safe working practices and importantly make efforts to ensure you are working safley in compliance with their methods. If they’ve done none of that you may be able to argue that had all this been applied to you you may not of had the accident.
an employee and have completed one year’s service
Is that 2 years now ?
What concerns me in this is that the OP was clearly injured at work and this SHOULD/MUST go in the Accident Book.
It does not matter in the least whose fault it was, that is irrelevant.
The Team Leader, Line Manager or what ever you want to call them have a duty of care by law (going off for a smoke sounds like the supervisor should be severely bollocked).
As has been said get yourself a good brief. A specialist.
I reckon you have left yourself wideopen to carry the can, not properly checking the trailer before coupling, at which point you would have applied the trailer park brake yourself. Not recording the incident or taking yourself to A & E, as no other person seemed prepared to do so.
I’m affraid that this is a hard lesson learnt, you assume other will do their jobs correctly, you have to be proactive, checking the trailer including the park brake before coupling, and insisting that the iccident was recorded, or taking yourself to medical assistance at the time, instead off relying on others, who have now left you high and dry.
I would be surprised if a no win no fee lawyer would take this on, as there is so many holes in it, CAB, for some straight answers I reckon is your best bet.
Its quite obvious the Company want you shunted out of the way, you are now a liablity. If they admitt to your accident you can sue the pants of them, employees(including you) not adhering to what should be company protocals to do with coupling and uncoupling off trailer’s, and employee’s not following company proceedures (or what should be company proceedures) to do with incident reporting and medical care of injured persons(lack off). Then when you have had your day in court, the HSE would have theirs, so wonder no more as to why they dont want to know 
Good luck trying to resolve it, though I fear that you are banging your head against a firmly shut door
thats the trouble with gaffars /managment
they dont want an accident in thier yard as it looks bad on them
they will do anything as in the case deny an accident has happened
to avoid paying out compo , risking o license etc
much easier to sack the driver and call him a liar
i doubt if the OP is in a union
but would follow any advice on here given if i was him
These incidents are inevitable unfortunately. Although they shouldn’t be obviously. I wouldn’t trust our shunters as far as I could throw em. Recent walk around check found over a third of trailers in our yard had no trailer brakes applied. Couple that with drivers not bothering with engagement tests and checking trailer brakes before engaging and here’s the result.
I was in Stobart Appleton’s yard connecting a trailer once and I got out the cab to check the trailer brake. Another driver said “What you checking that for, it’s company policy that trailer brakes are applied at all times”
With the benefit of hindsight, the best thing to have done at the time of the accident would have been to call an ambulance for yourself.
You had serious injury (bone fractures), and the ambulance call-out would have been recorded, as all 999 calls are. You would have given an account to the admissions at casualty in the hospital about your accident, and it would be easy from there to trigger the HSE investigation.