Circumstances of accident

We acted on behalf of a client who sustained multiple injuries to his arm, back and head along with psychological injuries, all of which resulted from a violent assault at work. Our client worked in a college and was first to arrive on the scene when a violent fight had broken out between two students. He intervened in the fight and managed to restrain one of the students. No other members of staff stepped in to restrain the main aggressor. As a result, the unrestrained student violently attacked our client as he was on the ground protecting the student he had managed to restrain.

We intimated a claim upon our client’s employer based on their failures to provide him with a safe workplace. We argued that they were in breach of their obligations in terms of several Health & Safety Regulations. Broadly, our position was that our client’s employer had failed to adequately train him and other members of staff in relation to dealing with violent situations.

His employer denied liability on the basis that our client ought to have had regard for his own safety and thereby caused his own injuries by intervening. They said he failed to follow his training. However, they were unable to produce any documentation proving that such training had been provided.  

How we helped our client

We obtained supportive opinion from an expert specialising in health and safety, specifically self-defence. We undertook extensive investigations into liability including obtaining witness statements who spoke to the lack of training and the violent nature of the fight. We explored and identified the relevant health and safety regulations to assist with our argument that our client’s employer had failed in their duty of care to provide him with a safe workplace.

We obtained several expert medical reports who dealt with the both the physical and psychological injuries sustained. These detailed the diagnosis, recommended treatment, and anticipated prognosis for each of the injuries.

Settlement

We were able to obtain a settlement of £5,000 for all heads of claim.  This resulted from a robust case being put forward on aspects relating to the employer’s liability for the incident.