If you had been seriously injured at work due to a fault ofyour employer, would you expect an apology from them? Apparently, for the vastmajority of injured employees, this is just too much to ask.



Recent research uncovered that most UK employers fail to say?sorry? when one of their workers suffers a personal injury or accident on thejob. The survey of employees who had been injured at work found that 97 percent of them had never received an apology from their boss.

The figure suggests that too many employers do not feelpersonally responsible for their workers? health and safety.

The new figures followed a previous survey that showed thataround 62 per cent of workers believed that their employer was paying lessattention to health and safety since the onset of the recession in the UK.

This is a mistake ?employers who do not pay attention tohealth and safety leave themselves open to financial redress, firstly throughlosing valuable man hours if a worker is hurt ? and secondly by leavingthemselves open to a compensation claim.

Health and safety in the workplace must be more than just abox-ticking exercise; if an employer is not truly invested in ensuring hisemployees are safe and well, not only will he have difficulties retaining staff,but he will leave himself open to financial redress, should an accident occur.

The survey also showed that there was no point in employerspaying lip service to the idea of responsibility by making an apology in thehope of avoiding a compensation claim.

It revealed that 88 per cent of accident victims would notchange their mind regardless of whether they received an apology.

If an employee is injured in an accident that was not theirfault then they can lose income through having to take time off work, orthrough having to pay for expensive medical treatment.

In situations such as this, it is right and proper that theyhave access to a financial compensation package that can help them through sucha difficult time. Similarly, a compensation claim is an effective deterrent toemployers who might be tempted to cut corners when it comes to health andsafety.

Someone who has been injured at work needs all the supportthey can get, including a suitable response from the party or partiesresponsible for the work accident.

Having a serious accident at work is usually a highlytraumatic experience, and one which takes a good deal of psychological andphysical recovery. For some, the injuries can devastate their lives.

This is why the importance of health and safety in theworkplace cannot be underestimated, and every possible measure should be takento ensure that when an employee is injured, they are made to feel ascomfortable as possible.

Employees need to be aware that saying ?sorry? when theywere responsible for an employee's work injury is a courtesy which should bekept to, just as they would say ?sorry? if they were responsible for any otherkind of accident.