The Role of the Health and Safety Executive in Workplace Accidents
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. Employers are under a statutory duty to report any incidents or accidents to either the HSE or the Local Authority.
Employers generally do this using a RIDDOR form (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases, Dangerous Occurrences Regulations) and must do so if the worker is hospitalised or is off as a result of the accident for more than 7 days.
The 7 day requirement is often exploited by employers, and there are no end of examples of manual workers, heavily bandaged (or even in some cases in wheelchairs) sitting in site offices only a day or two after their workplace accident as their employer hopes to avoid making a report.
The reality, however, is that like many institutions reliant on government funding, the HSE is grossly under-resourced and they simply aren’t in a position to investigate what might be gross breaches of Health and Safety law unless the injuries are extremely serious or result in a fatality.
However, by collecting RIDDOR forms, the HSE are able to spot patterns that might point to a certain employer having a particularly poor record on health and safety, especially if the same injuries crop up time and again. For example, a series of finger injuries and amputations in a woodworking factory would point to insufficient guards on the saws.
So, as an injured employee, what can you expect from the HSE? Although they have the powers to do so, a prosecution under health and safety law is unlikely unless the injury is fatal or catastrophic. You are allowed to see the RIDDOR form and should ask your employer for a copy. Ideally, the employer should have interviewed you and any colleagues who witnessed the incident before completing the RIDDOR, which should then properly and accurately reflect the circumstances of the accident.
If your employer won’t give you a copy, don’t worry, your solicitor can obtain a copy on your behalf from the HSE.
If a prosecution is undertaken, then the employer will be subject to criminal sanction, usually in the form of significant fines but in extreme cases can result in imprisonment. A criminal conviction requires a higher standard of proof than a civil claim for personal injuries, so if there is a conviction then a subsequent civil claim is almost certain to be successful.
If you have been injured in an accident at work, don’t feel under pressure to return if you are not well enough to do so. Take the time you need to recover and ask if you can have a phased return or return on light duties if that is what you feel you need. Good and responsible employers will accommodate reasonable requests.
And if you are genuinely concerned about attitudes to health and safety at your place of work, it may be time to start looking for alternative jobs. No amount of compensation can restore your health if you are seriously injured at work.
At Malcolm C Foy, we have extensive experience acting for injured employees in all kinds of roles, from office workers, health professionals, retail employees and construction workers. If you have been injured at work please give us a call for a free, no obligation opinion on whether you have a claim.
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Legal and Regulatory
Regulatory Information
I am regulated through the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Services Provided
The provision of notarial services, including attesting the execution of documents for overseas use. Obtaining an Apostille and legalisation can involve a wide range of factors depending on the nature of the instructions given and the requirements of the recipients of my Notarial Act in the destination Country.
Price Information
In order that I can give clear guidance on the stages of the work required and my fees, including disbursements by way of Apostille, courier and postage, etc., I do ask for as much detail as possible at the outset of your enquiry.
Most services are based on a fixed price, by way of example there is usually a minimum fee of £90.00 per document. For simpler instructions, I provide a fixed fee quote and explain associated costs, including circumstances in which those costs cannot be stated precisely at the outset and/or may change over time.
Typically, my Notarial fees for a Power of Attorney for Spain, based on two parties signing the document, would be £280.00. There is no VAT payable.
Legalisation at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for an Apostille currently stands at £45.00 each plus postage/courier or agents' fees to handle the obtaining of the Apostille.
Other services, which are more complex, once instructions are clear, I will set out the basis of my charges and provide a proper estimate of the work to be carried out and the fee to be charged and keep you updated. If that estimate or associated costs change, I will inform you promptly.
Professional Indemnity Insurance
My professional indemnity insurance is £1,000,000.
Complaints Information
In the first instance, please write to me, preferably by email.
If the matter cannot be immediately resolved, I will refer the complaint to the Notaries Society, which will deal with the complaint under its Approved Complaints Procedure.
Complaints to the Notaries Society should be addressed to:
The Secretary of the Notaries Society
PO Box 876, Chichester, PO19 9ZH
Email: secretary@thenotariessociety.org.uk
Complaints may also be made to the Legal Ombudsman after a period of 8 weeks from the date the complaint was first made.
Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman should be addressed to:
The Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Data Protection: Privacy and Consent Notice
ANDREA PASHLEY NOTARY PUBLIC
The purpose of this notice is to explain how I collect, process and retain personal data in the course of providing notarial services and to gain your consent to do so.
As a Notary Public I follow the privacy policy of Malcolm C Foy & Co Ltd. However, my notarial practice is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) under number ZA276555.
Telephone: 01302 340005
Email: info@malcolmcfoy.co.uk
Post: Lazarus House, 14 Princes Street, Doncaster, DN1 3NJ
How do I collect personal information?
I collect information and data:
- directly from you at the point of your initial enquiry or instructions; and the Client Registration Form, a copy of which is available to you upon request.
- directly from the documents that you provide to me for notarisation or from third parties with a relevant and legitimate interest in the transaction.
- as a result of any additional due diligence enquiries necessary to complete the notarisation process.
How do I use your personal data?
Your personal data is used only, and solely for, the purpose of providing notarial services. It is processed in accordance with the 8 Principles of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), for the following purposes:
- responding to your queries, requests and other communications;
- providing notarial services, including the translation and legalisation of documents;
- enabling suppliers and service providers to carry out certain functions on our behalf in provision of notarial services including but not limited to webhosting, data storage, identity verification, technical, logistical and courier services;
- in the resolution of any complaints.
Who do I share your personal information with?
Your personal data may need to be shared with third parties if:
- further processing is required, additional processing may include:
- translation;
- where documents need to be legalised at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office or at the Embassy or Consulate of the foreign jurisdiction where the document is to have effect.
- I have a statutory duty to disclose it for legal and regulatory reasons.
Where personal data is shared with third parties, I ensure that such third parties comply with all current data protection legislation. Where such third parties are located outside of England and Wales, for example your personal data is being transferred to foreign Embassies located in the UK or abroad, such organisations will process personal data in accordance with the laws to which they are subject and international treaties over which I have no control.
How long do I keep your personal information?
Basic data regarding the documents I am asked to notarise is transferred into a Master Client Protocol as required by my regulator, the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury. These records are kept permanently and include the following data:
- The date of the act, the name of person at whose request the act was performed, the person or persons, if any, intervening in the act and, in the case of a person who intervened in a representative capacity, the name of his principal, the method of identification of the party or parties intervening in the notarial act, and in the case of a party intervening in a representative capacity, any evidence produced to the notary of that party’s entitlement so to intervene, the nature of the act, the fee charged.
Client Registration Forms and additional due diligence notes are kept for a minimum period of six years.
A copy of the notarial act is scanned into my computer system and kept permanently. Upon retirement or closure of the notarial practice, records are transferred to a successor practice or as directed by my Regulator.
Data Security
I have in place a range of physical and electronic security safeguards to protect your personal information against loss or theft, as well as unauthorised access, disclosure, copying, use, or modification. Note that from time to time data is transferred across the internet and I do not always have control over the processes involved.
Data subject rights
Your data is processed in accordance with Principle 6 of the GDPR; that personal data is processed in accordance with the individual’s rights. I therefore will not use personal data for direct marketing and no decisions shall be made by automated means.
More information may be found at https://ico.org.uk/
Consent
I _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
have read the above DATA PROTECTION: PRIVACY AND CONSENT NOTICE and hereby give my express consent to the terms contained therein.
This consent will apply to all requests for notarial services in the future in accordance with the principles of the General Data Protection Regulation.
Signed: ________________________________________ Date: ______________________________
