Courses Available Online, Virtually and Classroom
Fully Certified NEBOSH, IOSH, IEMA Accredited
7-Day Customer Service
Andrew Froude B.Eng (Hons), CMIOSH, MIIRSM, OSHCR

Workplace Accidents - worst case scenario and drivers to health and safety

July 2014

This blog was updated in August 2022.

I’m pretty sure if you are taking the time to read a health and safety blog you are quite familiar with the 3 main drivers that lead to companies aiming to achieve sustainable health and safety performance: moral, legal and financial.

A Personal Perspective

Therefore let’s consider the consequences of a fictitious accident due to health and safety standards failing - from two perspectives: first the personal story of the injured party, Rob and his family, and secondly from the point of view of the organisation. This is not a bad scenario to use as a provocative and emotive sledge-hammer on the first day of training to a new audience to ensure it gets everyone in the room singing from the same hymn sheet from the outset. Some of the comments below are designed to be inflammatory. We shall be exploring the effect that a horrible accident will have on the person, their friends and family, the role the health and safety drivers play (moral, legal and financial) and in the next blog post, the impact of this accident on the company.

Objective of the Scenario

The purpose of this Worst Case Scenario is to attract people’s attention because the audience has a vested interest in the actions and their consequences and to listen more attentively to the safety message. Its purpose is to capture the ‘buy in’ of individuals who ordinarily don’t want to listen to a health and safety message.

Assumptions

The facts are not entirely accurate; it is a very subjective account and exaggeration has been used for dramatic effect. The accident outlined is horrific; the company is not fairly presented in order to provoke an emotional reaction.

Setting

A serious accident has taken place 3 weeks earlier. Rob fell 3 meters from a ladder landing on a patch of rubble. As a result, he suffers multiple broken bones including a fractured skull which causes a bleed into the brain. He has suffered permanent brain damage, as a consequence he is left with diminished mental functions and impaired movement. Due to the extent of the injuries he is left incapacitated; his life has been inexorably changed.

The Moral Drivers

His next step is to pick up the phone to a ‘no win no fee’ solicitor. They are only going to take his case if they are sure that they can win. If he can’t find one, he will have to pay for his own representation.

Fortunately he finds a ‘no win no fee’ solicitor who contacts his employer to corner them with the two options “show me the money” or “see you in court”. Once agreed that they are in fact in a dispute and on a collision course for war, his solicitor books a court date. Now getting this heard in court is not going to be instant and it takes 9 months to get into court for the first time. Now that is the beginning of the case which could go on, days, weeks, months, years, even decades. So let us say it takes over a year for the case to be resolved (1*). Now for all of this time Rob might not be getting paid, his employer could have dismissed him or be withholding payment. This money is part of what he would be seeking in compensation. The reality for him is that he has to be in a financial position to support him and dependents, whilst paying the mortgage to ensure the luxury of keeping their family home. He also has bills to pay; he is incapacitated so he is going to need full-time care from either a family member (who would have to give up full-time employment) or pay for a carer. Either way, this will be removing a second salary from the family budget, Rob’s being the first. He also needs to factor in specialised medical support to help his rehabilitation that is unavailable on the NHS.

(1*) http://open.justice.gov.uk/courts/civil-cases/

Related Blogs

  • Free Cost-Benefit Analysis Template for Health and Safety: A Practical Guide Image
    Andrew Froude B.Eng (Hons), CMIOSH, MIIRSM, OSHCR

    Free Cost-Benefit Analysis Template for Health and Safety: A Practical Guide

    Download your free cost-benefit analysis template and read our step-by-step use guide to make positive changes in your workplace.
    15.05.25
  • Why Do Managers Need to Be Health and Safety Trained? Image
    William Gaunt

    Why Do Managers Need to Be Health and Safety Trained?

    Understand the moral, legal, and financial reasoning behind training managers in health and safety, with information on what managers should know about their role.
    15.05.25
  • What Is an Environmental Management System? | Business Guide & Benefits Image
    Steve Terry

    What Is an Environmental Management System? | Business Guide & Benefits

    Find out the core principles behind an environmental management system (EMS) and how they benefit business sustainability goals.
    14.05.25
  • Health and Safety Training Grants for IOSH Courses | A Guide for Businesses Image
    Jim Anderson CMIOSH, MIIRSM, AIEMA

    Health and Safety Training Grants for IOSH Courses | A Guide for Businesses

    Find out the grant options available for businesses to fund IOSH courses, so you can receive financial support for your employee's training.
    12.05.25
  • Who is Responsible for Health and Safety in the Workplace? Image
    Brenig Moore DipNEBOSH, CMIOSH, CEnvH

    Who is Responsible for Health and Safety in the Workplace?

    Find out the legal health and safety responsibilities of employees and employers in the workplace, with expert guidance on how to fulfil them.
    12.05.25
  • Is There Funding Available for NEBOSH Courses? Image
    Jim Anderson CMIOSH, MIIRSM, AIEMA

    Is There Funding Available for NEBOSH Courses?

    Find out all the funding options available for Astutis' NEBOSH courses, so you can get financial support towards your career progression.
    08.05.25
Section Curve
Case Studies

Real Life Stories

Find out how learners look back on their training with Astutis. Our case studies give our learners, both individual and corporate, a platform to share their Astutis experience. Discover how training with Astutis has helped past learners and delegates make the world a safer place, one course at a time.
More Image
Bottom Curve
What People Say

Hear What Our Learners Have To Say

We're always there for our customers. 98% of our learners rated their overall experience as good or outstanding. We will always pride ourselves on our customer service. But don’t take our word for it, here is what our customers have to say
  • "The course its self was very well presented and included valuable information. the tutor was very knowledgeable and was able to provide us with real life examples to help understand further. My only downside was the lack or exam practice within the course, the tutor allowed for students to practice exam questions and submit to him for feedback and opened the class half an hour earlier for people to attend to discuss the results. However, this topic was not covered as part of the cause so if you could not attend earlier or have time to submit after you have no feedback on completing the exam questions and no prep for how you should be responding."

    Samantha
    12.05.2025
  • "The course content was very valuable."

    Samantha
    12.05.2025
  • "It was my first time and great learning experience with ASTUTIS"

    22.04.2025
  • "It was great learning experience in sustainability"

    22.04.2025
  • "Very helpful no complaints bit long in the email process but they always got back to me eventually and had the information I needed when requested"

    Antony
    22.04.2025
  • "The course was informative I did need to buy the nebosh course book also as online account eventually got closed and I had to save all documents that were available but overall did well"

    Antony
    22.04.2025
  • "Clear and concise. A lot of information delivered in an easy to digest format. Trainer was engaging and positive, as well as easy to talk to and ask questions. Tech was good and all the materials provided/used were/are helpful."

    Kerrina
    09.04.2025
  • "Clear and concise. A lot of information delivered in an easy to digest format. Trainer was engaging and positive, as well as easy to talk to and ask questions. Tech was good and all the materials provided/used were/are helpful."

    Kerrina
    09.04.2025
  • "excellent trainer easy to follow and good mixture of team discussions."

    Keith
    03.04.2025
  • "covered a lot of my day to day tasks, easy to follow on the second week, found the first week it difficult to see what was required and understand."

    Keith
    03.04.2025