Hither are 14 things you should do later an assault at work…

If you have been assaulted at work telephone call us on 01423 788 538 to speak to an good solicitor.

  1. Detect rubber

Violence incidents at piece of work can crusade a variety of injuries – both physical and psychological. If y'all have been attacked at piece of work, immediately remove yourself from the area where the attack has taken place. Ensure that your attacker cannot cause y'all any farther injury. At this time, information technology's probable that yous are not thinking clearly; that your adrenalin is pumping; that your fight-or-flight senses are kicking-in. Don't consider taking revenge. Self-defence is permissible. Discover safety. Look subsequently yourself first.

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  1. Seek medical attention

In one case you are safe, you lot need to take intendance of yourself. At this stage, compiling testify for a potential compensation claim should be far from your mind. Exercise a full body audit of any wounds that y'all may take. As your fight-or-flying response may nevertheless be in full swing, you may be unaware of some of the injuries that you have sustained. If other people can help you lot, go them to check you over. If other colleagues are in the vicinity, ask that they become the First Help box. If your injuries require firsthand infirmary attention, call 999 immediately.

  1. Report the attack to the police.

For some people who are attacked at work by strangers, perhaps, say, in an armed robbery, your natural instinct is to report the assault to the police force – only do it. For others who might have been caring for someone who has attacked them, reporting the incident to the law may not even cantankerous your mind. For those who don't want to report the assault to the law, we encourage y'all to report all tearing incidents to the police for iii reasons:

  • First: if the law do involve themselves, so information technology may stop the attacker from doing it once more, thereby reducing the risk that y'all or a colleague will exist assaulted past them again.
  • Second: usually in order to bring a Criminal Injuries Compensation claim, you demand to accept reported the violence to the constabulary quickly after the assail and and then assisted the constabulary in pursuing the thing equally far as is required of you in order.
  • Tertiary: the police may help to gather prove near the assail which might be of assistance to yous in whatever of the iii types of compensation claims yous might choose to bring.

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  1. Report the attack to your director

Unlike accidents at piece of work, assaults at work aren't routinely added to the accident volume. Therefore, ensure that your manager knows about the attack. Tell them orally, but too follow up with a letter or email. Demand that the incident is recorded in the Accident Volume and that an investigation is carried out. If y'all have been caring for someone who attacked you, do record the set on in the resident'south/patient's/student'south notes. This is considering it's imperative that whoever cares for the person next is aware of the specific circumstances behind the assault on you. If, by reporting the attack to your director, you are treated badly, then you lot may take a whistleblowing merits. In addition, if your employer has failed y'all either causing the situation when were attacked, or by non dealing with the situation following the attack, then you may have a constructive dismissal claim. Before making any decisions impacting upon your employment, nosotros recommend that you seek defended employment constabulary advice.

  1. Collect evidence of the assault.

Once you are safe and have tended to your injuries and contacted the constabulary, you lot should consider collating evidence which proves the happening of the assault and, crucially, why the attack happened. Care for the surface area where the assail happened like a crime scene. Take photos and/or video of the area. Make sure that any CCTV is retained. Write down exactly what happened whilst information technology is fresh in your mind. Collect a listing of witnesses. Write down who yous speak to and what was said. If you lot want to pursue a compensation claim against your employer, then it is helpful to obtain evidence which indicates that the assault was anticipated. For example, if you were attacked by a patient, resident or student, and a colleague tells you that something like had happened earlier, or about happened before, then you demand to write down this key information, as it could be the difference between winning or losing a No Win, No Fee assault at piece of work compensation claim.

6. Go along a diary of your symptoms.

Dissimilar in accident at work cases, assault at work cases often cause dissimilar symptoms, especially from a psychological/mental health perspective. Record, either in a diary or in a smart phone, how you were feeling, what medical appointments yous had and what medication you take. If y'all do bring a No Win, No Fee assault at work compensation claim, at some point you are likely to run across a medical proficient in gild to obtain a medical study on your injuries. As compensation claims can take some time to complete, in our feel we find that some clients forget about some of the symptoms. By having a diary of your symptoms, y'all are probable to ensure that the medical report is a comprehensive business relationship of your injuries.

7. Consider submitting a grievance.

 If you are of the view that the assault could and should accept been prevented, so you lot may want to submit a grievance to your employer. It could exist that the risk of violence was known to your employer, just that this information wasn't passed onto you, which might be quite distressing to observe. It could be that a colleague has failed to complete the correct documentation about previous incidents and, if they had done then, you would known what to have expected and therefore yous could have prevented the injury. Past submitting a grievance, you are sending a strong signal to your employer that you lot do non tolerate being assaulted at work and that they should implement measures to ensure that it doesn't happen to you or anyone else over again. Your suffering shouldn't be in vain.

eight. Check that your employer has filed a RIDDOR to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

By and large, an employer needs to file a report known equally a RIDDOR when someone has been off work for 7 days due to an incident at work. If you accept been off work for 7 or more days because of an assault and your employer won't submit a RIDDOR, we recommend that you contact the Wellness and Condom Executive yourself.

9. Demand a new and improved risk assessment.

 Because you sustained an injury information technology is probable that the risk assessment (if in that location was a risk assessment) was defective. A new take a chance assessment should exist completed past your employer to ensure that lessons are learned.

ten. Demand amend training

If the assault happened because either yous or a colleague had not been trained, or non properly trained, then you demand to ask that all the appropriate members of staff receive the correct training for the specific job. For example, we often find that many care assistants haven't received training in how to look later patients or residents with autism or dementia and had they been properly trained, an injury could have been prevented. In add-on, if yous or a colleague ought to have received control and restraint or cocky-defense grooming, and then you should ask that your employer provides this grooming so that either y'all tin can spot a potentially vehement incident stirring or that once it starts, y'all know how to deal with information technology.

11. Demand more staff.

 Often an assault at work happens due to staff shortages. Following an assault, now is your time to ask for more staff. Ensure that your request is in writing. If you don't get a response, chase your employer. If you don't succeed in getting more staff, exercise enquire your employer in writing why this is the case. If you take the view that by your employer not increasing staff numbers that another assail volition accept place in the futurity, then spell this out to your employer in writing.

12. Demand better Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Sometimes if a member of staff had been provided with PPE, and then the injury may not have been sustained. Often, if an assaulter tin run across that you have a functioning panic alarm, then they may not attack y'all. Either way, there is no harm in having better PPE, and information technology is often low cost to your employer.

13. Record your losses and care and assistance.

 Almost immediately after an set on at work you volition have sustained financial losses and received care and assist. Y'all need to tape exactly what money you lot have spent/lost because of the attack and how many hours, what blazon of care and the identity of the carer who has helped y'all. As a No Win, No Fee set on at piece of work compensation claim may take some fourth dimension to pursue, you don't want to under-settle your merits considering you failed to collect all the information. Nosotros suggest that yous accept photographs of any receipts, such as hospital parking charges.

14. Contact a specialist Assault at Work Compensation Solicitor.

 We would suggest this, wouldn't we? But nosotros at Truth Legal don't typhoon wills, convey houses, bargain with divorces nor prepare Terms and Conditions: we are workplace lawyers. You should instruct lawyers who understand what your chore was like and how the assault could accept been prevented. At Truth Legal y'all can have confidential and no-obligation consultation with a specialist violence at work lawyer, who will prepare out all your options.

With our HQ in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, only with a presence in York, Manchester and London, nosotros are ready to help anyone who has been assaulted at work.

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