Legal Advice: An accident involving seasonal workers – what are the legal implications for my farm?

What should you do if a worker gets hurt?

Your employee can certainly bring a claim against you for personal injury and if he wishes to do so, he has to do so within two years after the accident occurs. 

Dear Stephen,

I own and run a farm and each year I take on some seasonal workers to help. One was recently involved in an accident on the farm where he injured himself using machinery. Since the accident occurred a couple of weeks ago, he has not been able to return to work. Do you believe there is a possibility he will now bring a claim against me and do I have potential liability here?  Going forward, what systems should I have in place in respect of farm safety?

Dear Reader,

I am sorry to hear about the accident. Do you have insurance in place? Typically accidents are covered by Public and Employers Liability Policies and you should review what policy you have in place. If you have the appropriate policy in place.

I would advise you to notify your insurance company immediately and liability would be investigated by the insurance company and it is likely that they will send an investigator to the farm with a view to putting together a report on liability. 

Your employee can certainly bring a claim against you for personal injury and if he wishes to do so, he has to do so within two years after the accident occurs. 

Before a case can be brought to the courts, an application in Ireland has to be made to the Personal Injuries Assessment Board and the matter can potentially be assessed there but PIAB will not deal with liability disputes and if this is disputed the matter would likely have to proceed to a court hearing.

Factors that would be considered when investigating liability would be whether the employee was potentially suitably trained or risk-assessed in respect of the tasks that they were carrying out when the accident occurred.  It would also be helpful to establish whether he was an employee or an independent contractor. 

I note you referred to him as a seasonal worker, if you are paying wages to him and dealing with his tax, it is likely he will be classified as an employee rather than an independent contractor.

Typically, independent contractors would send invoices for the works that they have done, which would be discharged by you. This is certainly a point worth considering as it could be arguably stated that he would be responsible for the tasks and work he was carrying out if he was classified as an independent contractor rather than an employee.

The Safety, Health and Welfare Work Act 2005 places a duty on employers to provide a safe place of work for all employees including that all equipment to be used by employees for their work is safe and suitable for purpose.

Employees must be given adequate training in the use of such equipment, which is particularly important in respect of operating farm machinery. Under health and safety law, you should be identifying hazards and taking preventative action and endeavouring to reduce any risks or accidents.

Under health and safety legislation, employers should set out a written safety statement that outlines precautions that are taken to ensure the health and safety of their employees. If you do not already, I would advise that you put a safety statement in place, identifying any potential hazards.

It is advisable that you have routine safety checks in respect of the machinery and the running of the farm and personal protective equipment should be provided to employees where necessary and they should be properly trained in respect of tasks before they are carried out.

If your employee does bring a claim, I would advise you to notify your insurer and you may also need to obtain legal advice.