Litigation Services

HEALTH RELATED LITIGATION & CLAIMS:

SPECIALIST OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH ADVICE

“Claims for injury or illness attributed to work and litigation complicated by health issues are complex, time consuming and costly issues for employers.”

 MANAGING THE RISK – MINIMISING EMPLOYER LIABILITY

 IOH has a clinical team who understand  the interaction between employee health issues and the employer’s liability to financial loss through litigation on grounds of employment law (including unfair dismissal), health and safety breaches, unlawful discrimination, and personal injury claims. IOH’s accredited  specialists  can liaise with a company’s Line Management, Safety Officer, Human Resources and, where appropriate, Legal advisors,  to advise on the best strategy for reacting to a situation involving health-related financial risk and associated risks to the organisation’s reputation.

 IOH’s experience and our ability to deliver a style and quality of Occupational Health (OH) service that is tailored to the needs and culture of the employer are recognised and valued by employers’ legal advisors and insurers (e.g. major manufacturers such as Nissan). Employers’ liability insurance premiums can be reduced significantly by an OH Service’s input, while success in defending spurious claims is clearly linked to the quality and detail of contemporary assessments recorded by OH clinical staff. When revealed, these records often provide key and reliable evidence of a case’s true facts and this frequently leads to withdrawal of a claim or enables an employer’s legal advisors to broker a significantly reduced settlement. Alternatively, claims with merit can be identified rapidly and legal costs minimised by early, mutual agreement.

WORKING UP THE MEDICAL EVIDENCE

 IOH occupational health specialists have knowledge and understanding based on experience that spans the occupational, medical and legal aspects of a case.  Efficient case management depends on establishing and defining the pivotal medical issues at an early stage and identifying with confidence the medical strengths and weaknesses of a claim. We can assist lawyers to   decide if expert opinion is necessary and, if so, we can recommend the best specialist in the field and assist in drafting instructions. This approach minimises the risk of medical “surprises” fatal to the claim or its defence when the case is at an advanced stage.

 Finally, IOH senior physicians understand the importance of evidence over opinion.  Our experience stems not only from industry, but from performing a challengeable, quasi-judicial role ourselves (e.g. when making statutory police pension judgements).  We offer employers and their legal advisors a consultancy service (as distinct from an expert witness role) on a wide range of employment law and pension-related challenges complicated by medical issues. Where appropriate, we can also provide expert medical opinion specific to occupational health.