J
jeremy93
Guest
I work at a major University in a particular department. Our department occupies six offices in a university building.
In one of our offices, there was an area on the wall where some electrical fixture, presumably a light switch, was once located. The faceplate and switch had been removed, though, so all that was visible was a hole in the and some exposed wires. The office was in this state when we moved in. This had been reported to facility services on more than one occasion by the Assistant Director of my department, and was noted in an inspection by the Fire Marshal a few weeks prior, but had not been corrented.
Yesterday (May 1st) I was speaking with colleagues in that particular office and, while speaking, leaned against the wall. My back made a connection with the wires, and I recieved a shock. A ball of sparks appeared, burning the wall and my shirt, and shorting out the lights in a four or five office block of the building.
Within 20 minutes, a faceplate was installed over the area.
I filled out an accident report and was inspected by a physician at the university health center. My heart seems to have not been affected, and despite the burns on my shirt, I was not burned myself. Thus, I was told that I was healthy and unaffected by the incident, despite some slight tension in my back where the contact was made and some tingling in my right arm.
My question is, do I have a claim against the university, despite not being (apparently) severely injured? I would think that there would have to be some laws against providing an unsafe working environment, and I hate to think about what could have happened.
Anyway, thanks in advance.
In one of our offices, there was an area on the wall where some electrical fixture, presumably a light switch, was once located. The faceplate and switch had been removed, though, so all that was visible was a hole in the and some exposed wires. The office was in this state when we moved in. This had been reported to facility services on more than one occasion by the Assistant Director of my department, and was noted in an inspection by the Fire Marshal a few weeks prior, but had not been corrented.
Yesterday (May 1st) I was speaking with colleagues in that particular office and, while speaking, leaned against the wall. My back made a connection with the wires, and I recieved a shock. A ball of sparks appeared, burning the wall and my shirt, and shorting out the lights in a four or five office block of the building.
Within 20 minutes, a faceplate was installed over the area.
I filled out an accident report and was inspected by a physician at the university health center. My heart seems to have not been affected, and despite the burns on my shirt, I was not burned myself. Thus, I was told that I was healthy and unaffected by the incident, despite some slight tension in my back where the contact was made and some tingling in my right arm.
My question is, do I have a claim against the university, despite not being (apparently) severely injured? I would think that there would have to be some laws against providing an unsafe working environment, and I hate to think about what could have happened.
Anyway, thanks in advance.