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A family member fell over and cut their leg open today at the airport in Spain and I am trying to assist OTP from UK – they are flying BA club back to UK this evening. They have insurance and are okay to travel.
Should this be reported to BA or the airport in question ? I have suggested mentioning to BA crew as I believe they can report these things.
The trip was on water on the floor of the airport by check in but I assume not directly a BA issue although they may be interested that a BA Silver customer has hurt in this acccident today.
Any tips appreciated and no sarcastic comments please! Thanks
Sorry to read this. If they are OK and feel well enough to travel and wish to travel tonight I wouldn’t mention anything to BA.
BA’s primary concern would be for the wellbeing of your relative and whether they are fit to fly. That will take precedence over whether they are given any compensation (not suggesting your relative is after compensation) and is more around potentially causing delay to the flight.
BA check in at Spanish airports is outsourced so they’re not direct BA employees. It sounds like something the airport itself should be told about – perhaps at best place a yellow warning sign about water / slippery surface
thanks for the information – yes not chasing compensation More concerned that there were no cleaners to wipe it after they fell over – Will take up with the airport….that will be a wild goose chase probably but will write my best spanish !
Man, MAD has right now 500-400 homeless people sleeping in its terminals each night. The central government (that own the airport company AENA) and the Madrid community government (who is responsible for social care) are still disputing who is responsible.
Good luck trying to explain to them an issue about slippery floors.
I was wondering what made the floor slippery after reading some of those reports!
The Spanish aren’t quite as attuned to Health and Safety as we are in the UK.
The Spanish aren’t quite as attuned to Health and Safety as we are in the UK.
This is another one of your made up facts – unless you have some evidence?
The Spanish aren’t quite as attuned to Health and Safety as we are in the UK.
This is another one of your made up facts – unless you have some evidence?
Have you been to a Spanish hotel?? 😁 Last time I dived into a swimming pool in the UK it had a sign saying “wet floor” on the bottom! But back to the OP, it’s an airport matter – BA or their ground staff won’t be able to do anything. Hope all is OK.
NorthernLass wrote:
The Spanish aren’t quite as attuned to Health and Safety as we are in the UK.This is another one of your made up facts – unless you have some evidence?
Anyone who’s been to Spain knows this is a fact…
@ChrisBCN, I think a fact by definition can’t actually be made up, but yes, plenty of examples including this incidence of a wet floor!
Staying with airports, the situation mentioned re the hundreds of the rough sleepers in the airport is a case in point – I genuinely can’t envisage such a situation being allowed to come about in the UK. This is a huge H & S issue for airport staff, passengers and the rough sleepers themselves (many of whom have serious mental health problems) and as noted it’s just being bounced between agencies with no action being taken.
Ihar – Yes, I have been to numerous Spanish hotels. In fact, I especially recall one year when there were electricians working on the roof with no protective equipment …
*Oh yes, how could I forget this – a couple of years ago I was in Mallorca with a friend and her 5 year old son and his arm was sucked into a vent in the swimming pool which wasn’t fitted with the proper cover. Fortunately he escaped with bad bruising. I did complain to the hotel and they dispatched someone to fit a replacement cover fairly quickly, but I’ve no idea how long it had been like that.
I think a fact by definition can’t actually be made up
Clearly a ‘made up fact’ is something that is presented as a fact that is actually made up.
I’m sure we can all find examples of lax health and safety in any country we have visited; tossing anecdotes around does not prove your point vs merely spouting a lazy stereotype.
I think a fact by definition can’t actually be made up
Clearly a ‘made up fact’ is something that is presented as a fact that is actually made up.
I’m sure we can all find examples of lax health and safety in any country we have visited; tossing anecdotes around does not prove your point vs merely spouting a lazy stereotype.
A quick search for most recent figures shows Spain has about 800 annual fatalities at work (and a rising trend according to the source), whereas the UK is under 150 (and is one of the safest places in the world to work according to the source). And UK has a larger working population to boot.
I appreciate deaths at work is only one measure of ‘H&S’ and you’d also need to take nature of the work into account (e.g. Spain may be full of tree surgeons, whereas UK has desk jockeys) but on this simplistic basis proportional deaths in Spain appear to be far higher.
Thanks @Scott – evidence based is always best!
While most developed countries have adopted Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH) regulations over the past two decades, statistics showed an increase in reported accidents in Spain after the implementation of the 1995 OSH regulation, recording the highest rate for nonfatal accidents across the European Union.
So not a lazy stereotype at all. The situation in airports, for example, is well documented and not anecdotal. But I think that was actually well known and an ulterior motive has backfired here …
So not a lazy stereotype at all. The situation in airports, for example, is well documented and not anecdotal. But I think that was actually well known and an ulterior motive has backfired here …
I’m not sure how asking about evidence has led to this comment? And nothing about the situation in airports was mentioned by me – so your conclusion is just strange.
You asked for examples, and I gave one, and you suggested it was an unsubstantiated anecdote.
It’s ordinary Spanish people who are mostly suffering from failings by those in authority, so I’m not sure why this elicited such a defensive response, especially as you live in Spain or at least spend a lot of time there, and so must be aware of these issues. The recent peninsula-wide power outage may have been yet another example of this.
So much back and forth. Spain knows about H&S, in working conditions it is well understood. But unlike the UK, in Spain you do not have legislation on everything affecting your life.
It is common to see electric plugs on the bathroom for your hairdryer and common sense prevails over introducing silly laws (I still remember the article in the UK about a man that fainted on a knee deep pond and the policy wouldn’t rescue him: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/999-crews-we-cant-rescue-drowning-737046 ).
That said, when flying Iberia I am ALWAYS asked to remove my headphones during take off and landing when sitting on the emergency exit. They also check if I am charging my phone or any objects are in the floor. With BA I have had so many instances of blatant breach of rules I got £200 back from BA as a “sorry we missed all that stuff” apology when I raised it!
You also wouldn’t see this in Spain: https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/194023/Safety-rule-bars-tidying-a-cemetery
@yonasi I stay in HfP hoping for posts like yours 🙂 Surprising how often people challenged on HfP turn out to actually have the specialist knowledge (and some do, but don’t necessarily state it) 🙂
It is common to see electric plugs on the bathroom
there are electric plugs in bathrooms pretty much everywhere in the world outside the UK and Ireland
Ihar – Yes, I have been to numerous Spanish hotels. In fact, I especially recall one year when there were electricians working on the roof with no protective equipment …
Yes that wasn’t a dig at you, more of “Have you BEEN to a Spanish hotel? rhetorical question.
As for plug sockets in hotels, EU sockets/plugs aren’t even usually earthed – so this is a major safety issue! In the UK any bathroom electrical equipment should be served by an RCD and outside of “special zones” (and no plug sockets other than shavers/toothbrushes, no switches, etc.). Even then our sockets/plugs are far superior to anything the EU has in terms of safety. Not that UK engineers “wrote the book” on electrical safety or anything….
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