一步一个脚印

Briefing

Chao Liang has come to the office of Adrian Turner, a lawyer working for Bates and Stuart, a law firm in Melbourne. Liang is making an enquiry about personal injury claims on behalf of one of his colleagues who has recently suffered an injury at work.

 

Listen to Dialogue

Mandarin-English Dialogue #7 – Personal Injury Claim

Transcript

Turner: Hi, Chao Liang is it? My name is Adrian Turner. I’d like to welcome you to Bates and Stuart on this sunny afternoon. Please, take a seat. I can offer you tea, coffee or juice – whatever you like. [您好，是梁超吗？我是Adrian Turner。欢迎您在这个阳光明媚的下午来到Bate&Stuart律师事务所。请坐。我们这儿有茶，咖啡，果汁。您想喝点啥？]

Liang (梁): 谢谢你，唐纳先生。来点热水就行了。[Thank you Mr Turner. Just some hot water will be fine.]

Turner: OK. And what can I help you with today? [好的，有什么我可以帮助您的吗？]

Liang (梁): 我在Richmond一家叫做Tiptop的电焊公司做焊工。前台小姐告诉我说您擅长个人工伤索赔，但她没有讲清楚您能为哪种类型的工伤索要赔偿。[I work as a welder in Richmond, for a company called TipTop Welding. The receptionist told me that you specialise in personal injury claims, but she couldn’t give me a straight answer about what kind of injuries you can actually claim compensation for.]

Turner: There are many. It can be a physical injury such as a broken bone, or loss of hearing or sight, or it may be a psychological trauma like anxiety disorder. What kind of problem do you have? [有很多种的。可以是身体伤害，像骨折，失聪或失明之类的。或者也可以是像焦虑症这样的心理伤害。不知道您是有什么问题呢？]

Liang (梁): 不是我，而是我的同事杨君。她一个月前来我们车间做学徒，我挺照顾她的。她在电焊这方面很有天份而且她也很细心。[It’s not me, it’s my coworker Yangjun. She started working as an apprentice at our workshop about a month ago and I took her under my wing. She’s got a real talent for welding – and has good attention to detail.]

 ( … )

那天我老板决定让她试一试电弧焊，嗯，您可能对这样的工作不大熟悉，它稍微有点儿技术性。简单说来，就是指在通电的情况下把两块金属焊接到一起。[The other day my boss decided to give her her first go at arc welding, and, well, you’re probably not familiar with this kind of work – it’s a bit technical. Long story short, it involves welding two pieces of metal together using a power supply.]

Turner: Yes, arc welding, I’ve dealt with cases like that before. I know it can be very dangerous if proper safety precautions are not followed. Do go on. [是的，电弧焊。我之前处理过与这个有关的案子。如果没有采取适当的安全保护措施，这个工作是相当危险的。请继续。]

Liang (梁): 恩，您说得对。我已经在澳洲做这行六年了，在过去的三年中一直在这家公司工作。像这种情况我见的多了。[Yes, you’re right. I’ve been doing this trade for six years in Australia, and been working at this particular workshop for the past three. I’ve seen my fair share of these kind of injuries.]

( … )

您可以想象下，被高温和火花烫到的风险还是挺大的。为了保护自己，我们还得带上厚厚的手套，并穿上防护夹克。[You can imagine there’s a great risk of getting burnt from the heat and the sparks. To protect ourselves we wear heavy leather gloves and protective jackets.]

Turner: Yes, I know. So, what happened to your colleague? Let me guess, there was a problem with the helmet? I’ve heard stories of the face plate getting cracks. If the helmet is damaged the sparks can damage your eyes, correct? [对，我知道。那您的同事出了什么事儿了？让我猜猜，是不是她的头盔有问题？我听说过面罩上出现裂缝的例子。如果头盔坏了，那火花就会烧伤眼睛，对吧？]

Liang (梁): 嗯，说得对。但事情并不是那么简单。上个星期四，就在下班之后，我接到了老板的一个电话，说杨军把手烫伤了。[Yes, that’s right. But it’s not as simple as that. Last Thursday – just after I clocked off – I got a call from my boss. He said Yangjun had burnt her hands.]

( … )

原来手套上有洞！怎么会这样？我那个白痴老板给她用的是一双破掉的旧手套，那双手套几个月前就该扔掉啦。[Turns out there were holes in her gloves. I couldn’t believe it! My idiot boss had given her a pair of old tattered gloves that should have been thrown out months ago.]

( … )

昨天晚上我去医院看杨君。她一直在哭，手上打满了绷带。她跟我说她受到了二度烧伤。[Last night I went to the hospital to see Yangjun. She was crying and her hands were all bandaged up. She told me she sustained second-degree burns.]

Turner: That must be a terrible ordeal for her. Did the doctor say if she would get permanent scarring as a result of the burns? [那对她来说肯定是折磨啊。医生有没有说是否会因为烧伤永久留疤呢？]

Liang (梁): 医生还不清楚。现在她疼得厉害。我希望我要是能先给她提个醒就好啦。问题在于，这样的事情不是第一次发生啦。[They don’t know yet. For now she’s in a lot of pain. I wish I could have done something to warn her. The problem is, this is not the first time this has happened.]

( … )

有时我的老板不大细心，所以在我们上班的地方还发生了好多次其他的事故。但是这次事故是最严重的。[My boss can be careless at times and has been involved in a number of other accidents around the workplace. But this one would have to be the first serious one.]

 ( … )

我知道在澳大利亚你们有很健全和完善的法律体系。我一直在想我是不是该叫警察。她真可怜，我觉得她的遭遇太不幸啦。[I know in Australia you have a very robust and well-established legal system. I can’t stop thinking whether or not I should have called the police. I fell really bad about what happened to her, poor girl.]

Turner: You did the right thing in coming here and seeking legal advice. But first you should know that if someone has an accident at their workplace it is not considered a crime per se – it’s a tort, a civil wrong. It’s a matter for the courts – in other words – not the police. [是的，您是对的，是应该来这儿寻求法律意见。但是首先您要明白，如果一个人受了工伤，那这并不构成犯罪，只能算侵权，属于民事违法。所以要上法庭，而不是找警察。]

Liang (梁): 您是说杨君可以告他？怎么个告法呢？ [You mean Yangjun could sue him? How does that work then?]

Turner: Usually you start off by lodging a personal injury claim. This claim alleges that the injury you have suffered was caused by someone else’s negligence. [通常你先申请工伤索赔。索赔条件是，所受伤害由于某人疏忽而引起。]

( … )

There are various types of compensation claims including WorkCover claims, insurance claims, lump sum payouts, and so on. Here’s a leaflet with some more information – maybe your interpreter could translate that later for you. [有很多种赔偿，包括工伤保险索赔，保险索赔，一次性付款赔偿等等。这里小册子上有详细信息，等下口译员可以帮您进行翻译。]

Liang (梁): 谢谢。我是从电视的广告上看到你们律师行的联系方式的。广告说，在有些情况下，如果客户打赢了官司的话，就不需要付律师费了，是吗？ [Thank you. You know I found the contact details of your law firm on an advert on TV. It said in some cases the client doesn’t have to pay legal fees if you win the lawsuit. Is that true?]

Turner: In many cases, yes, but there are number of criteria that need to be looked at. Later on we can have your colleague’s case assessed to see if it qualifies for a “no win no pay” arrangement. [很多情况下是这样子的，但是也必须符合很多标准。等下我们可以就您同事的案子进行评估，看看是否其满足“不赢不收费”的条件。]

Liang (梁): 明白了。那通常要等多长时间呢？ [I see. And how long does it usually take?]

Turner: In some cases it can take up to 12 months to settle so you may need to be patient. If your colleague wishes she can make an appointment with us when she feels up to it. We can help her prepare her claim and arrange the appropriate medical assessments. It will be our job to negotiate her claim for compensation.