Work accident compensation claims

If you have been injured in an accident at work as a result of your employer’s negligence, you may be able to make a work accident compensation claim for your injury and its financial consequences.

The law requires employers to protect their employees from foreseeable accidents and injury. They can do this by creating and maintaining a safe working environment and safe systems of work, regularly assessing risks, and providing the training, protective clothing and equipment that their employees need to do their job. They owe their employees a general duty of care to prevent foreseeable accidents and injury, but must also comply with multiple, statutory health and safety (H&S) standards and guidelines, including those set out in the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and a set of regulations which are known as ‘The Six Pack’.

The key regulations include:

• Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999;
• Manual Handling Operations Regulations – on lifting and handling of heavy loads;
• Display Screen Equipment (DSE) Regulations – on use of computer keyboards and screens;
• Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations – on working environment, e.g. seating, lighting, heating, windows, rest areas, washing facilities, changing rooms, fire escapes;
• Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations – on maintaining equipment and training;
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Regulations – on training and use of PPE equipment.

Where an employee is injured as a result of the employer’s failure to comply with these regulations, this can help provide evidence that the employer was negligent and prove liability in our client’s injury compensation claim.

Workplace accidents can sometimes be dismissed as carelessness, with the employee encouraged to assume that their injury was their own fault. However, if the accident was caused wholly or partly by the employer’s negligence, the injured employee may be entitled to substantial compensation.

Employer negligence and health and safety (H&S) failures which commonly lead to work injury compensation claims include:

• failing to risk assess or provide safe systems of work;
• failing to comply with H&S guidelines or regulations;
• failing to inspect, maintain and repair buildings and business premises;
• failing to inspect, maintain and repair or replace machinery, vehicles, or equipment;
• failing to provide protective clothing or safety equipment;
• failing to provide adequate training, supervision and support;
• failing to put safety guards around hazards (steep drops, rooftops, scaffolding, machinery);
• toppling hazards (unsafe stacking of shelves, trolleys or vehicles, faulty ramps);
• failing to warn/sign or remove slipping hazards (oil, water, slippery floors, stairs);
• failing to remove, repair or warn about tripping hazards (wires, raised paving or carpets);
• exposing workers to hazardous or toxic substances (asbestos, chemicals, broken glass);
• road traffic accidents (RTAs) and driver negligence at work;
• armed forces/military claims for negligence against the MOD;
• violent crime and criminal injuries (workplace assaults, claims by injured police).

The most common accidents that lead to work injury compensation claims include:

• falls from heights (defective ladders or scaffolding, unguarded steep drops, rooftops);
• falls on same level (into manholes, uncovered drains);
• unsafe working practices (heavy lifting, overloaded trolleys or shelving);
• dangerous, unguarded or defective machinery and equipment;
• burns, electrocution/electric shocks, explosions;
• moving vehicle accidents (farm vehicles, forklifts, factory vehicles, delivery trucks);
• exposure to dangerous substances, toxins, chemicals, asbestos;
• slipping hazards (spillages, oil, water, slippery floors);
• tripping hazards (trailing wires, raised carpets or paving stones, debris);
• falling/moving objects and toppling hazards;
• unsafe buildings, premises, or working environments;
• untrained, unsupervised or negligent co-workers;
• violence, such as assault.

Our personal injury solicitors specialise in helping clients who have suffered severe, life-changing injury or permanent disability as a result of someone else’s negligence. We can help clients, and their families, after their employer’s negligence led to injuries such as:

• head injury, brain injury and neurological injury;
• spinal cord injury (SCI) (paralysis, paraplegia, tetraplegia) or spinal fracture;
• major trauma or multiple injuries;
• amputation;
• burns and scalds;
• degloving injuries (needing skin grafting);
• scarring and disfigurement;
• internal injuries (damage to major organs);
• severe lacerations and nerve injury;
• blindness and sight loss;
• deafness and hearing loss;
• stabbing/impaling injury;
• CRPS and chronic pain conditions;
• mesothelioma, asbestosis, pleural thickening and asbestos-related lung cancer;
• PTSD and psychological injury;
• death/fatal injury (claims for the bereaved, dependant family).

Accidents can take place in any environment where an employer or business owner fails to consider the risks of accidental injuries and take reasonable steps to prevent them. However, some industries or occupations have higher rates of serious injury from workplace accidents. These include:

• construction industry (roofers, builders, building site labourers etc);
• factory and warehouse work;
• farming, agriculture, and fishing;
• transportation and storage;
• manufacturing;
• catering/commercial kitchens;
• schools;
• industries historically linked to asbestos exposure (shipbuilding, carpentry, plumbing);
• police, military, armed forces, MOD.

Business owners and employers have a responsibility to provide a safe workplace or business premises to all visitors to their site, not just full-time employees. Claims against an employer or business owner for compensation for workplace injuries caused by negligence or failure to provide a safe working environment can be made by:

• full-time or part-time employees;
• independent contractors;
• temporary or casual staff;
• self-employed workers;
• agency workers;
• visitors;
• members of the public.

We can also help recover compensation for UK residents who have been severely injured as a result of their employer’s negligence whilst working abroad.

Each client’s claim is carefully calculated to compensate them for their injury, its impact on their life, and to meet their additional needs arising from that injury now and in the future.

Depending on the client’s injury and circumstances, their claim may include compensation for:

• pain, suffering, and disability;
• care and case management costs;
• rehabilitation, often funded directly by the employer’s insurer;
• therapies, such as:
  • occupational therapy (OT);
  • physiotherapy;
  • speech and language therapy (SALT);
  • pain management;
• psychological treatment and counselling;
• prostheses (if needed after amputation);
• earnings and pension loss;
• specialist wheelchairs, vehicles, equipment and assistive technology (IT);
• additional costs of accommodation or home adaptations;
• medical or surgical treatment or immunotherapy (for mesothelioma);
• Court of Protection deputyship costs.

In work accident claims arising from fatal injury, the deceased’s family and dependents may be able to claim funeral costs, the statutory bereavement payment and compensation for their loss of the deceased’s income and ‘services’, such as childcare, housework, DIY and gardening.

Where the injured person’s own actions contributed to their accident or injury, they will usually still be entitled to compensation as long as their employer was partly at fault. In these circumstances, their compensation may be reduced in proportion to their own contributory negligence.

Employers and business owners are required by law to have insurance in place to cover claims against them relating to injury and death. Employers (and their insurers) are also liable for injury caused by the negligence of their employees. This means that, depending on the circumstances of the accident, the injured person’s compensation may be paid by the defendant’s employer’s liability insurance, public liability insurance or motor insurance.

Claims against the Ministry of Defence are paid by the MOD (via the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme). Claims arising from injuries caused by violence may be compensated via the CICA (Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority) if there is no other responsible, insured defendant.