Construction and building site injury claims

According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the construction sector covers around 6% of Britain’s workforce, including those who work on the construction of buildings, civil engineering (such as roads and railways), and specialist trades (such as demolition, joinery, plastering, electrical, plumbing, painting, and glazing).

The construction industry is also a high-risk work area for accidents and serious injuries. The fatal injury rate for construction industry workers is four times the fatal injury rate for all industries combined. Construction industry accidents are the most common cause of workplace deaths, involving falls from heights or being hit by a moving vehicle. Building and construction accidents also cause the death of members of the general public.

Construction-related accidents are also a major cause of non-fatal injuries from falls from height, slips, trips and falls on same level, being struck by a moving or falling object, and lifting injuries. The most common non-fatal injuries in the construction sector are musculoskeletal disorders. Construction work is also a common cause of asbestos related mesothelioma.

Employers on building sites and other construction workplaces must comply with health and safety laws, regulations and processes to ensure the safety of their workers, visitors and other members of the public. Where their failure to do so results in severe or fatal injury, the injured person or their family are entitled to claim compensation.

Construction or building site accidents which most commonly lead to serious injury and compensation claims, include:

• falls:
  • from heights (from work platforms, scaffolding, ladders, rooftops);
  • at same level (into holes, excavations, shafts, uncovered drains);
  • slipping (on spillages, oil, water, slippery floors);
  • tripping (on trailing wires, raised flooring, debris);
• being hit by falling or moving objects (from cranes, bricks, roof tiles, machinery);
• moving vehicle accidents (forklifts, dumper trucks, delivery vehicles);
• exposure to asbestos, or other hazardous substances;
• crushing or impaling injuries;
• lifting accidents;
• injury from dangerous, unguarded machinery;
• injury from defective equipment;
• exposure to electricity, electric shocks, explosions;
• moving vehicle accidents (forklifts, dumper trucks, delivery vehicles);
• unsafe buildings or premises;
• accidents caused by untrained, unsupervised or negligent co-workers.

Our personal injury solicitors specialise in claims for clients who have suffered life-changing, catastrophic or severe injury in accidents that were caused by negligence.

Our clients have usually suffered one or more of the following:

• head injury and brain injury;
• spinal cord injury (SCI) – paralysis, tetraplegia, paraplegia;
• amputation or loss of limbs;
• major trauma or multiple injuries;
• maxillofacial injury;
• asbestos-related disease – mesothelioma, pleural thickening, asbestos-related lung cancer;
• degloving injuries (needing skin grafting);
• nerve injury;
• electrocution, burns, or scalds;
• chronic pain conditions and CRPS;
• blindness, deafness or sensory impairment;
• severe scarring and disfigurement;
• psychological injury and PTSD;
• fatal injury, death.

Building and construction work is regulated by multiple health and safety (H&S) standards and guidelines. Employers and site owners must carry out regular risk assessments and provide safe working environments and systems of work to protect their workers and visitors to the site from foreseeable accidents and injury. Passersby should be protected from unguarded holes, falling objects or other hazards which could cause injury.

Measures must also be put in place to prevent foreseeable injury to children, who may think it fun to play on a building site but not understand the danger. Recommended measures to avoid injury to children on construction sites include properly securing the site, guarding or covering excavations and pits, immobilising vehicles, safe storage of building materials and hazardous substances, and removing ladders from excavations and scaffolds.

Common health and safety (H&S) failures which lead to construction and building site accidents and injury claims include failure to:

• carry out a proper risk assessment;
• inspect, maintain and repair buildings and business premises;
• inspect, maintain and repair or replace machinery, vehicles, or equipment;
• provide protective clothing or safety equipment;
• provide adequate training, supervision and support;
• comply with H&S legislation, regulations, or guidelines;
• provide safe systems of work;
• provide safety barriers, nets, and guards around falling hazards, machinery, electricity;
• warn/sign or remove spillages or slipping hazards (oil, water, slippery floors, stairs);
• remove, repair or warn about tripping hazards (trailing wires, raised flooring);
• prevent exposure to asbestos and hazardous substances.

Construction accidents can be caused by more than one person’s negligence. Where severe injury has occurred, we can often secure rehabilitation and compensation for the injured person, even if they were partly (but not wholly) to blame. We advise anyone who has been severely injured in an accident, or their family, to contact us as soon as possible after the accident to find out whether we can secure the help they need by making a claim.

Our experienced personal injury solicitors carefully investigate each client’s accident, so that we can make sure that the claim is directed towards the correct defendant. Depending on the circumstances of the accident, the claim may be made against:

• an employer, for their own or their workers’ negligence;
• a contractor;
• the owner of the construction site;
• the supplier or manufacturer of defective products, machinery, or equipment;
• the driver of a negligently driven vehicle.

In almost all cases, the claim will be handled (and compensation paid) by the defendant’s insurers. Employers are required by law to have employers’ liability insurance in place so that employees can be properly compensated if they are injured as a result of their employer’s negligence. Depending on how and where the accident happened, the claim may be covered by the defendant’s public liability or motor insurance.

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 their 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);
• specialist wheelchairs, vehicles, equipment and assistive technology (IT);
• additional costs of accommodation or home adaptations;
• medical or surgical treatment or immunotherapy (for mesothelioma);
• financial losses, such as earnings and pension;
• 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.