Injury at work solicitors could make claiming compensation due to employer negligence seem easier. In this guide, we explore the duty of care your employer owes you and what legislation governs this. We look at examples of workplace injuries caused by employers breaching their duty of care. Also, we provide some examples of potential compensation awards for a small sample of injuries as well as some examples of what you might be able to claim under special damages. We also look at how No Win No Fee agreements work.
A guide on finding injury at work solicitors
Contact our advisors today to find out about how injury at work solicitors could help your claim. Simply call us on the number at the top of the page or use our live chat.
Choose A Section
- How Can Injury At Work Solicitors Help You?
- How Much Compensation Could Be Awarded For A Work Injury Claim?
- What Are Examples Of Accidents At Work?
- How To Make A Successful Injury At Work Claim
- Connect With No Win No Fee Injury At Work Solicitors
- Further Information About Injury At Work Solicitors
How Can Injury At Work Solicitors Help You?
Employers owe their employees a duty of care under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA). This means that your employer must take reasonably practicable steps to reduce risks while at work. Failure to do so could result in an injury.
Reasonably practical steps could include informing employees who work with chemicals of the risk by including stickers on the storage containers. Personal protective equipment (PPE) should also be provided as well as training on how to handle them. For example, bleach in a cleaner’s kit should be labelled as such and the cleaner may need to be provided with gloves and a mask.
The claims process could seem easier with Injury at work solicitors. You might want to consider using a No Win No Fee solicitor to file if you decide to claim compensation for your workplace injuries.
Call our advisors today to see if you can start your injury at work claim.
Recent Work Accident Statistics
Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) statistics on non-fatal injuries to employees are collated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Across all industries in 2020/21, there were:
- 1,860 injuries due to moving machinery
- 5,117 injuries due to moving or flying/falling objects
- 1,079 injuries from being struck by a vehicle
- 9,314 injuries caused by handling, lifting or carrying
- 16,698 injuries caused by slips, trips and falls on the same level
How Much Compensation Could Be Awarded For A Work Injury Claim?
If you choose to claim compensation, your claim could have two heads: general damages and special damages.
General Damages
Your injury and any emotional distress it caused are claimed for under the general damages head. If using injury at work solicitors to file your claim, they may refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to help assign value to your injuries. Injuries, along with their potential compensation brackets are listed in the JCG.
The below table includes examples of injuries and potential compensation for them from the JCG.
| Injury | Potential Compensation | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Minor brain or head injury | £2,070 to £11,980 | Minimal brain damage. |
| Less severe post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) | £3,710 to £7,680 | Minor symptoms will persist but virtually a full recovery within one to two years. |
| Incomplete loss of sight in one eye | £22,230 to £36,960 | Serious but incomplete vision loss in one eye with no significant risk to the other or constant double vision. |
| Chest injuries (e) | £5,000 to £11,820 | Inhaling toxic fumes with some residual damage. |
| Traumatic injuries to the digestive system (iii) | £6,190 to £11,820 | Laceration and stabbing wounds. |
| Severe back injuries (ii) | £69,600 to £82,980 | Could include nerve root damage and associated sensation loss. |
| Moderate shoulder injuries | £7,410 to £11,980 | Movement limitations and discomfort lasting about two years. |
| Wrist injuries (a) | £44,690 to £56,180 | Complete loss of function. |
| Severe knee injuries (i) | £65,440 to £90,290 | Serious knee injury with loss of function and considerable pain. |
| Less severe facial scarring | £16,860 to £45,440 | Substantial disfigurement and significant psychological reaction. |
Special Damages
Costs related to your injury could be claimed for under special damages. You could claim special damages for:
- Travel. Transport costs to injury-related medical appointments, for example.
- Loss of earnings. You might be entitled to statutory sick pay (SSP) or part of a work sickness pay scheme; however, you could still claim for loss of earnings if your injury results in time off work where you were not fully paid.
- Medical aids. Renting or purchasing medical devices, such as crutches could be covered.
- Cosmetic devices. If you require specialist makeup, for example, to conceal scarring, you could claim the costs back.
- Therapy. If you need to attend therapy for your injury and it’s not covered by the NHS, you could recover the costs.
In order to claim this compensation, however, you must supply evidence. You could keep receipts or mileage records, for example.
Talk to our advisors for an estimate of damages based on your individual circumstances. Also, they could advise you on what you could claim special damages for and what evidence you could provide.
What Are Examples Of Accidents At Work?
Your employer should take reasonably practical steps to prevent workplace injuries as laid out in the HASAWA. This is part of their duty of care. Failure to do so could result in injuries.
Common causes of injuries at work include:
- Inadequate training. Any training required to safely carry out your duties should be provided for free. Injuries could arise, for example, if you have not been trained in how to use a particular piece of machinery. Some equipment might have an emergency stop switch should a situation arise where it is necessary to use. You may not know of this without training.
- Inadequate personal protective equipment (PPE). If PPE is required to safely carry out your work duties, your employer should provide it for free. For example, if you require gloves to not burn yourself in a kitchen, your employer should provide them.
- Faulty equipment. Your employer should keep equipment checks up to date. This could include outside safety inspectors or electricians coming in to examine the equipment. It could also include training employees in how to check equipment before use. Employees could be taught to check, for example, a cooker before use. This is to ensure that no oil has spilt onto it before switching on a burner. The oil could present a fire risk and result in burn injuries.
Injury at work solicitors could help with your compensation claim. If your employer failed to take reasonable steps to prevent injury, give our advisors a call.
How To Make A Successful Injury At Work Claim
In order to file for work accident compensation, you must have experienced an injury due to employer negligence and you must be able to prove it. What you do in the aftermath of your injury could strengthen your case.
Actions you could take include:
-
- Seeking medical attention. Records from a visit to the hospital or a doctor following an injury could be submitted as evidence. Also, if you decide to claim compensation, you might be invited to an independent medical assessment. The report produced from this can act as evidence.
- Requesting CCTV. There might be CCTV footage of the accident that caused your injury. If this is the case, you could request the footage from the relevant person.
- Fill in the accident log book. All workplaces with ten or more employees are required to have an accident log book. You could fill this out with your name, date and time, and any relevant details.
- Note witness details. If there are any witnesses, you could make a note of their contact details. Witnesses may be contacted at a later date for statements.
- Seeking legal advice. Injury at work lawyers could make claiming compensation seem easier.
To find out what evidence could be submitted to prove employer negligence, contact our advisors. They are available 24/7 with free legal advice.
Connect With No Win No Fee Injury At Work Solicitors
To claim compensation with the help of a solicitor, you might want to consider a No Win No Fee agreement. With a No Win No Fee agreement, you do not pay upfront fees to injury at work solicitors. A legally capped success fee will be taken from your award should your claim prove successful. You’d be made aware of this success fee before agreeing to use the solicitor’s services.
If the claim loses, you don’t have to pay the solicitor’s success fee at all.
Speak To Injury At Work Solicitors
Our advisors are available with free legal advice 24/7. Also, they could provide you with an estimate of how much your claim could be worth.
If your employer breached their care of duty, give us a call. Eligible claims might be passed onto our panel of personal injury solicitors. You can:
- Call us on the number at the top of the page.
- Use our live chat to get answers.
Further Information About Injury At Work Solicitors
We’ve included some links that you might find useful:
- How to request CCTV footage of yourself.
- Learn about statutory sick pay (SSP).
- An NHS guide to first aid.
Other Injury At Work Claims Guides
- Injury At Work Claims – Compensation Examples
- How Long Does A Work Injury Claim Take?
- Can I Make A Foot Injury At Work Claim?
- How Much Could I Get For A Back Injury At Work?
- How To Claim Compensation For A Shoulder Injury At Work
- How To Find Workplace Injury Solicitors
- How to Make a Successful Work Injury Claim
- How To Prove A Back Injury At Work Claim
- Injury At Work Claim Calculator
- Is There an Average Payout for Back Injury at Work Claims?
- The Work Injury Claim Process Explained
- What Is The Injury At Work Claim Time Limit?
- Work Accident Solicitors Explained
To find out more about injury at work solicitors and how they could help start your accident at work claim, give us a call.
Writer Danielle Belle
Publisher Ruth Victor