How Can I Make A Successful Accident At Work Claim In The UK?

This article explains the process of making an accident at work claim in the UK. In it, we will look at some of the legislation that protects your safety at work, and how it could be breached.

A guide to making an accident at work claim in the UK

Furthermore, this guide also outlines the evidence you could use to support your claim. In addition to this, we will look at the other considerations to bear in mind when making a claim, such as the time limit that applies.

If you have any more questions about the process of claiming for a workplace injury, you can get in touch with us today. To do so, you can:

Call us using the number at the top of this page
Chat with us in real-time using the chat feature
Fill out the contact form to begin your claim

Choose A Section

How Do I Make An Accident At Work Claim In The UK?
Potential Injuries At Work
What Can Prove An Accident At Work?
Settlements For An Accident At Work Claim In The UK
Is It Cheaper To Have A No Win No Fee Agreement?
Learn More About Making An Accident At Work Claim In The UK

How Do I Make An Accident At Work Claim In The UK?

Employers owe a duty of care to their employees according to the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. This duty of care means that they need to take all reasonably practicable steps to reduce the risk of their workers sustaining injury.

If you have sustained an injury in an accident at work, you may wish to determine whether you’re eligible to claim. You can do so by asking the following three questions:

Were you owed a duty of care? (This is automatic if you’re an employee)
Was this duty of care breached?
Did you sustain an injury as a result?

If you can answer “yes” to all of the questions above, then you might be eligible to claim. Speak with an advisor for more information.

How Common Are Work Accidents?

According to the Health and safety at work summary statistics for Great Britain 2021, there were various causes of non-fatal injuries to employees in 2020/2021.

33% of the non-fatal injuries were due to slips, trips and falls that are not from a height; falls from a height made up 8%. 18% of the injuries were caused by handling, lifting or carrying. Another 10% of employees were struck by a moving object.

Potential Injuries At Work

There are a number of different ways you could be injured in an accident at work. We have explained some of these potential injuries and the accidents that could cause them below:

Slips. trips and falls. Poor housekeeping could lead to slips and trips. For example, if stock is not put away in a timely manner this could result in someone tripping over it and sustaining an injury such as a head injury or broken cheekbone.
Machinery accidents. If you need to use machines or equipment in your role, these should be maintained to reduce the risk of injury. If your employer skipped one of these checks and the machine malfunctioned, you could be injured. For example, the emergency stop button could break, resulting in a crush injury to your arm.
Manual handling incidents. If you need to lift or carry things in the course of your job role, you should be trained in how to do this. If you aren’t, then this could cause you to employ poor lifting techniques which could lead to an injury. Furthermore, if you’re made to carry something that is clearly too heavy, this could be considered a breach of duty of care.

There are other kinds of accidents that we have not mentioned above but that could form the basis of a valid accident at work claim in the UK. Get in touch today for more information.

What Can Prove An Accident At Work?

Accident at work claims should be supported by evidence. There are a number of steps you can take to collect proof in support of your claim. These include:

Collecting evidence of out-of-pocket costs. These can be reimbursed to you as part of your claim; however, you’ll need to provide evidence like receipts or invoices.
Fill out a workplace accident book. All workplaces that consist of ten or more employees must have an accident book on site. You can fill this out with the details of what happened, or a colleague can do this for you if you’re not able.
Photographs and CCTV footage. If the cause of the accident is clear in a photo- for example, exposed wires- then this could be used to help prove employer negligence. You can request CCTV footage that showed the accident happening.

You may be invited to a medical assessment as part of your claim. The report from this will confirm that your injuries are consistent with your accident, and ascertain their severity. If you work with a lawyer from our panel, they might be able to arrange this in your local area.

For more information on making an accident at work claim in the UK, speak with an advisor.

Settlements For An Accident At Work Claim In The UK

Settlements in personal injury claims can be made up of up to two heads; general damages and special damages. General damages seek to compensate you for your pain and suffering, both emotional and physical, while special damages seek to compensate for your financial losses.

The table below shows examples of general damages brackets provided by the Judicial College Guidelines. These are used as guides and are not a guarantee of how much payout you will receive for your workplace accident claim.

Injury	Severity	Notes	Amounts
Chest Injuries	n/a	Fracture or soft tissue injury causing serious pain and disability for weeks only.	Up to £3,710
Neck Injuries	Severe	Fractures or damage to discs in the cervical spine causing considerably severe disability.	£61,710 to £122,860
Neck Injuries	Moderate	Fractures dislocations with severe immediate symptoms	£23,460 to £36,120
Back Injury	Moderate	Compression or crush fracture of the lumbar vertebrae. Constant pain.	£26,050 to £36,390
Shoulder Injury	Serious	Dislocation leading to pain in shoulder, neck, and elbow, Weak grip. Reduced shoulder movement	£11,980 to £18,020
Shoulder Injury	Minor (i)	Soft tissue injury. Pain will be considerate but recovery within timescale almost complete	£4,080 to £7,410
Shoulder Injury	Minor (ii)	Soft tissue injury. Pain will be considerate but recovery within timescale almost complete	£2,300 to £4,080
Arm Injuries	Severe	While this injury does not result in an amputation, the injured person is a little better off than if the arm had been lost	£90,250 to £122,860
Injuries to the Elbow	Moderate or Minor	Simple fractures, Tennis elbow syndrome. Lacerations. No permanent damage	Up to £11,820
Wrist Injuries	n/a	Complete loss of function in the wrist	£44,690 to £56,180

You could also receive special damages as part of your claim, to cover the financial losses you’ve experienced. For example, you might have had to take time off work as you recovered from your injuries and experienced a loss of earnings as a result. In some cases, you might have had to pay for medical care that you could not get for free on the NHS.

In order to be compensated for these financial losses, it’s a good idea to keep hold of evidence. For example, a payslip could show how much pay you’ve lost out on.

For more information on what an accident at work claim in the UK could consist of, speak with an advisor today.

Is It Cheaper To Have A No Win No Fee Agreement?

If you have decided to seek compensation, you might recognise the benefits of doing so with legal representation, but be concerned about the upfront fees this can incur. A No Win No Fee agreement, or Conditional Fee Agreement, carries less financial risk than hiring a solicitor in the usual way because you do not have to pay anything to your lawyer if your injury at work claim is not successful. In addition to this, you won’t have to pay them anything for them to start work on your claim or as it progresses.

A percentage of your compensation will be deducted to pay your No Win No Fee solicitor if your workplace accident claim is successful. There’s a legal cap on the value of this percentage, so you’ll always get the majority of your settlement.

Ask Us About Accident At Work Claims In The UK

If you will want to make a work accident claim, why not contact us today? We could connect you to our panel of specialist solicitors if you have a valid claim. Our advisors can also answer any questions you have about the process of making an accident at work claim in the UK.

To get in touch, you can:

Call us using the number at the top of this page
Speak with us live using the chat feature
Fill out our contact form

Learn More About Making An Accident At Work Claim In The UK

Risk management procedures from HSE

More about workers’ rights from HSE

When to call 999 from the NHS

We’ve also included some more of our guides:

If you have any more questions about making an accident at work claim in the UK, get in touch with our team of advisors today.

Writer Mary Mansfield

Publisher Fern Styles

How To Make An Accident At Work Claim In The UK