What Are The Most Important Accident At Work Laws?

There are a number of accident at work laws that dictate health and safety in the workplace. Your employer is legally obliged to adhere to these.

Accident at work laws claim guide

If they fail to do so, and you sustain an injury as a result, you could be entitled to compensation. This guide will look at the process of making a workplace injury claim.

Injuries can have a number of different consequences that range from minor to life-altering. In some cases, an accident at work could leave you disabled or unable to do the activities that you used to enjoy.

Our advisors are available to answer your questions and, if you have grounds for a claim, they may pass you to our No Win No Fee panel of solicitors. Contact our advisors by:

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What Are The Main Accident At Work Laws?
Typical Work Accident Situations
How Do I Prove Someone’s Responsibility Under The Accident At Work Laws?
Compensation For An Accident At Work Case
How Do I Start A No Win No Fee Agreement?
Learn More About Accident At Work Laws

What Are The Main Accident At Work Laws?

There are a number of pieces of legislation that relate to health and safety in the workplace. The central piece of law is the Health and Safety At Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA).

It outlines the duty of care that employers have towards those who work for them. It states that they need to take reasonably practicable steps to ensure their safety. A failure to do this is negligence, and if an injury happens as the result of negligence then this could lead to a claim.

There are other pieces of legislation that apply to health and safety in the workplace. For example:

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. This outlines the requirements for employers to carry out risk assessments so that hazards to health can be removed or reduced.
The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992. These regulations make it a requirement to provide free, appropriate and suitable protective equipment to workers.
The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 is a piece of legislation that outlines how employers should safeguard employees in relation to handling, lifting and carrying in the workplace.
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 requires that employers ensure that the work equipment that their employees are provided is safe and suitable.

If any of the above were breached, and you experienced an injury as a result, you could be owed compensation. Continue to read for more information on accident at work laws, or contact our advisors for free legal advice.

Statistics For Workplace Accidents

Under The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) employers reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) that in 2020/21, there were 51,211 non-fatal injuries to employees with 37,111 requiring over 7-days absence from work.

The most common kind of reported injury in the workplace in this time period was fractures with 15,159 reported. This was followed by sprains and strains with 14,784 occurrences.

Typical Work Accident Situations

Below, we’ve included some examples of how a workplace accident could occur as the result of a breach of duty of care:

Slips, trips and falls. This kind of accident could happen if your employer did not maintain good housekeeping. For example, they may have failed to keep a walkway clear of clutter.
Hit by a moving or falling object. You could experience this kind of accident if you were provided with equipment or machinery that your employer failed to maintain properly. Alternatively, it could occur if you’re not given the appropriate protective equipment, such as a helmet.
Falls from a height. These accidents could occur as a result of you not being provided non-slip shoes, causing you to fall from a piece of scaffolding and sustaining a head injury.
Manual handling incidents. If your employer doesn’t give you sufficient training for manual handling roles, then you could use poor techniques that cause you to be injured.

This list is not exhaustive. you might have been involved in an accident type that we have not mentioned above, but you may still be able to claim. Get in touch with our team today for more information on how a breach in accident at work laws that causes injury could entitle you to claim.

How Do I Prove Someone’s Responsibility Under The Accident At Work Laws?

Under the accident at work laws, you must prove that an employer’s negligence caused your injury. To do this you will need to collect evidence; hiring a No Win No lawyer may make this process feel easier as they can provide legal counsel. Some examples of evidence can include:

Medical records – Seek immediate medical attention to ensure you get the treatment you need. This has the added advantage of generating a medical document that can support your personal injury claim.
Accident at work book – Employers with 10 or more employees legally must have an accident at work book. Fill this out to create a timely record of the incident, or have a colleague complete it if you are unable to do so.
CCTV footage – You can ask your employer for CCTV footage and gather recordings from colleagues.
Injury and accident site photographs – Take pictures of the injury and accident site to strengthen your claim.
Witness details – Collect witness details for a legal professional to take statements later on.

Contact our advisors today on what evidence you can collect to support a claim after a breach of accident at work laws caused you to be injured.

Compensation For An Accident At Work Case

You will receive compensation if your claim succeeds. The amount awarded can be made up of general damages and special damages.

General damages relate to the pain and suffering you experience because of your injury. The Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) is a document containing guideline compensation brackets, and it’s used by legal professionals to help value claims.

The following table includes some of the brackets from this document:

Injury	Compensation	Notes
Severe neck injury (i)	In the region of £148,330	Incomplete paraplegia despite wearing a collar 24 hours a day for years
Eye injuries (d)	£54,830 to £65,710	Total loss of one eye
Partial hearing loss and/or tinnitus (i)	£29,710 to £45,540	Severe tinnitus and noise-induced hearing loss.
Less severe brain damage (d)	£15,320 to £43,060	Good recovery, able to have a social and work life. Normal functions may still be inhibited such as concentration, memory, and mood interfering with the quality of life and future employability with future epilepsy risk.
Asthma (b)	£26,290 to £43,010	Chronic asthma leading to breathing difficulties, the occasional need for an inhaler, employment restrictions and uncertain prognosis.
Moderate back injury (i)	£27,760 to £38,780	For example, compression or crush factors of the vertebrae leading to constant pain and discomfort.
Moderate shoulder injury (c)	£7,890 to £12,770	Frozen shoulder with movement limitations and discomfort symptoms or soft tissue injuries lasting for around two years.
Less severe general psychiatric damage (d)	£1,540 to £5,860	Award depends on disability period and extent of the effect on sleep and daily activities.
Chest injury (f)	£2,190 to £5,320	Injuries causing collapsed lungs where a full recovery is made.
Lesser pelvis and hip injury (ii)	Up to £3,950	Minor soft tissue injuries with complete recovery.

Moreover, you may be eligible to claim special damages. These damages cover the final impact your injury has had on you. It can include:

Loss of income and future earnings
Travel to and from medical appointments
Gracious care
Child care costs

Contact our advisors for more information about claiming compensation for a breach of accident at work laws.

How Do I Start A No Win No Fee Agreement?

If you want to begin the accident at work claims process, hiring a No Win No Fee lawyer could help streamline the process and make run more smoothly. A personal injury lawyer may make understanding the accident at work laws easier as it can be a daunting part of the law.

A No Win No Fee agreement means you do need to pay anything upfront or as the claim progresses. If your claim fails, you pay nothing to your lawyer for their services.

If your claim succeeds the lawyer will take a success fee. This is a small, legally-capped percentage of your compensation.

Our personal injury lawyers can represent you on a No Win No Fee basis. Speak with an advisor today for more information.

Learn More About Accident At Work Laws

If you would like free legal advice on accident at work laws or to pursue an accident at work claim, get in touch with our advisors today. They will determine whether you have grounds for a claim and can forward you to a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel to begin the process. You can contact our advisors by:

Calling us on the number above
Contacting us through the website
Using the live chat feature on this page

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Contact our advisors today for free legal advice about claiming for injuries sustained as the result of a breach in the accident at work laws.

Writer Jack Errol

Publisher Fern Styles

Advice On Accident at Work Laws