After sustaining an injury as a result of your employers negligence, you might want to learn about the accident at work procedure for making a claim. If so, this guide could help by helping you understand when you might be eligible to seek compensation.
Accident at work procedure claims guide
In this guide, we explore potential causes of workplace injuries and provide examples of how employer negligence could result in you experiencing harm.
We also look at the legislation governing workplace health and safety and your employer’s duty of care. Additionally, this guide will look at the steps you can take should your employer breach the duty of care they owe you.
If you have been injured while at work, you might like to hire a solicitor to help you claim compensation. This guide will provide information on No Win No Fee arrangements that could help you avoid upfront costs and ongoing fees.
To learn more about making an accident at work claim, you can:
- Contact us by filling out our online form.
- Call the number above.
- Use the live chat feature below.
Choose A Section
- What Is The Accident At Work Procedure?
- How Can Work Accidents Happen?
- What Is The Procedure Of Making A Personal Injury Claim?
- Compensation After The Accident At Work Procedure
- Are No Win No Fee Agreements More Affordable?
- Further Guidance About The Accident At Work Procedure
What Is The Accident At Work Procedure?
Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA) employers owe their employees a duty of care. This means that your employer must take reasonable steps to reduce or remove the risk of you experiencing harm in the workplace.
Not all workplace hazards can be eliminated. However, your employer should still take reasonable steps to reduce the potential harm. This could mean, for example, regularly checking equipment is safe prior to use. If they fail to do so, it could result in you experiencing harm due to faulty equipment. For example, you might fall from a defective ladder and sustain a head and brain injury as well as a broken leg.
Following a workplace injury, your employer will have an accident at work procedure to follow, this could include reporting the accident or injury. It could also include making sure the accident workbook is filled out with details of your accident and the harm you suffered.
As you can see, employers have various responsibilities to uphold. If they fail to do so and you experience a workplace injury as a result, you may be able to make a claim. Our advisors are available 24/7 to discuss your eligibility in more detail.
Frequency Of Accidents At Work
Certain workplace injuries must be reported under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR). These reports are made to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and collated to produce accident at work statistics. As such, the statistics provide an insight into the frequency of accidents at work.
The statistics show that there were 51,211 non-fatal injuries to employees reported under RIDDOR in 2020/21.
How Can Work Accidents Happen?
Injuries in the workplace could happen when your employer fails to take reasonably practical steps to reduce or remove the risk any hazards pose. Examples of accidents at work that could occur as a result of your employer’s negligence include:
- Failure to provide adequate personal protective equipment (PPE): In some cases, PPE is a necessary requirement for an employee to carry out their role safely. For example, safety goggles may be necessary for employees working with table saws to reduce the risk of airborne debris causing an eye injury. However, an employer might fail to provide necessary PPE causing an employee to sustain a minor eye injury.
- Failure to provide adequate training: Employers should ensure they provide employees adequate training to carry out work-related duties safely. This could include training workers on how to operate a forklift truck. However, they might fail to do so leading to an employee crashing into another employee after failing to operate the forklift truck correctly. This could result in both employees experiencing multiple injuries, such as fractures.
To discuss whether employer negligence resulted in your injuries, contact our advisors. If they find you’re eligible to claim, they could talk you through the accident at work procedure for seeking compensation.
What Is The Procedure Of Making A Personal Injury Claim?
If you choose to file a compensation claim, you will need to prove employer negligence caused your injuries. This involves showing that they breached the duty of care they owed you and caused you physical or psychological harm as a result.
The accident at work procedure for claiming could help you take steps to strengthen your case. For instance, after sustaining a workplace injury, you could:
- Seek medical attention: Following an injury at work, if you attend the hospital or visit a doctor, the medical records could be submitted as evidence. These may contain information on the nature of the injury and any treatment. You may also be invited to attend an independent medical assessment as part of a compensation claim. This can provide a more in depth analysis of your injuries and the extent to which they impacted your quality of life.
- Fill in the accident log book: Workplaces with ten or more employees are required to have an accident log book to record accidents. As such, you should provide any relevant information about your accident and injuries to be included in the accident at work report form.
- Note witness contact details: If there were any witnesses, you could make a note of their contact details so they can be contacted for a statement at a later date.
- Request CCTV footage: If any CCTV footage of the accident that caused your injury exists you could request it from the relevant person.
- Seek legal advice: No Win No Fee solicitors from our panel could help you gather sufficient evidence to support your claim and arrange for you to attend an independent medical appointment in your local area.
To find out whether you’re eligible to have your claim represented by a solicitor from our panel, call our team.
Compensation After The Accident At Work Procedure
If you choose to claim compensation for a workplace accident, your claim has two potential heads; general damages and special damages. We explain more about each of these below.
General Damages
The part of your claim that compensates for your injuries and any emotional distress suffered as a result is called general damages. Solicitors refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to assign possible value to your injuries. This is a document that lists injuries with their potential compensation brackets. We’ve provided the below table with a few examples from the JCG for illustrative purposes only.
As there are several factors taken into account when valuing the general damages head of claim, your settlement will differ to what’s listed in the table. As such, you should only use the figures as a guide.
| Injury | Potential Compensation | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate brain damage (c) (iii) | £43,060 to £90,720 | Cases in this bracket include those where concentration and memory are affected as well as the person experiencing other issues. |
| Less severe psychiatric damage (d) | £1,540 to £5,860 | The award given will depend on how long someone is affected and to what extent. |
| Transient eye injuries (f) | £2,200 to £3,950 | The person will fully recover within a few weeks. |
| Chest injuries (d) | £12,590 to £17,960 | Injuries in this bracket include simple injuries that cause some permanent tissue damage. However, there won't be a significant impact on lung function. |
| Severe neck injuries (a) (iii) | £45,470 to £55,990 | Examples of injuries include fractures or dislocations. |
| Serious shoulder injuries (b) | £12,770 to £19,200 | Shoulder dislocation with lower brachial plexus damage. |
| Less severe elbow injuries (b) | £15,650 to £32,010 | Injuries that have caused function impairment. |
| Index finger fracture (j) | £9,110 to £12,240 | A fracture that has healed quickly but grip has remained impaired. |
| Less serious leg injuries (c) (ii) | £9,110 to £14,080 | Simple femur fracture with no damage to articular surfaces. |
| Very severe foot injuries (c) | £83,960 to £109,650 | Injuries that cause pain that is permanent and severe or a disability that is serious and permanent. |
Special Damages
The part of your claim that recovers costs incurred due to your injury is called special damages. In order to claim this head, you must provide evidence of your costs. For example, you could save receipts of your expenses.
You could claim special damages for:
- Travel costs
- Loss of earnings
- Cosmetics
To find out more about the accident at work procedure for claiming compensation, get in touch.
Are No Win No Fee Agreements More Affordable?
A No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel could help you through the accident at work procedure for claiming. The solicitors on our panel offer to represent claims under a Conditional Fee Agreement. As such, there are no upfront fees or ongoing costs to pay them.
In addition, for claims that don’t succeed, you won’t be charged a success fee. For claims that do succeed, the success fee will be taken from your compensation as a percentage that’s subject to a legal cap.
Our advisors can offer more details on the services our panel of accident at work lawyers can provide.
Call Us To Discuss The Accident At Work Procedure
For more information on the accident at work procedure for claiming and whether you’re eligible to seek compensation, please get in touch with our advisors. They can answer any additional questions you have regarding personal injury claims.
To get in touch, you can:
- Contact us by filling out our online form.
- Call the number above.
- Use the live chat feature below.
Further Guidance About The Accident At Work Procedure
Please find some additional resources below.
Other Accident At Work Claims Guides
- How Long Does It Take To Make An Accident At Work Claim?
- Accident At Work – Your Rights Claimed
- How Do You Define Accidents At Work?
- Making A Successful Accident At Work Claim In The UK
- Completing An Accident At Work Report Form
For more information on the accident at work procedure for making a claim, call our team on the number above.