Accidents at the Workplace Can I Make a Claim?

According to the National Office for Statistics, there are currently 32.48 million people in work in the whole of the United Kingdom, and it doesn’t show signs of slowing down just yet.

With so many people in work, whether industrial, agricultural, office based or otherwise (we won’t name them all!) it is inevitable that accidents are bound to happen.

Your Employer’s Duty to You

Your employer is responsible for your safety and wellbeing whilst you are at work. They are governed by various statute and case law rules which are designed to keep you safe in the workplace.

So, whether that be something as simple as providing eye goggles if you work with cutting machinery or a hard hat if you work on a building site, your employer remains legally liable for ensuring that your place of work is safe. This legal liability to keep you away from harm also extends to the more complex duties such as keeping machinery properly maintained to prevent you suffering injury and being put at risk.

Claiming Against an Employer

For some, there may be an understandable reluctance in bringing a claim against their employers. This may be due to fear of being treated badly by the employer or worse, even being fired from the job.

However, in our experience such treatment is very unlikely. Most employers understand how the system works. Once they are notified of your claim, they will then notify their insurers that you are making a claim against them. In general terms this is often the last involvement that your employers will have with your claim as their insurers step in as the effective representative of your employer.

As long as you have passed your probationary period at work, your employment status is also protected by law, and your employer cannot make you redundant from your job in retaliation to you bringing a justified claim for their failure to create or maintain sufficient Health & Safety standards.

Not Sure if You Have a Claim?

The basics of assessing whether you may have a claim are to establish whether your employer was negligent (i.e. put you in harms way) when it would be reasonable to foresee that the accident could happen, and that negligence, in turn, caused you to have an accident and become injured.

The same principle applies even if a colleague has caused you injury whilst at work, for which your employer will still remain liable.

At Thatcher + Hallam we have experience of an extensive range of workplace accident claims, from faulty machinery to insufficient Personal Protective Equipment (such as hard hats, goggles, etc) right up to accidents in retail and office settings (and everything between!). We also advise on cases of Industrial Disease and injuries such as Repetitive Strain Syndrome (RSI).

Want to Ask Some Questions?

In our Personal Injury Department, we offer a free no-obligation appointment to assess whether you may be able to pursue a claim.

If you want to find out whether you can claim compensation then contact me today on 01761 41464.6 or at lsteele@th-law.co.uk to fix your free appointment

Lauren Steele