World Health + Safety at Work Day: The Gender Claim Gap

The 28^th April it is World Health and Safety at Work day. This is an opportune time for employees to become familiar with their rights if they have an accident at work, and for employers to review their health and safety procedures to make sure they are keeping their employees safe from harm.

This is also a significant day to raise awareness of the gender justice gap. More women than men are getting injured by accidents at work but less women than men are making claims for injuries.  

The Gender Justice Gap – Women are three times less likely to claim than men

Women are three times less likely than men to make a claim for compensation for work related injury or illness according to APIL data analysis.

Only 3% of women who are injured or become ill due to  an accident at work go on to claim compensation.

Over the past 3 years, an average of 474,000 women a year suffered work related injury which resulted in over 7 days of absence from work compared to 403,000 men.

Men made an average of 37,000 claims for compensation, whilst women made only 14,000 claims by comparison.

So why are more women than men being injured, but less women making claims?

It is unclear why so few women are making claims. Perhaps it is due to accidents occurring in male dominated industries where it is difficult for women to gain an equal footing compared to their male counterparts, which in turn causes concern that making a claim may negatively affect their careers.

Likewise, the general concern of anyone who has been injured or suffered illness due to a work accident is that if they make a claim against their employer they could be treated differently or even lose their job.

Employer legal duty to all employees

Employers are responsible for keeping their employees safe from harm as far as practicable to do so and preventing accidents at work from happening.

Where it is not possible to completely eliminate risk of injury they must provide comprehensive training, adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and risk assessments to keep their employees and workers safe whilst working.

Employers are almost always covered by Employer Liability Insurance which will cover you if you are injured whilst at work and go on to make a claim. The compensation comes from the insurer not the employer so the employer should never react negatively to an employee seeking compensation.

The fear of being fired

Likewise, if you make a claim against your employer, and they then fire you, your injury claim can continue and your employer may also find themselves liable under employment laws for unfairly dismissing you.

It is in the best interest of the employer to remain neutral and allow their insurer to deal with any employee injury/illness claims. After all, it is most likely their fault that you were injured in the first place.

If the shoe were on the other foot and the employer were injured, would they make a claim? The answer is most likely yes!

On World Health and Safety at Work Day we encourage you to get in touch if you have been injured at work, to discuss how making a claim can help with access to private rehabilitation, relieve any financial pressures and help you and your family get back to a sense of normality.

How we can help

Our fully qualified and accredited lawyers, William Weller, Lauren Martin and James Weller offer free initial no obligation advice with empathy and understanding for all work place accidents. If there is a claim, ‘no win, no fee’ funding is offered as standard.

Contact us for free advice in a way that suits you by telephone, email, video appointment or face to face. Or come to our free legal advice surgery which takes place at our offices every Thursday between 5pm – 6pm.