Accidents at work are a major source of compensation claims in the UK. Employers have a duty to ensure workplace safety for their employees both at Common Law and under safety regulations imposed by numerous statutes e.g. The Health and Safety at Work Act.
Your employer must try to ensure that you carry out your work in the safest way possible bearing in mind the type of job that you do, the materials and equipment that you work with and the tasks involved. Employers need to ensure that the place, or places, where you work and their premises in general are safe for their staff. The most obvious example of a breach of this duty would be if office floors were left wet or cluttered with files or cables, on which employees slipped or tripped up. But employers are also responsible for the heating and ventilation of their premises, the lighting and even the car park.
There are many types of industrial accidents such as :-
- Machinery accidents
- Lifting accidents
- Lifting equipment accidents
- Falls, slips and trips
- Defects in premises or equipment
- Defective or inadequate safety/protective equipment
- Construction accidents
If you are injured in an accident at work and your employer is to blame you would be entitled to bring a personal injury claim. Even if an accident is caused by a fellow worker, you can still bring a claim since employers are still liable for the negligent acts of their employees.
Even if it is felt that the accident was partly your fault you may still be entitled to make a claim.
Employers are required by law to carry Employers Liability Insurance to ensure that funds are available to compensate employees injured at work.
What to do if you are involved in an accident at work.
- Your injury should be recorded in the company’s accident book (required by law if a firm has more than 10 employees).If there is no book you should advise your employer in writing of the accident and injuries sustained.
- Witnesses -take details from witnesses of the accident.
- Write down what happened as soon as possible detailing your version of the events which took place.
- Visit your doctor to get a note on your medical records of your injuries.
- If you are going to be off work for sometime check your firms sickness scheme and/or organise your statutory sick pay.
- Where possible take photographs of the machinery and the place where the accident occurred.
- Find out if there have been previous accidents of that nature where someone was injured.
For a free consultation with a personal injury solicitor, please click on the link below to go to our enquiry page or contact us on 0844 414 0667.