How To Gather Evidence For An Accident At Work Claim

In this guide, we will look at the process of collecting evidence for an accident at work claim. When you make a compensation claim for harm caused to you by employer negligence, it’s important that you provide evidence to support it.

Evidence for an accident at work claim guide

You may need to provide medical evidence, as well as evidence that a breach of duty of care led to you sustaining a workplace injury. For this reason, you might recognise the benefits of working with a No Win No Fee solicitor when making a claim.

For more free legal advice about how to sue your employer, you can get in touch today. In addition to this, you might be connected with a No Win No Fee accident at work lawyer from our panel. You can:

Click the banner above
Use the live chat feature at the bottom of this screen

Choose A Section:

What is The Best Evidence For An Accident At Work Claim?
Ways that a Dangerous Workplace Incident Could Take Place.
Gathering Evidence For An Accident At Work Claim.
How Much Could I Receive For A Work Injury Claim?
Can A No Win No Fee Agreement Apply To My Case?
Learn More About Building Evidence For An Accident At Work Claim.

What Is The Best Evidence For An Accident At Work Claim?

Before we look at what the best evidence is for making an accident at work claim, we first need to look at what you need to prove in order to be awarded compensation.

There are certain criteria that you need to prove in order to make a claim for an injury at work. You need to show that:

You were owed a duty of care
This duty of care was breached; and
You were injured at work as a direct result of this breach

When you’re in the workplace, your employer has a duty of care towards you and all your colleagues. This means that they need to take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure your safety in the workplace.

Below are examples of some of the duties they are expected to carry out:

Providing proper training
Maintaining good housekeeping
Repairing and maintaining work equipment
Supplying employees with necessary safety equipment

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 sets out this duty of care. If your employer fails to adhere to the duties set out in this law, and you’re injured as a result, you could claim.

Get in touch with our team to see what evidence for an accident at work claim you could provide.

Ways That A Dangerous Workplace Incident Could Take Place.

There are a number of different hazards in the workplace that could potentially lead to an accident in which you were injured. If a breach of duty of care meant that these risks were not reduced or removed when they could have been, and you were injured as a result, then you could claim.

Some of the duties that are expected of employers include:

Maintaining housekeeping. For example, wires should be tidied away and walkways should be free of obstructions. Failure to do so could cause slips, trips and falls.
Administering training. Employers should provide training that you need to do your job safely (including health and safety training). If they fail to do this, you could be involved in an incident like a lifting accident.
Providing personal protective equipment (PPE). In some cases, you might need certain equipment to do your job safely, like heat-resistant gloves or a hard hat. If you aren’t provided with this, or if the equipment you’re given isn’t fit for purpose, you could be owed compensation provided you’re injured as a result.

There are additional ways that your employer’s negligence could lead to an injury at work. For more information on whether you’re eligible to claim, and if so what evidence for an accident at work claim you could submit, speak with an advisor today.

Gathering Evidence For An Accident At Work Claim.

In order for you to successfully claim compensation after being injured because of employer negligence, you will need to provide evidence in support of your claim. Below, we have included examples of some of the information you can collect to corroborate your version of events:

CCTV evidence. In some cases, there may be CCTV that shows the incident happening and demonstrates that it was caused by your employer’s negligence. You can request this CCTV footage and use it to support your claim.
Witness statements. In certain workplace accident scenarios, other employees may have seen what happened and be able to give statements that support your version of events. You can collect their contact details so that a legal professional can take a statement at a later date.
Photographs. You could take photographs of the scene of the accident, or of your injuries, to support your claim.
Medical records. It is always advised to seek medical attention if you’ve been injured in an accident of any kind. And when you’ve been injured as a result of employer negligence, your medical records could help to support a claim for compensation.

There may be other kinds of evidence that we have not mentioned above, but that would be applicable to your circumstances. Why not speak with an advisor today for free legal advice tailored to your circumstances? Get in touch using the banner below.

How Much Could I Receive For A Work Injury Claim?

When an accident at work claim is successful, the amount of compensation awarded varies depending on a number of different factors. An accident at work settlement can be divided into two different heads of claim.

The first of these potential damages is called general damages. This is the part of your claim that relates to the pain and suffering that your injuries have caused you.

This part of your claim is valued with the help of a publication called the Judicial College Guidelines. This outlines guideline brackets for a wide range of different injuries of different severity levels.

You may also be invited to a medical assessment so that this part of your claim can be valued. Here, your injuries and their severity will be assessed and confirmed, and a report generated so that this head of your claim can be valued.

Below, we have included a table containing excerpts of these guidelines:

Injury	Claimable Bracket	Notes
Paraplegia	£205,580 to £266,740	Award amount depends on the presence of pain, degree of independence, depression and life expectancy
Moderate brain damage (i)	£140,870 to £205,580	Moderate to severe intellectual deficit , risk to senses or epilepsy or change in personality. No employment prospects.
Injuries affecting sight (ii)	£60,010 to £99,440	Where vision is lost in one eye and reduced in the remaining eye.
Impairment of taste and smell	In the region of £36,770	Total loss of smell and taste
Chest injuries	£85,880 to £128,060	Where one lung is totally removed and/or serious damage to the heart with serious ongoing pain.
Kidneys	£28,880 to £42,110	Total loss of one kidney and no damage to the second
Bowels	£11,820 to £22,970	Penetrating injuries with some permanent damage even with return of regular function.
Back injury- Severe (i)	£77,700 to £137,330	Damage to spinal cord and nerve roots with severe consequences.
Pelvis and hip injury- Severe (i)	£66,890 to £111,690	Extensive pelvic fractures involving, for example, a rupture to the bladder.
Loss of one arm (i)	Not less than £128,710	Where the arm is amputated at the shoulder.

You might also be entitled to special damages as part of your claim. This head of your claim relates to the financial impact of your injuries.

For instance, if you had to take some time off work to recover then you could have experienced a loss of earnings. You could receive this back in special damages.

Evidence is important in this head of your claim, too. If you don’t provide evidence of the costs and losses you have experienced, then you may not be successful in claiming these back.

For more information on the evidence for an accident at work claim that could support these two different heads of claim, speak with our team today.

Can A No Win No Fee Agreement Apply To My Case?

No Win No Fee agreements (the formal term for which are Conditional Fee Agreements) are a way of funding legal representation that avoid the need for making large upfront payments to secure legal representation.

Without a No Win, No Fee agreement, you could be expected to pay upfront and ongoing fees to your solicitor in order to make an injury at work claim.

There are no such fees in place when making a claim with a Conditional Fee Agreement. In addition to this, there’s nothing to pay in the event that your claim loses.

The only time you will be expected to pay your solicitor is if your claim is successful; then, your solicitor will deduct a legally-capped percentage of your settlement to cover their costs.

You could be connected with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel if our advisors think you have a valid claim. Get in touch today to find out more.

Learn More About Building Evidence For An Accident At Work Claim

We hope that you’ve found this guide on collecting evidence for an accident at work claim useful. Below, we’ve included some additional resources that you might be interested in:

Writer Ryan Winters

Publisher Fern Stein