In a working environment, reasonable efforts should be made by your employer to recognise and reduce risks to your health and safety. If they fail to do this and you are injured as a result, you could make a work accident claim. In this guide, we look at what a worker’s rights in an accident at work claim are.
If you are looking for more information about work accident claims, our advisers are available for a free consultation and could answer questions you might have. You can contact them now using:
- The number at the top of the page
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Choose A Section
- What Are A Worker’s Rights In An Accident At Work Claim?
- Accidents In The Workplace
- A Worker’s Rights In An Accident At Work Claim
- What Are Compensation Estimates For Work Injuries?
- No Win No Fee Claims For Accidents In The Workplace
- Who Can Advise Me About A Worker’s Rights In An Accident At Work Claim?
What Are Workers’ Rights For An Accident At Work Claim?
According to the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) “all workers are entitled to work in environments where risks to their health and safety are properly controlled.”
This is a right found in several pieces of legislation concerning workplace health and safety. The primary one, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA), stresses actions an employer should take to look for, recognise and reduce risks to employees in:
- The areas they’ll be asked to work in
- Tasks they’ll be asked to perform
Being asked to work in an unsafe environment, with inadequate protections in place, could be harmful. If you are injured at work because your employer did not do reasonably enough to protect you, you could make an accident at work claim and potentially receive compensation for what happened to you.
For any questions you might have about a worker’s rights in an accident at work claim, our advisors offer free legal advice.
Reported Workplace Injuries
The HSE requires employers to report various accidents and injuries under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR). A category of injuries they have to report are specified injuries. These are accidents that lead to serious injuries such as certain fractures, amputations, lacerations or burns.
According to the data reported for the years 2020/21, the back was the most reported site of non-fatal injury. In total, there were 7,377 recorded for the year. Employers reported 51,211 notifiable, non-fatal injuries to employees overall.
Accidents In The Workplace
An employer’s responsibility for protecting their employees’ health and safety is known as a duty of care. If an employer breaches their duty of care and fails to create a safe working environment, they could be at fault for any resulting accident and injury to their employees.
For example, if they do not:
- Perform risk assessments over an area they ask you to work in, or tasks they ask you to perform and you are injured because of a hazard they did not identify, they could be found at fault for your accident and injury.
- Inform employees of risks to their work; for example, the danger of hand-arm vibration syndrome from continual use of drills. You could be eligible to make a claim for the long-term damage you have suffered.
- Provide training for any activity they ask you to perform that might impact your health. For example, if they do not provide manual handling training before asking you to perform a manual handling task that you are then injured in performing, they could be found at fault.
If there are reasonable actions they can take to help make your workplace safer, they should take them.
For more information about a worker’s rights in an accident at work claim, you could talk to one of our advisers. They offer free legal advice and could help you assess employer liability.
A Worker’s Rights For An Accident At Work Claim
If your employer failing to fulfil their duty of care played a role in you suffering an accident and injury, you can gather evidence of this to use in your claim.
Evidence could come in the form of:
- Witnesses: Contact details of witnesses who could provide testimonies for your claim. This could be witnesses to your employer not carrying out tasks required of them by health and safety laws.
- CCTV: (Or similar recordings) That could show a hazard had been left in place and not addressed over a long time.
Medical evidence can also be an important part of your claim. If you have not already done so, seek out medical attention. It can help you learn more about your injury and the treatment you receive can be used as evidence in your claim.
For further information about the evidence you could use, you could talk to one of our advisers. They could possibly put you through to a solicitor from our panel, who could advise you on specific evidence you could gather for your claim.
What Are Compensation Estimates For Work Injuries?
The compensation you could be awarded in a claim will largely be influenced by two factors: the extent of the injury, and the financial effect the injury is having on you.
The pain and suffering the injury has caused you is addressed in a part of compensation known as general damages. The Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), a collection of guidelines for compensation awards, can be used to estimate what you could be awarded in general damages for the injury you have suffered.
We’ve created the below compensation table using figures from the JCG. It’s for illsutrative purposes.
| Injury | Notes | Award |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate Brain Damage: (i) | Moderate to severe intellectual deficit | £140,870 to £205,580 |
| Minor Brain or Head Injury | Brain damage, if any, will have been minimal. | £2,070 to £11,980 |
| Neck Injury: Severe (ii) | Serious fractures or damage to discs in the cervical spine | £61,710 to £122,860 |
| Neck Injury: Moderate (ii) | Soft tissue or wrenching-type injury | £12,900 to £23,460 |
| Neck Injury: Minor (i) | Full recovery within 1 to 2 years | £4,080 to £7,410 |
| Shoulder Injuries: Moderate | Frozen shoulder with limitation of movement | £7,410 to £11,980 |
| Wrist Injuries: (a) | Complete loss of function in the wrist | £44,690 to £56,180 |
| Wrist Injuries: (d) | Fracture or soft tissue injury that takes longer to recover | Rarely exceed £9,620 |
| Hernia: (b) | Direct inguinal hernia | £6,580 to £8,550 |
| Knee Injury: Moderate (i) | Dislocation or torn cartilage | £13,920 to £24,580 |
The second category, relating to financial losses associated with your injuries, is known as special damages. The losses you seek in special damages could be:
- Loss of income
- Expenses towards treatment/care
- Modifications/adaptations you have made to your house to cope with the injury
It is important to maintain financial records of how the injury is affecting you. These could be receipts for money you have spent on treatment not covered by the NHS, or payslips as proof of loss of income.
Our advisers can offer you more information about compensation. They can value your claim for free. If you’d like to know about what a worker’s rights in an accident at work claim are, get in touch.
No Win No Fee Claims For Accidents In The Workplace
You could choose to hire a No Win No Fee solicitor to handle your claim.
A No Win No Fee solicitor would not charge you an upfront fee or ongoing fees for their services. Payment would only be taken on the condition that your claim was successful and you were awarded compensation. The payment would be a success fee; a legally capped percentage of the compensation you are awarded. If your claim was not successful, you would not have to pay them for their services.
Our panel of solicitors offer No Win No Fee agreements and could represent you in your claim. You can talk to an adviser now to see if you could be put through to a solicitor from our panel.
Chat To Us About A Worker’s Rights For An Accident At Work Claim
Our advisers are available for free consultations. They can inform you on accident at work claims and their process. You can contact them now using:
- The number at the top of the page
- Our contact page
- The Live Chat feature
Who Can Advise Me About A Worker’s Rights In An Accident At Work Claim?
For other additional information you might need, have a look at the below sources.
The government website offers information on:
- How to access Statutory Sick Pay
- And a resource page for pay and work rights complaints
The Health & Safety Executive website offers information on:
- How to report a health and safety issue
Thank you for reading out guide on a worker’s rights in an accident at work claim. We also offer guides on:
- Filing A Lawsuit Due To Employer Negligence
- Burned At Work Due To A Faulty Fire Alarm Claims
- Claiming After Suffering A Fall From A Height At Work
- Shoulder Injury At Work Claims
- Could I Start An Industrial Accident Claim?
- Advice On Reporting An Accident At Work
- What Are The Stages Of The Accident At Work Claims Process?
- Do I Get Sick Pay After An Accident At Work?
- How To Make A Construction Site Accident Claim
Writer Marlon Creek
Publisher Ruth Vince