Am I Entitled To Workers' Compensation If I Suffer An Injury?

If you’ve been injured at work because of negligence, you could be entitled to workers’ compensation. This article will explain what accident at work compensation is, the types of injuries that may be eligible, and how compensation is calculated.

Workers' Compensation Claims Guide — Workers’ compensation claims guide

Accidents at work can result in a range of different kinds of injuries. Some of these might be relatively minor, whereas others can be more serious or even life-changing. Provided that the accident which caused your injuries happened because of a breach of duty of care, you could be entitled to compensation.

If you would like to know more about making a claim, contact our team of advisors for free legal advice by:

Clicking on the banner at the top of this screen
Writing to us via our online contact form
Using the live chat feature

Choose A Section

What Is Workers’ Compensation?
Situations That Can Cause Accidents At Work
What To Do If You Suffer An Injury At Work
How Much Workers’ Compensation Could I Receive?
Could A No Win No Fee Solicitor Manage My Claim?
Extra Guidance About Claiming Workers’ Compensation

What Is Workers’ Compensation?

If you’ve been injured in an accident at work that was caused by negligence, then you might be entitled to claim. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA) sets out the duty of care that your employer owes you.

It states that they must take all reasonable steps to ensure your safety in the workplace; this can range from responsibilities like carrying out risk assessments and acting on the results to ensuring the correct handling of hazardous substances.

If your employer fails to take these steps and you subsequently suffer a workplace injury, they could be at fault for your accident and subsequent injuries. In this case, you may be awarded workers’ compensation.

Work Injury Statistics

Injuries and illness at work can have potentially life-changing effects. Thousands of people report accidents at work every year in Great Britain. The Labour Force Survey received 441,000 reports of non-fatal injuries at work in 2020/21.

Of injuries reported to the Health and Safety Executive under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) 33% of non-fatal injuries were attributed to slips, trips and falls.

If you have suffered from an injury or illness like those outlined, and your injuries were caused by employer negligence, you may be able to claim. Get in touch with our team of advisors to see if you are eligible to make a workers’ compensation claim.

Situations That Can Cause Accidents At Work

Your employer owes you a duty of care, meaning that they must take all reasonable steps to make sure you’re safe while doing your job. However, if this duty is breached and you suffer an injury in the workplace, they may be found negligent, and you could be owed compensation.

The HASAWA sets out clear workplace health and safety requirements for your employer to ensure your workplace is as safe as practicable. If they breach the guidelines, then you could be in an accident in which you’re injured.

Some examples of how negligence can cause accidents include:

Lack of health and safety training: Your employer is legally obligated to provide the training you need to carry out your role safely. An example of this is if you work in a warehouse, you should receive training on how to properly carry and transport heavy loads to reduce the risk of back and neck injuries. If your employer fails to provide this, and you’re injured as a result, you might be entitled to claim.

Poor housekeeping: Your employer should maintain good housekeeping to reduce the risk of accidental injury. For example, if they left a wire trailing across a walkway, you could slip and injure yourself.

Lack of risk assessments: Your employer is responsible for making sure that risk assessments are carried out to identify the hazards in your working environment. They must then put policies and plans in place to either reduce or remove the risk. Failure to do so could result in workplace health and safety hazards going unchecked, leading to worker injuries.

If you’d like a free assessment of the validity of your workers’ compensation claim, speak with one of our advisors today.

What To Do If You Suffer An Injury At Work

If you’ve been in an accident, it can be hard to know what to do and where to start. Here are some tips on what to do if you suffer an injury at work:

Seek medical attention: If you suffer an injury or become ill at work, seek medical attention as soon as possible. This is important first and foremost to ensure your own wellbeing, but it can also be important for your claim. You may be able to use any medical records as evidence.
Report the incident in the accident book: If your workplace has more than ten employees, have an accident log book. Fill this in with the details of your injury or accident as soon as possible. Make sure you make note of the time, date, and nature of the injury. A trusted colleague can fill this out for you if you’re not able to do this yourself
Request CCTV footage of the accident: If your workplace has CCTV, you can request a copy of the footage from your employer. This means you’ll have a record of the circumstances that led to your injury; you can use this as evidence in your claim.

A solicitor will be able to help you gather evidence to support your claim. In addition to the evidence mentioned above, you might also be asked to attend an appointment with an independent expert. The report from this meeting could be used to value your worker’s compensation claim.

How Much Workers’ Compensation Could I Receive?

Personal injury compensation settlements are worked out with the help of a document called the Judicial College Guidelines. This provides a list of brackets detailing guideline compensation brackets, using information from past personal injury cases.

The part of your compensation that covers the pain and suffering caused by your injuries is called general damages. We have included some values from these Guidelines below.

Injury Type	Guideline Bracket	Notes
Moderately Severe Brain Damage	£205,580 to £264,650	Injuries within this level will necessitate constant professional or other care. The injured person will be very seriously disabled.
Severe Neck Injury	In the region of £139,210	Incomplete paraplegia and severe headaches. There will be little or no movement in the neck.
Moderate Shoulder Injury	£7,410 to £11,980	Nerve damage and soft tissue injuries that restrict shoulder movement.
Moderate Back Injury	£11,730 to £26,050	Disturbance of ligaments and muscles, soft tissue injuries and prolapsed discs.
Simple Fractures of the Forearm	£6,190 to £18,020	Simple, non-permanent fractures of the forearm.
Wrist Injuries	£44,690 to £56,180	Injuries including full loss of movement in the wrist.
Total or Effective Loss of One Hand	£90,250 to £102,890	Where the hand is rendered little more than useless.
Moderate Leg Injuries	£26,050 to £36,790	Complicated fractures or severe crushing injuries.
Moderate Knee Injuries	£13,920 to £24,580	Dislocations, torn cartilage leading to minor instability or weakness.
Serious Achilles Tendon Injuries	£23,460 to £28,240	Injuries including the complete division of the tendon that has been successfully repaired.

You may also be entitled to another head of claim called special damages. Special damages are a part of your compensation that tackles reimbursement for financial losses following your accident. This can cover travel costs, loss of income, and any other costs that you may have incurred due to your accident. For example, if you need to have a stairlift added to your home, special damages could cover the cost.

For more information on what you could potentially receive in a personal injury claim, speak with one of our advisors today. If your workers’ compensation claim has a good chance of success, you could be connected with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel.

Could A No Win No Fee Solicitor Manage My Claim?

If any of this information is relevant to your workplace injury, you may wish to proceed with making a claim. A great and accessible way to do this is by entering into a conditional fee agreement with a No Win No Fee Solicitor.

You may want to seek compensation with the help of a solicitor, but be concerned with the upfront fees that this could incur. If this is the case, you may benefit by funding legal representation through a No Win No Fee agreement.

This means that you won’t have to pay any fees to your solicitor unless your personal injury claim is successful. Because of this, there’s nothing to pay upfront or as the claim progresses.

If you lose your case, your No Win No Fee solicitor won’t request that you pay them anything. If your case succeeds, they will take up to 25% of your awarded compensation. By law, they cannot take any more than this

If you think a No Win No Fee agreement could benefit you, you can get in touch with one of our advisors using the contact details below or at the top of this page. They may be able to connect you with a solicitor who can represent you in your claim for workers’ compensation.

Ask Us About Workers’ Compensation

If you’ve been injured as a result of employer negligence, you could be eligible to claim workers’ compensation. To get in touch with one of our advisors for more information on how to make your claim, you can:

Click on the banner on this page
Write to us using our online form
Use the live chat button at the bottom of the screen

Extra Guidance About Claiming Workers’ Compensation

Below, we have provided some more links to resources you may find useful:

Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents: This charity provides guidance to avoid accidents and injuries at work as well as in public and the home

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP): Government information on Statutory Sick Pay eligibility for those who are off work without full pay

When To Call 999– This NHS advice gives information on calling 999 in an emergency.

You can also check out other guides on our website, such as:

If you would like to know more about claiming workers’ compensation, speak with one of our advisors today.