Are You Eligible to Claim? Everything You Need to Know About Work Place Accidents

If you have been involved in a workplace accident and it wasn’t your fault, you may be eligible to claim a compensation fee.

It is your employer’s responsibility to help protect you and make you aware of any potential health and safety issues that could possibly affect you at work. This involves reporting any serious accidents that occur in the workplace.

Unfortunately, many people who have suffered an injury at work do not claim compensation. The main reason for this is because they don’t know if they qualify for a claim and whether the accident was their fault or their employers.
If you have experienced an accident at work and are not sure if you can claim or not, check out our guide below:

Who is Responsible?

As previously mentioned, your employer is responsible for your health and safety at work. They must take certain precautions to help avoid accidents from occurring in the first place. For example, they must provide the right tools and equipment to allow their employees to fulfil their job duties as safely as possible.

If you work with chemicals or food for example, your employer must provide you with even the simplest of safety precautions such as vinyl gloves to protect you from coming into contact with harsh chemicals and harmful bacteria etc. Employers are also responsible for the current state of the workplace. It must be kept clean and tidy, ensuring that doors are not obstructed in any way.

Reporting the Accident

Before you can receive your claim, you need to be able to prove you were a victim of poor health and safety in the workplace. This means having to prove your injury is a direct result of the negligence of your employer, who must report work-related accidents to the Health and Safety department at your local authority. Such accidents that must be reported include disease, serious falls (from scaffolding for example) and major injuries such as broken bones.

How to Make a Claim

You must make your claim within three years of the accident occurring. You will also need to seek out a personal injury solicitor, unless you belong to a trade union. The process may seem daunting at first, but it is worth the time, especially if you believe that your accident was not your fault.

Court costs and legal fees should also be considered before making a claim. Most of the hard work will be carried out by your solicitor, who will negotiate on your behalf so that you don’t have to speak to the party responsible.

Compensation Amount

The amount of compensation you may receive depends on a range of factors, so there is no concrete way to make an accurate estimate early in the process. According to Citizens Advice, the amount that is paid as compensation is decided by the court. If they decide that all the blame cannot go to the employer and you were actually at fault, the amount will be reduced.