When Could You Claim For Fingers Trapped In A Door At Work?

In order to make a personal injury claim against your employer, you must meet the eligibility requirements. These include establishing that:

Your employer had a duty of care to you at the time and place of your accident.
They breached that duty of care.
You experienced an injury as a result of the breach. These three criteria amount to negligence, for which you could make a claim.

Section 2 of HASAWA outlines the steps an employer can take as part of their duty of care. Examples of these include:

Conducting regular risk assessments
Arranging the safe use, handling, storage and transportation of all materials
Providing adequate training
Addressing any hazards found
Ensuring equipment is safe to use for its intended purpose.

A failure to uphold their duty of care could lead to accidents involving a doormat or door, potentially resulting in finger injuries. If you have evidence that a breach of their duty contributed to the accident in which you sustained harm, you could be eligible to make a claim.

Time Limitation Period

There is also a three-year time limit for personal injury claims to be aware of. The Limitation Act 1980 states that this timeframe typically starts from the date of the accident. However, exceptions can apply to this standard time limit, so please feel free to get in touch for further information.

Can I Claim Compensation For Fingers Trapped In A Door At Work?

Yes, you could claim compensation for fingers trapped in a door at work if you can demonstrate that your injuries resulted from your employer’s negligence. To be eligible to claim, you must meet the following criteria:

You Were Owed a Duty of Care

Your employer must have owed you a legal duty of care. This ultimately means they were responsible for taking reasonable steps to protect your health and safety in the situation where the finger injury occurred. For instance, employers should ensure that broken doors are repaired.

That Duty of Care Was Breached

You must be able to show that the duty of care was breached by your employer. A breach occurs when the responsible party fails to act as a reasonable employer would have done, such as by ignoring safety rules, failing to fix broken doors, and failing to warn staff about potential dangers.

You Suffered Finger Injuries As A Result

To be eligible, you must have suffered physical and/or psychological injuries due to your employer’s negligence. This can range from minor injuries to more serious or long-term conditions, such as finger dislocations, crush injuries, nerve damage and fractures.

To discover more about your eligibility to claim, please feel free to contact our team today.

What Types Of Workplace Accidents Could Lead To Fingers Trapped In A Door?

The types of workplace accidents that could lead to fingers trapped in a door can include slamming doors, malfunctioning automatic doors, or hinges. These incidents are commonly avoidable, and can be caused by an employer’s failure to ensure safety in the workplace.

As such, please see the following examples of workplace accidents that could lead to fingers being trapped in a door:

Hinge side-trapping. This may occur when a door is pushed shut when a person’s fingers are in the frame.
Automatic door malfunctions. These incidents may occur if an employer fails to repair a malfunctioning door, leading to unexpected crush injuries.
Broken/ unsafe glass doors. If a broken door has not been repaired or there is no safety glass, this could cause finger injuries to employees passing through it.
Heavy-duty door slamming. These incidents may occur in schools and hospitals due to a lack of training and awareness to members of staff.

To discover more about fingers trapped in a door at work incidents, please contact our friendly team today.

What Injuries Could You Suffer If Your Fingers Are Trapped In A Door At Work?

If your fingers were trapped in a door at work, you could have sustained injuries such as:

Bruising
Cuts and lacerations
Fractured and broken bones
Dislocation
Nerve damage
Crush injuries that cause a loss of fingers

If you sustain a more severe injury, such as an amputation, it could lead to you experiencing a psychological impact. For example, you could become stressed or distressed because you need to make adjustments to your daily routine. Furthermore, you may require time off work while recovering, which could cause you to experience a loss of income.

The compensation you could be awarded can take into consideration the different ways you have been affected by your injuries. Read on to learn more about how much you could receive following a successful claim.

How To Make Workplace Finger Trapped In Door Claims

If you’ve suffered injuries to your fingers due to them being trapped in a door, there are multiple steps that you could take to secure your legal position. As such, you could take the following actions:

Get medical help. To heal your finger injuries quicker, you should seek medical attention from A&E, your GP or an urgent care clinic. This will also help to create official medical records of your accident.
Secure evidence about the incident. You should gather evidence about the door-trapping incident, such as gathering CCTV footage, taking photographs of your finger injuries and obtaining witness contact details.
Create an official record of the accident. In doing this, you should report the trapping-injury in your workplace’s accident report log.
Track your finger injuries and ongoing losses. You should keep a daily symptoms diary, detailing your pain levels, treatments received and any financial losses you suffered.
Obtain advice from a specialist. By seeking advice from a personal injury solicitor, you can receive a claim estimation, eligibility assessment and helpful guidance.
Ensure you’re within the legal limit. You will generally have a 3-year time limit to start your workplace finger trapped in a door claim. However, certain exceptions exist for minors and those lacking in mental capacity.

To discover more about evidence-gathering, please contact our advisory team today for a discussion.

How Much Could You Claim For An Accident At Work?

Generally, how much you could claim for an accident at work depends on the severity of your injuries and any resulting financial losses. The starting point for compensation in a trapped hand in a door claim is general damages, which covers any pain and suffering you have experienced as a direct result of your injury, including mental health conditions.

When it comes to valuing general damages, your personal injury solicitor will consider the following details:

The severity of the harm
Whether it’s impacted your quality of life
What psychological damage has been sustained
Whether you need ongoing treatment
What long-term consequences there are, such as a permanent disability

Legal professionals, including our solicitors, often use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to inform their assessment of potential trapped finger door compensation. This is because the text provides a comprehensive list of suggested compensation brackets for various injuries.

We kindly ask that you take a look at our table below, as it features several brackets sourced from the JCG for finger-related injuries. Please note that the top row isn’t from the JCG, and the table isn’t a guarantee of compensation for your particular finger injury at work claim.

Injury	Compensation Bracket	Notes
Multiple Severe Injuries With Special Damages	Up to £250,000+	Multiple injuries with special damages including loss of earnings, travel expenses and private treatments.
Amputation of index and middle and/or ring fingers	£81,790 to £119,890	The hand may be left of little use and the person will experience exceedingly weakened grip.
Severe finger fractures	Up to £48,540	Partial amputations may be required and the resulting injury may cause deformity, impaired grip and disturbed sensation.
Very serious thumb injury	£25,890 to £46,250	The thumb is severed at the base and grafted back. However, it is left mostly useless and deformed.
Amputation of terminal phalanges of index and middle fingers	In the region of £33,020	Injury involves scarring, restricted movement and impaired grip.
Amputation of ring and little fingers	In the region of £28,820	Ring and little finger are amputated.
Index finger - total/partial loss	£16,080 to £24,760	Injuries that give rise to disfigurement and impaired grip.
Amputation of little finger	£11,420 to £16,170	Little finger is amputated.
Minor hand, finger and thumb injuries	Up to £6,280	This bracket includes fractures that typically recover within 6 months.

Could I Receive Special Damages?

Yes, you could receive special damages if your workplace accident claim is successful. In all, special damages will award you for financial losses you suffered due to your finger injuries. As such, your special damages could include the following:

Lost earnings, including a lost bonus, overtime pay and workplace benefits.
Medical expenses relating to your finger injuries including surgeries and prescription costs.
Care provided by professionals or loved ones relating to your trapped-finger injuries. This can include help with cooking, cleaning and dressing.
Travel expenses from commuting to and from medical appointments. This can include fuel costs, public transport expenses and parking fees at hospitals.

To discover more about special damages, please contact our team today.

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How No Win No Fee Injury Claim Solicitors Could Help You

If you are considering working with a solicitor but have concerns about the cost of their services, you may benefit from working with one of our accident at work solicitors. They can offer you a No Win No Fee arrangement called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). Under this type of arrangement:

There are no ongoing fees to pay or upfront payments to be made for your solicitor’s services.
You won’t need to pay a service fee for the work they have completed on your claim if it does not succeed.

If your claim does win, you will pay a success fee to your solicitor from your compensation. This is taken as a percentage, which is subject to a legal cap.

Get In Touch With Our Expert Team

For more information on how one of our solicitors could help and whether you’re eligible to have them work on your case on a No Win No Fee basis, please get in touch with an advisor. They can answer any questions you might have and help you understand whether you’re eligible to seek accident at work compensation.

To get in touch, you can:

Call for free on 0161 509 2856
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Thank you for reading this guide on whether you could claim compensation if your fingers were trapped in a door at work. Call our team if you have any other questions.

Meet the Team

Gemma Shields

Chartered Legal Executive | Road Traffic Accident Claims Specialist

Gemma Shields is a CILEx qualified legal professional with over a decade of experience in road traffic accident claims, including pedestrian, cyclist and motorcyclist cases. She provides clear, compassionate legal support to clients across England and Wales.

When Could You Claim For Fingers Trapped In A Door At Work?

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