By Danielle Nicholson. Last Updated 9th January 2023. Were you involved in a forklift truck accident that caused you to be injured? Was this accident caused by negligence on the part of your employer? If so, you may be able to claim compensation for the impact that the injury has had on your life.
Forklift truck accident claim
An accident with a forklift truck can cause a wide range of injuries. Some of these injuries may be relatively minor, such as bruises and scrapes. On the other hand, accidents involving forklift trucks can also cause more serious injuries, which can seriously impact your quality of life. These include broken bones, organ damage and brain injury. In some circumstances, accidents involving forklift trucks can even be fatal.
Within this guide, we shall look at the duty of care employers owe their employees. How if this duty was breached through negligent behaviour this could constitute a failure by your employer to adhere to health and safety legislation. We will aim to answer questions about your employer’s liability. And why liability insurance is compulsory. If you still have any questions after reading this guide, you can contact us by:
- 0161 696 9685
- Use the ‘live support’ option, bottom right of this screen
- Or email at Advice.co.uk
Alternatively, read on to find out more about claiming for a forklift truck accident caused by your employer’s negligence.
Select A Section
- A Guide On Making A Forklift Truck Accident Claim
- Forklift Accident Claims – How Much You Could Receive
- Examples Of Special Damages
- What Is A Forklift Truck Accident?
- Common Types Of Forklift Truck Accident
- Common Causes Of Accidents Involving Forklift Trucks
- What Is Your Duty Of Care While Operating A Forklift?
- General Health And Safety For Operating A Forklift Trucks
- Make A No Win No Fee Forklift Truck Accident Claim
- Contact Us
- Related Information
- Statistics – How Many Accidents Are Caused By Forklifts?
- FAQs On Forklift Truck Accidents At Work
A Guide On Making A Forklift Truck Accident Claim
Forklift trucks are an essential part of many workplaces. Many warehouses and supermarkets use them for transporting heavy loads from one place to another. Any employee that is tasked with using a forklift should receive training. Basic training for anyone operating such a vehicle is essential. Without proper training, those who operate a forklift truck could either suffer an injury or an injury could be caused to another employee.
Firstly, we will look at how compensation for injuries sustained in a forklift truck accident is calculated. In this section, we will look at the two distinct heads of claim that can make up a claim for compensation.
We will go on to look at the kinds of injuries that can be sustained in a forklift truck accident and how these injuries can impact your quality of life. In addition, we will look at the duty of care owed to employees who work with forklift trucks.
We will go on to look at how a No Win No Fee agreement may be able to help you when making a forklift accident claim with a solicitor. Finally, we will examine some statistics on forklift truck accidents and answer some commonly asked questions about claims of this type.
Click Here To Learn More About Accident At Work Claims
Forklift Accident Claims – How Much You Could Receive
Compensation for forklift accident claims could be made up of two heads: general damages and special damages. General damages seek to compensate you for the pain and suffering caused by the forklift accident.
Legal professionals use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to help them assign value to pain and suffering for personal injury claims such as fork lift accident claims. Our table below contains a few examples of injuries that could be suffered in truck accidents. It is not fully comprehensive. Additionally, we can only provide bracketed figures; as other factors will impact your forklift accident claim, the table should only be used as a rough guideline.
| Injury/Severity | Notes | Compensation Bracket |
|---|---|---|
| Brain damage - moderate (i) | No employment prospects, significant epilepsy risks, personality changes along with an impact on senses and a moderate to severe intellectual deficit. | £150,110 to £219,070 |
| Pelvis/hips - severe (i) | Substantial residual disabilities from extensive fractures. | £78,400 to £130,930 |
| Foot (b) | One foot is amputated. | £83,960 to £109,650 |
| Severe leg (b) - very serious (ii) | Permanent mobility problems from leg injuries. | £54,830 to £87,890 |
| Neck - severe (iii) | Significant permanent disability from fractures, dislocations, severe soft tissue damage or ruptured tendons. | £45,470 to £55,990 |
| Arm - less severe | Recovery from significant disabilities has either occurred or is expected. | £19,200 to £39,170 |
| Back - moderate (ii) | Award is impacted by original injury severity, pain, treatment, and impact of symptoms on lifestyle. | £12,510 to £27,760 |
| Shoulder - serious | Restricted shoulder movement, sensory problems in hand and forearm and pain in shoulder and neck from dislocation along with damage to the lower brachial plexus. | £12,770 to £19,200 |
| Digestive system - traumatic injury (iii) | Stab wounds, industrial lacerations or serious seat-belt pressure. | £6,610 to £12,590 |
| Chest (g) | Soft tissue injuries or rib fractures causing pain and disability that lasts weeks. | Up to £3,950 |
Call our advisors for a more accurate estimate of your forklift accident claim based on your injuries.
Examples Of Special Damages
The second kind of damages that could make up a personal injury settlement is special damages. Special damages is the part of your claim that compensates you for any financial losses or out-of-pocket expenses that you’ve incurred as a result of your injuries.
For example, your injuries may have forced you to take time off work, resulting in a loss of earnings. If you can prove that you’ve suffered this loss as a direct result of your injuries, you may be able to claim it back.
Similarly, you can claim special damages if you’ve had to pay to get to and from medical appointments. This is true whether you have had to pay public transport costs, taxi fares or fuel and parking charges in your own vehicle. Furthermore, you may have been made to pay for medication or treatment that you needed, but that wasn’t available on the NHS. If so, the costs of these can also be included in your claim.
There is a wide range of things that can be included in special damages. However, in order for something to be included in the special damages head of your claim, you must be able to provide evidence of the loss. This can be in the form of bills, receipts, statements and invoices.
If we haven’t mentioned an expense that you would like included in your claim, don’t worry. The examples we’ve included aren’t exhaustive. Get in touch with our claims team today to see if an expense you’ve incurred could be included as part of your claim.
What Is A Forklift Truck Accident?
When a forklift truck collides with another workplace vehicle or one of your colleagues, the results can be very serious. Impact at speeds as low as 5 – 10 miles an hour can be all that it takes to suffer an injury that impacts your quality of life.
It’s important that anyone who operates a forklift truck is fully trained to do so. If someone without sufficient training operates a forklift, this could result in a collision with a colleague or other workplace vehicle.
Similarly, if a forklift truck is not properly maintained and is used while malfunctioning or faulty, this could cause an accident. It’s important that the vehicle is able to stop in good time. Failure to do so could result in an accident and subsequent injury.
There are a number of injuries that could be sustained in a forklift truck accident. For example, you might suffer:
- Bruising
- Lacerations
- Bone fractures
- Concussion or brain damage
- Crushed limb and tissue damage
- Organ damage
When you get in touch with our team, we could connect you with a No Win No Fee personal injury solicitor from our panel. If the solicitor agrees to work on your case they will do so on a No Win No Fee basis.
Common Types Of Forklift Truck Accident
There are a number of ways that an accident involving a forklift truck could cause someone to be injured. These include:
- Reversing into someone without paying due care and attention
- Unsecured loads falling from the forklift
- Overloaded forklift trucks toppling and falling on someone
- A collision with another forklift truck or with a pedestrian
- A collision with a stationary, unsecured object or stack of objects, causing it to topple over.
Any of these accidents could result in the forklift impacting you in a dangerous way. Forklift truck accidents can cause broken bones, soft tissue damages and injury to organs.
If you’ve been injured in a forklift truck accident caused by someone else’s negligence, why not get in touch with us today? Our team of friendly and helpful advisors are on hand to answer any questions you have about claiming.
Common Causes Of Accidents Involving Forklift Trucks
Forklift trucks are involved in almost a quarter of all workplace transport accidents. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published an Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) and guidance called Rider-operated lift trucks: Operator training and safe use. Approved Code of Practice and guidance. This sets minimum basic standards for the correct training and supervision before someone should be permitted to use a forklift truck.
Accidents involving forklifts can occur when the proper training or supervision is not given. These kinds of accidents could result in an employee being injured, leading to a personal injury claim.
As well as providing proper training with regards to operating a forklift truck, employees could also be advised on the correct way to embark and disembark a vehicle of this kind. Risk assessments could be carried out to identify any hazards that may increase the risk of slips, trips and falls when getting into or out of a forklift truck.
Have you been injured in a forklift truck accident because of someone else’s negligence? Speak to our team today to see how compensation can be calculated for a forklift accident claim. Otherwise, read on to find out more about the duty of care relating to forklift trucks in the workplace.
What Is Your Duty Of Care While Operating A Forklift?
When you’re at work, your employer has a duty of care to take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure your health and safety while in the workplace. This is outlined in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. For instance, your employer is expected to provide you with proper training so that you can do your job safely. This means that, before operating a forklift, you should be provided appropriate training for the task at hand.
Risk assessments are really important in a workplace as they can spot safety hazards. These risk assessments should identify any hazards to health and safety so that they can be identified and removed. If a hazard cannot be removed, it should be reduced.
Any machinery that you need to use, including forklift trucks, should be well-maintained and safe. Machinery should be checked and maintained regularly. There is no standard schedule for maintaining workplace machinery, but employers should refer to the user manual to see how often checks and maintenance should be carried out.
We have a duty of care to ourselves and our colleagues, too. This means we should operate forklift trucks in the way intended and act in a way that ensures the safety of ourselves and others as much as we can.
Employers liability insurance is something that all UK employers are obliged by law to carry according to the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurers) Act 1969. This means you don’t have to worry about your claim having a financial impact on the business or your employer directly.
General Health And Safety For Operating A Forklift Trucks
The Approved Code of Practice that we discussed above sets out the expectations for forklift truck operation with regards to health and safety. It’s expected that nobody uses a forklift truck without the requisite level of training and experience. Below, we have included some general health and safety guidelines for operating a forklift truck:
- Do not operate a forklift under the influence of drink or drugs
- Always act in a professional manner
- Do not overload the vehicle
- Avoid speeding or sudden manoeuvres
- If possible, use with a co-worker in attendance
- Only operate a forklift if you’ve been trained to do so
If you’ve been injured by someone operating a forklift truck carelessly or dangerously because they have not had the required training, get in touch with our team today for more information. Alternatively, read on to find out how a No Win No Fee agreement could help you
Make A No Win No Fee Forklift Truck Accident Claim
When you’ve been injured in a forklift truck accident because of employer negligence, you may be wondering what the best steps are in making a claim. Although there’s no legal obligation to have a solicitor represent you in making a claim, we understand that the process of claiming can be daunting. We recommend seeking legal representation, which could make the process much simpler and smoother than it would be otherwise.
However, you may be put off by the large legal fees that are typically associated with legal representation. If so, you may be interested to know more about No Win No Fee agreements.
A No Win No Fee agreement is sometimes referred to as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). It’s a contract between you and your solicitor that sets out the conditions that need to be met before they are paid.
With a CFA, your solicitor won’t ask you to pay them anything before your claim begins or while it’s ongoing. You also won’t be asked to pay their fees in the event of an unsuccessful claim.
In fact, the only time you’ll be asked to cover your solicitor’s fees is if your claim is successful. Then, a percentage of your compensation will be deducted as a “success fee”. This is capped, meaning you’ll always get the majority of the settlement awarded to you.
If you’d like to start a claim on a No Win No Fee basis, why not get in touch with our claims team today? They can take details of your case and, if they feel your claim has a good chance of success, could connect you with a personal injury solicitor from our panel.
Contact Us
Thank you for reading our article on forklift truck accidents. We hope that it has helped you understand the process of making a claim. Getting started is easy, and free legal advice is one phone call away. Get in touch with us by:
- Call for free legal advice now on 0161 696 9685
- Use the ‘live support’ option, bottom right of this screen
- Or email at Advice.co.uk
Related Information
We also have a bunch of dedicated guides on making an accident at work claim, which you can read below:
- Employers’ responsibility when a worker is injured
- Could I claim after I slipped on a wet floor at work?
- Incorrect PPE causing workplace eye injuries
- Agency worker claims
- Slipped on ice at work claims
- What happens if an employee doesn’t report an accident?
- How long can you claim after an accident at work?
- Do I need a lawyer if I get hurt at work?
- New employee accident at work claim
- What are my employer’s responsibilities?
- Could I still claim if I didn’t take time off work after an accident?
- Who pays my medical expenses after a work injury?
- Can I claim for falling down the stairs at work?
- How to claim for a work accident?
- What to do if I injured myself at work?
- How long after a workplace injury can you claim?
- Workplace accidents caused by tiredness and fatigue
- Can you be fired for a work-related accident?
- Foot injuries caused by a lack of work safety boots
- Could I claim for a workplace injury if I’m not an employee?
- Personal injury claim against your employer
- Tendon injury at work claim
- Accident at work claim with no injury
- Can I make an accident at work claim after I’ve left the company?
- Foot injury at work claim
- Broken finger at work claims
- How to make a warehouse accident claim
- How to claim for a workplace accident
- Make a claim for scaffolding injuries
- Back injury at work claims
- Can I claim compensation if I’m self-employed?
- Can agency workers claim accident at work compensation?
- How do I claim compensation for an assault at work?
- Slip and fall accident at work claims
- How to make a temporary or agency worker claim
- Could I make a workplace claim if I was partially at fault?
- Could I claim for an injury sustained during my probationary period?
- Office workplace accident claim
- How do I claim compensation if I hurt myself at work?
- Can you sue for an injury while still employed?
- How to prove you sustained an injury at work
- Will claiming against my employer create problems?
- Can I be sacked for having an accident at work?
- Manual handling weight limit for workplaces
- Advice on claims if injured working for cash
- Do I need accident at work solicitors near me?
- Proving your ankle injury at work claim
- How to get compensation for a work-related injury
- Workplace injury claim checklist
- How to sue Amazon for an accident at work
- When could you claim for a workplace accident?
- Injuries caused by inadequate training in the workplace
- Accident at work FAQs
This NHS guide on identifying a broken bone could be of use after an accident at work involving a forklift.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents provides guidance related to workplace vehicles, which includes forklift trucks.
If you’d like more information on the acts owned and enforced by the Health and Safety Executive, this page may be of use.
How Many Accidents Are Caused By Forklifts? – Statistics
Some statistics show the prevalence of different kinds of non-fatal injuries in the workplace in 2019/20. Although the statistics do not relate specifically to forklift truck accidents, these are the kinds of accidents that could occur involving forklifts.
- Contact with moving machinery- 2,445
- Struck by a moving vehicle – 1,483
- Injured while handling, lifting or carrying – 12,344
- Trapped by something collapsing or overturning – 214
FAQs On Forklift Truck Accidents At Work
If you have any questions about forklift truck accident injury claims, please feel free to contact us. In addition to the topics discussed, we’ve included answers to some frequently asked questions below.
Who is responsible if a forklift accident occurs?
If you were acting negligently in a way that caused a forklift truck accident to occur, then you may be at fault for the accident. However, if you can show that your accident occured because your employer neglected the duty of care they have towards you, resulting in injury, then you may be able to claim.
Could I claim if the forklift truck accident was my fault?
If you were completely to blame for the forklift truck accident, you would not be able to claim, even if you were injured. However, you may still be able to claim if liability is split between you and your employer. In these cases, your compensation will be reduced accordingly.
After a workplace accident could I be disciplined?
If you were involved in a workplace accident because of your misconduct, then you could be disciplined. However, it’s against the law for your employer to discipline or dismiss you for pursuing compensation after an accident caused by their negligence.
Thank you for reading our guide on making a claim following a forklift truck accident.
Guide by FS
Published by NS.