I Was Injured In A Serious Accident At Work, How Do I Claim?

Have you suffered an injury in a serious accident at work? This guide will explain when an employee may be entitled to pursue an accident at work claim. Throughout the guide, we shall discuss key issues such as how these accidents can happen, who you may be able to claim against and how much compensation you could receive if your claim succeeds.

Serious accident at work claims guide

Consult our No Win No Fee guide and contact our advisors to help determine whether you have grounds for a claim. If they find you have a claim to make then you may be passed on to our panel of No Win No Fee solicitors who could help start the process. Contact our advisors today:

Call us on 0161 696 9685
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Using the live chat feature at the bottom of the screen

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Serious Injury Lawyers And Workplace Accident Claims
Causes Of Serious Workplace Injuries
Types Of Serious Workplace Injury
Who Could Claim For A Serious Accident At Work?
Calculate Damages For A Serious Accident At Work
Get In Touch With Advice Today

Serious Injury Lawyers And Workplace Accident Claims

Many different kinds of injuries can be suffered in the workplace, however, to make a claim you must prove that your injury was caused by employer negligence or through the actions of another employee. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA) is a piece of legislation that establishes the steps an employer must take to ensure they provide a reasonably safe workplace for their employees.

If an employer’s negligence with health and safety regulations results in your injury, you may be eligible to make a serious accident at work claim.

Find out if you have a valid claim by contacting our advisors today.

Causes Of Serious Workplace Injuries

A serious injury can be defined as a physical or psychological injury that poses a permanent change in your quality of life. It affects leisure and employment and may lead to prolonged disability or vulnerability to other future conditions such as arthritis. Several types of accidents could lead to serious injuries in the workplace, however, to make a claim, you must be able to prove negligence.

For example, working on a construction site and manually handling items above the weight limit without the necessary equipment or the correct training. In this case, this is an example of an employer failing to protect their employee by not ensuring they can do their job safely. If injured, the employer would be liable for damages.

Contact our advisors for more information on the causes of serious work accidents today.

Types Of Serious Workplace Injury

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) lists specified injuries to workers that need to be reported.

Below we look at what injuries are considered of a serious nature within the workplace:

Fractures, except thumbs, fingers and toes
Amputations
Any injury causing permanent loss or reduction of sight
Head and torso crushing injuries affecting the brain and other organs
Serious burns covering over 10% of the body or notable damage to the respiratory system, eyes and other crucial organs
Scalping necessitating hospital treatment
Loss of consciousness due to asphyxia or head injury
Enclosed working space causing hypothermia or another heat-related injury

In 2020/21, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reported that under RIDDOR employers reported 51,211 workplace injuries with 37,111 employees needing more than 7 days off work. Also, 142 workers had a fatal accident during 2020/21 with 54 workers being self-employed and 88 being employed staff.

Who Could Claim For A Serious Accident At Work?

You may be able to make a serious accident at work claim if you can prove that your employer breached their duty of care. All employers owe their employees a safe working environment, and according to HASAWA, there are steps your employer can take to create a reasonably safe workplace.

Employers could do the following to ensure they are adhering to health and safety legislation within the working environment by:

Providing and maintaining plant and work systems – Ensuring equipment and tools are adequately maintained. If not, equipment may malfunction, such as scaffolding may collapse under the weight of workers.
Providing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – Employers must provide free PPE where necessary. If suitable PPE is not provided, this could lead to injury. For example, steel toe-capped boots and transporting heavy goods where there is potential to drop items on your feet.
Providing sufficient training and supervision – Employees should receive free and relevant training and supervision to carry out jobs safely. Inadequate training in the workplace, such as operating machinery like forklifts without training, could lead to collisions or crashes.
General housekeeping – Walkways should be cleared of hazards such as spills or obstructions like boxes and broken water pipes, which could lead to trips and falls.
Risk assessments – Employers must conduct risk assessments to mitigate the potential harms that risk poses in the work environment. They help identify, assess, control, record and review the controls implemented. If employers fail to conduct risk assessments, hazards remain unchecked, like blocked emergency exits.

Contact our advisors if you were injured due to your employer’s negligence.

Calculate Damages For A Serious Accident At Work

If your claim for an injury caused by a serious accident at work is successful your settlement could be spilt into general damages and special damages. The Judicial College provide guidelines compensation brackets for general damages which cover the pain and suffering inflicted by various injuries at different levels of severity. The following table uses the same guidelines:

Injury	Compensation	Notes
Mental Anguish (E)	£4380	Fear of reduced life expectation/impending death.
Moderate Brain Damage (i)	£140,870 to £205,580	Moderate to severe intellectual deficit, sight loss, personality change, sense and speech affected. Epilepsy risk. No employment prospects.
Total Blindness and Deafness (a)	In the region of £379,100	Cases ranked by most devastating injuries.
Total Deafness (b)	£85,170 to £102,890	Lower bracket with no speech deficit or tinnitus. Higher-end consists of both.
Total Loss of Taste and Smell	In the region of £36,770	Complete taste and smell loss.
Chest injuries (a)	£94,470 to £140,870	The most severe type of case with removal of a lung with or without heart damage. Continuing and significant pain.
Neck Injury Severe (ii)	£61,710 to £122,860	Serious fractures or disc damage in the cervical spine can cause permanent brachial plexus damage, movement loss in the neck and loss of limb function.
Back Injuries Severe (i)	£85,470 to £151,070	A severe back injury with damage to the spinal cord and nerve roots. Impaired bladder, bowel, and sexual function along with significant pain will result.
Injuries to the Pelvis and Hips Severe (iii)	£36,770 to £49,270	Acetabulum fracture leading to degeneration and leg instability necessitating possible osteotomy and likely hip replacement surgery. Arthritic femur fracture requiring hip replacement, or fracture with partially successful hip replacement risking the need for surgery revisions.
Wrist Injuries (a)	£44,690 to £56,180	Complete wrist function loss, such as, where an arthrodesis has been performed.

Additionally, you may be eligible for special damages as part of your serious accident at work claim. These damages cover the financial costs incurred due to your injury, such as:

Loss of income and future earnings
Travel expenses to and from medical appointments
Medical care sought outside the NHS
Child care costs
Domestic costs, i.e. gardening, cleaning and cooking

Consult our advisors and our potential personal injury compensation calculator for your serious accident at work claim.

Get In Touch With Advice Today

To start your serious accident at work claim, it could be helpful to hire a No Win No Fee lawyer as they could make the process feel easier.

In a No Win No Fee agreement, there is no upfront cost and no legal fee to pay to your lawyer if your claim fails. Your lawyer will take a small, legally-capped percentage if your claim succeeds to cover their services.

Contact our advisors today about your serious accident at work claim, and they will determine whether your claim can be forwarded to our panel of No Win No Fee solicitors. For more information consult our No Win No Fee guide or you can contact our advisors by:

Call us on 0161 696 9685
Contact us using our online form
Use our live chat feature at the bottom of the screen

Serious Injury Claim Resources

Please see our other articles:

SSP – Statutory Sick Pay

NHS – Paralysis

Headway – Brain Injury Association

Below, you can find links to lots more guides on accidents at work:

Contact our advisor today for free legal advice about your serious accident at work claim.

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