Lifeguard Accident – When Could You Claim Compensation?

Lifeguard Accident - When Could You Claim Compensation

Lifeguard Accident – When Could You Claim Compensation

This is an informative guide to the steps you could take following a lifeguard accident that resulted in you sustaining physical or psychological injuries. This guide will look at when you may be eligible to claim compensation for an accident at work, how an accident could occur and potential compensation amounts. 

Firstly, it is important that your employer is liable for the injuries you sustained. Employers owe their employees a duty of care to carry out reasonably practicable steps to ensure your health and safety at work. If they were to breach this duty, and as a result, you were injured, this is employer negligence. In this case, you could be eligible to bring forward a personal injury claim. 

Throughout this article, we will discuss the duty of care owed by employers in more detail and explain what you could gather to support a personal injury claim for an accident at work. In addition to reading on, you can speak to a member of our team at Advice to discuss your claim. Our team of advisors are available to provide free and confidential advice 24/7 and can offer insight into whether you may be eligible to bring forward a claim.       

To speak to our team: 

Select A Section

  1. A Guide On Lifeguard Accident Claims
  2. What Is An Employer’s Duty Of Care To Employees?
  3. How To Claim For A Lifeguard Accident
  4. Causes Of A Lifeguard Accident
  5. What Could You Claim After A Lifeguard Accident?
  6. Talk To A No Win No Fee Solicitor About Your Claim

A Guide On Lifeguard Accident Claims 

A lifeguard accident could lead to injuries of varying severity. For example, you could suffer from minor injuries, such as cuts and bruises, or severe injuries, such as brain damage. These can have negative impacts on your quality of life. You may be left unable to work and therefore suffer financially due to loss of earnings.   

Furthermore, workplace accidents could occur due to various reasons. However, to be eligible to make a personal injury claim, you must have been injured, and these injuries must have been caused by your employer breaching their duty of care. Find out about the relevant workplace health and safety legislation in the following section. 

What Is An Employer’s Duty Of Care To Employees? 

As per the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA), your employer owes you a duty of care to take reasonably practical steps to ensure your safety in the workplace. Some of these steps are as follows: 

  • Performing risk assessments
  • Providing adequate training in the workplace
  • Carrying out repairs and maintenance within the appropriate time frame. 

It is important to note that as an employee, you also have a responsibility for your own health and safety. Under Section 7 of HASAWA, you must adhere to any training provided and co-operate with your employer as far as necessary to ensure their duty can be carried out. 

Please contact our team of advisors to discuss the aspects of your lifeguard accident at work claim.

How To Claim For A Lifeguard Accident 

Immediately following a lifeguard accident that causes you to be injured, seek medical attention. Should negligent practices have caused this accident, and you want to pursue a personal injury claim, you should gather evidence to prove the injury at work was caused by your employer breaching their duty of care. This evidence can strengthen your personal injury claim and may include the following: 

  • Medical records
  • CCTV footage
  • Photographs
  • The contact details of any witnesses
  • Accident report book

Additionally, we recommend you seek legal advice as soon as possible to determine whether you may have valid grounds to make a claim. Our team can advise on the steps you could take to bring forward a claim. Please get in touch today to learn more.  

Causes Of A Lifeguard Accident 

There could be various causes of a potential lifeguard accident. These might include:

Below we will provide statistics on workplace accidents to provide an insight into the most common causes of accidents at work. 

Workplace Accident Statistics 

The national workplace health and safety regulator in Britain, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), records and compiles employer reports of work-related injuries under The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR). They provide data tables to improve workplace health and safety, which show that in 2021/22:

  • Across all industries, there were 61,713 reported non-fatal injuries to employees. 
  • 18,721 of these were caused by slips, trips or falls on the same level. 
  • 11,260 of these were caused by handling, lifting or carrying. 
  • Across all industries, there were 81 reported fatal injuries to employees. 

What Could You Claim After A Lifeguard Accident? 

There are two potential heads of a successful personal injury claim for an accident at work: general damages and special damages.  

Firstly, we will take a closer look at general damages, compensating for the physical or psychological pain and suffering caused by your injuries. Legal professionals, such as personal injury solicitors, can use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), updated in April 2022, to help them value lifeguard accident at work claims. Therefore, we have used this document to create the table below as a guide to potential compensation brackets under the general damages head of claim.  

InjuryCompensation BracketsDetails
Very Severe Injury Resulting from Brain Damage (a)£282,010 to £403,990The person will have double incontinence, display little, if any, evidence of a meaningful response to the environment, have minimal or no language function and need full-time nursing care.
Moderate Injury Resulting from Brain Damage (c)(iii)£43,060 to £90,720The person's concentration and memory will be affected, there will be a small risk of epilepsy, their ability to work will be reduced, and any dependence on other people will be very limited.
Severe Back Injury (a)(i)£91,090 to £160,980The person will have a severe injury that involves damage to the nerve roots and spinal cord, which leads to a combination of very serious consequences not common in cases of back injuries.
Moderate Back Injury (b)(ii)£12,510 to £27,760This bracket includes various frequently encountered back injuries, for example, soft tissue injuries leading to a prolonged exacerbation and/or acceleration of a pre-existing back condition by usually 5 years or more.
Severe Neck Injury (a)(i)In the region of £148,330An injury to the neck that is associated with incomplete paraplegia or leads to permanent spastic quadriparesis.
Moderate Neck Injury (b)(i)£24,990 to £38,490Injuries within this bracket will cause severe immediate symptoms and may necessitate spinal fusion, such as fractures or dislocations. Also, this bracket can include serious soft tissue injuries to the back and neck, and chronic conditions that usually include referred symptoms to other parts of the body.
Severe Leg Injury (b)(ii)£54,830 to £87,890This bracket will include injuries which cause permanent problems with mobility that result in a need for mobility aids.
Wrist Injury (a)£47,620 to £59,860Injuries within this bracket will result in the complete loss of function in the wrist.
Arm Injury (b)£39,170 to £59,860The person will have an injury that causes substantial permanent disablement. This can include serious fractures to one or both forearms, where the residual disability is significant and permanent.
Chest Injury (c)£31,310 to £54,830There will be damage to the lungs and chest, which results in some continuing disability.

Please consider these figures as a guide. Each case is different, and therefore, the amount awarded can differ. 

Furthermore, you could also be eligible to receive a payment under special damages, compensating for past and future financial losses incurred due to your injuries. This could include:

  • Loss of earnings
  • Travel costs
  • Care expenses
  • Housing adaptations

You must provide evidence such as bank records, payslips, invoices or travel tickets to prove these losses. For an estimation of the compensation you could receive for a workplace injury, speak to one of our advisors. 

Talk To A No Win No Fee Solicitor About Your Claim 

An accident at work solicitor may offer to work on your case under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This is one type of No Win No Fee agreement, which means you will generally benefit from the following: 

  • No upfront or ongoing payments for a solicitor’s services. 
  • If the claim is unsuccessful, no payments at any time for services of a solicitor. 
  • If the claim is successful, a No Win No Fee solicitor can deduct a small percentage of the compensation. The relevant legislation caps this amount.  

To learn more about using a solicitor under a CFA, speak to a member of our team. Our advisors can assess your claim for no cost, and should they find you may be eligible to receive compensation, they could connect you with one of the No Win No Fee accident at work solicitors from our panel.  

To speak to our team about making a personal injury claim after sustaining an injury in a lifeguard accident, you can: 

Related Work Injury Claim Articles 

For more information regarding accident at work claims, explore further articles from our website: 

Also, we have provided some resources below for information and support:

Thank you for reading our guide to making a personal injury claim following a workplace lifeguard accident.