By Stephen Kane. Last Updated 26th May 2023. You might be aware that if you sustain injuries at work in an accident that wasn’t your fault, you could claim compensation. But what happens if you don’t report a work accident in which you sustain injuries? Could you still claim?
We have created this guide to answer questions relating to employee accidents where no one has reported them. In the sections below, we answer frequently asked questions such as:
- What happens if an employee does not report an injury?
- Can you get fired for not reporting an injury?
- Do all accidents at work have to be reported?
- What happens if an employer does not report an accident?
- What happens if you can’t work due to injury?
Do you need to report a work accident?
We also offer insight into compensation amounts for injuries you could sustain in a workplace accident. If you would like to obtain free legal advice tailored to your accident at work or would like us to connect you with a solicitor, you can call us on 0161 696 9685 at any time.
Select A Section
- Why Is It Important To Report A Work Accident?
- Types Of Reportable Incidents And Injuries
- Health And Safety Procedures For Reporting An Accident At Work
- Why Don’t Some Employees Report An Accident At Work?
- Could I Claim If I Did Not Report A Work Accident?
- What Is An Employer’s Duty Of Care?
- Injury At Work Claim Compensation Amounts
- Workplace Accident Claims With No Win No Fee Solicitors
- More Resources On When To Report A Work Accident
Why Is It Important To Report A Work Accident?
Not only is it important that you report a work accident from a personal injury claims point of view, but it is also vital that you report an accident in the workplace for other reasons. These include:
- Ensuring your employer can fix anything that has been broken in the accident
- Making sure your employer can fulfil their obligations under RIDDOR
- Ensuring your employer can investigate the incident so that they can take steps to prevent it from happening again
Types Of Reportable Incidents And Injuries
There are certain workplace incidents and injuries that your employer must report to the Health And Safety Executive, under their obligations to RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013). They include:
- 7+ days of a worker being unable to perform their normal work duties
- Dangerous occurrences
- Gas incidents
- Non-fatal accidents to non-workers
- Occupational diseases
- Specified injuries to workers
- The death of a person
Specified Injuries
The list of specified injuries that must be reported under RIDDOR includes:
- An amputation
- Broken bones/fractures other than to toes, thumbs or fingers when confirmed by a doctor
- Burns that are serious, or scalding, that affects over 10% of the body or causes significant harm to vital organs, eyes or the respiratory system
- Crush injuries to torso or head that cause internal organ damage or brain damage
- Injuries caused by enclosed space working that involve hypothermia or heat-induced illness or requires the injured party to be resuscitated or treated in hospital for over 24 hours
- Injuries leading to reduction or permanent loss of sight
- Loss of consciousness due to asphyxia or head injury
- Scalping that requires hospital treatment
All Types Of Injuries Should Be Reported – Is This True?
There is no requirement for all types of injuries to be reported under RIDDOR, or to be recorded in a work accident book.
The only types of injuries and accidents that should be reported are:
- The reportable incidents and specified injuries we had highlighted above
- Dangerous occurrences, or near misses in a workplace that could have resulted in serious injury to a person, or a death
- Diseases that were caused by exposure to harmful biological agents
- Injuries that lead to the incapacitation of a worker for more than three days (these types of incidents only have to be recorded in a work accident book)
Regardless of the requirements, reporting all accidents at work can be beneficial. Having an official record of your workplace’s health and safety record in a report book could help you if you chose to later to start a claim. It could act either as supporting evidence of a pattern of negligence in your workplace or as an official record of your injury.
You can reach out to one of our advisers to learn more about the benefits of this type of evidence, or for information about how to ensure that a workplace accident report was made for your injury.
Health And Safety Procedures For Reporting An Accident At Work
When asking what happens if an employee does not report an injury, you may find that they have not reported it because they were not aware of the procedure. In general terms, you should follow the procedures set out by your employer. These could include:
- Reporting the incident to the health and safety officer (or your employer if there is no designated person)
- Ensuring your accident is recorded in the accident book – if you have no accident book, you should write a report of the accident and send it to your employer
However, it is vital that you seek medical attention for injuries sustained in the workplace. You should make sure you get appropriate advice and treatment to help you manage your injury. This could also serve as evidence you have had the accident and been injured.
Why Don’t Some Employees Report An Accident At Work?
There are some reasons that employees may not immediately report an accident at work. Reasons that they may not make a report could include:
- An employee feels they were at fault and they would get in trouble
- They were incapacitated
- They were unaware that they had an injury at the time
- The employee didn’t know they could report the accident
Accident Reporting At Work – What To Do In Its Absence
Your employer could face the consequence of not reporting under RIDDOR should you suffer a reportable injury or illness, and it is not reported. Generally, you should be made aware of how to report an accident at work, along with who the relevant person is to report it to. If you haven’t made an incident report in the workplace, you may still be eligible to claim compensation. However, you must be able to support your claim with evidence. This can include:
- Medical records.
- CCTV or mobile phone footage of the incident.
- Witness contact details.
- Photographs of faulty equipment if it is relevant to your injury.
- Photographs of any visible injuries.
The examples above are not exhaustive. You may wish to seek legal advice for further information about evidence and accident reporting at work.
Call our advisors for free legal advice about accident reporting at work.
Could I Claim If I Did Not Report A Work Accident?
The answer to ‘ What happens if an employee doesn’t report a work accident – could they claim for personal injury?’ is not a simple one. You could be eligible to claim, as long as you could prove that your employer was at fault. However, without an accident report, the process could be a little more difficult. This is why many claimants prefer to use a personal injury solicitor to help them, rather than going it alone.
A lawyer could help you gather the evidence needed to prove your claim. If you have any evidence of the accident and your injury, you should provide these to your lawyer. Evidence such as photographs of the scene/your injuries, witness contact details and medical records could be very useful when it comes to making your claim.
Time Limit For Claiming For An Accident In The Workplace
As established by the Limitation Act 1980, the time limit for starting a personal injury claim is three years. This time limit starts from the date your workplace accident occurred.
The time limit can work differently under some circumstances. If, for instance, someone who is under the age of 18 is injured in a work accident, then the time limit is paused until their 18th birthday. Before that day arrives, a claim could be made on the injured party’s behalf by a court-appointed litigation friend. If a claim has not been made by their 18th birthday, they will then have three years to start one.
If the injured party lacks the mental capacity to make a claim themself, the three-year time limit will be indefinitely suspended. If this applies, a litigation friend could make a claim on the injured party’s behalf. If the injured party later regains enough mental capacity to make their own claim and one has not already been made, then the time limit will start from the day of recovery.
Contact our team of advisors today if you have suffered an accident in the workplace to see if you could be eligible to make a personal injury claim.
What Is An Employer’s Duty Of Care?
Your employer has a duty of care to you under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. They must take reasonable steps to protect your safety and health at work. Some of the ways they could do so could include:
- Providing relevant health and safety training
- Completing regular risk assessments and using the results to reduce risks
- Providing protective equipment where appropriate
- Making sure the place of work is well maintained and safe to work in, including all equipment within it
Injury At Work Claim Compensation Amounts
If you are trying to calculate compensation payouts for injuries sustained in a workplace accident, you might be looking for a personal injury claims calculator. As well as wondering what happens if an employee does not report an accident, you might be wondering how much compensation you could get if you are eligible to claim.
We have opted to use the table below as an alternative to an injury claims calculator. The table gives details of what the Judicial College Guidelines deem appropriate payout amounts for specific injuries. If you cannot see your injury here, please call us for further advice.
| Injury type and severity | Compensation Bracket | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Injuries to the back: severe (ii) | £74,160 to £88,430 | Leading to bladder or bowel functional impairment. Mobility could be impaired, and there could be nerve root damage or unsightly scarring. |
| Injuries to the neck: severe (iii) | £45,470 to £55,990 | Fractures, severe soft tissue damage or dislocations that lead to a permanent disability or a long-term chronic condition. |
| Elbow injuries: severely disabling | £39,170 to £54,830 | A severely disabling injury. |
| Pelvic/hip injuries: moderate (i) | £26,590 to £39,170 | Where there isn’t any great risk of future damage or permanent disability but where the injury is significant. |
| Wrist injury (b) | £24,500 to £39,170 | Some useful movement would remain but there would be significant permanent disability. |
| Finger fractures: severe | Up to £36,740 | Causing partial amputation, leading to function reduction, grip impairment, sensation disturbance and deformity. |
| Injuries to the shoulder: moderate | £7,890 to £12,770 | Limited movement caused by frozen shoulder, lasting approximately 2 years. Soft tissue injuries lasting beyond 2 years could also be included here. |
| Head injury: minor | £2,210 to £12,770 | Minimal brain damage, the severity, extent, symptoms and recovery periods would be taken into account when calculating awards in this bracket. |
What Can Accident At Work Compensation Payouts include?
There are different types of compensation that you could claim when you make a personal injury claim against an employer for a workplace accident. Damages could include:
General Damages
These are non-pecuniary (non-financial) losses. They relate to the loss of amenity, suffering and pain experienced by the victim of personal injury. You can see examples of such compensation amounts in the table in the previous section.
Special Damages
Special damages are financial losses caused by the accident and your injuries. To claim special damages, you would have to demonstrate their financial value. You could use bank statements, bills and receipts to do this. There are lots of different expenses that your injuries could cause, as referenced below.
Medical Expenses
If you have to pay for counselling, prescription medicines or physiotherapy because of your injuries, for example, you could claim for these.
Travel Expenses
It is not uncommon for claimants to claim for travel costs associated with their injuries such as travelling to meet with their lawyer, or attending hospital appointments, for example.
Care Costs
If you are severely injured, you may need home care assistance with toileting, dressing or preparing food. You could include costs for such care within your claim.
Loss Of Earnings
If you lose out on some of your income because you need time off work to recover from an injury, you could claim for the money you’ve lost because of it. Loss of earnings payouts could include bonuses and overtime, and in some cases, future loss of earnings could be considered.
Workplace Accident Claims With No Win No Fee Solicitors
Now you know what happens if an employee does not report an accident, you might be ready to start a claim. Such claims could be complicated if workplace accidents have not been reported. You may choose to have a personal injury lawyer that could fight for compensation for you. Did you know you could do this without paying the lawyer fees upfront? With No Win No Fee claims, you don’t pay your lawyer anything until the end of your claim. The process works as per the below:
- You’d need to sign a No Win No Fee Agreement. Your chosen solicitor would send this to you. It contains details of the success fee you would pay them once they achieved a compensation payout for you. Success fees are legally capped and are usually a small percentage of your total compensation payout.
- When you sign and return the agreement to your solicitor, they will start working on your claim. They will help you collect evidence, build your case and negotiate a settlement for you.
- Once they achieve a payout for you, they’ll deduct their success fee. The balance of your compensation payout will be for your benefit.
To learn more about claiming with a No Win No Fee solicitor, you can contact our team of advisors:
- Call the Advice.co.uk team on 0161 696 9685
- Complete our contact form
More Resources On When To Report A Work Accident
Below, you can find links to lots more guides with advice on how to report a work accident, as well as workplace accident claims generally:
- Accidents at work FAQ
- How to make an accident at work claim
- Agency worker accident claims
- How to make a claim if injured as a temporary worker
- I hurt myself at work, can I make a claim?
- Can you sue your employer for an accident while still employed?
- How to prove an injury at work
- Will claiming against my employer create problems?
- Advice on claims if injured working for cash
- Do I need accident at work solicitors near me?
- Employers’ responsibilities after an accident at work
- How long after an accident at work do you have to claim?
- Do I need a lawyer if I get an injury at work?
- New employee had an accident at work – can they claim?
- I had an accident at work, what are my employers’ responsibilities?
- I didn’t take time off work after an accident, can I still claim?
- Who pays my work injury medical expenses?
- How to claim for a work accident
- What to do if I injured myself at work?
- Workplace accident claim time limits
- Accidents caused by tiredness and fatigue
- Can you be fired for a work-related accident?
- Foot injuries caused by a lack of safety books
- Could I make a workplace injury claim if I’m not an employee?
- Tendon injury at work claims
- Can you claim for an accident at work if you suffered no injury?
- How to claim for an injury at work when self-employed
- Can I claim if assaulted at work?
- Can I be sacked for having an accident at work?
- HSE Workplace Accident Investigation Guide – This guide explains why accident investigations matter, and how to go about them.
- HSE Investigations – This page explains how and when the HSE investigate accidents within workplaces.
- How Long Does An Employer Have To Report An Injury At Work? – This HSE guide explains more about how long an employer has to report employee accidents.
For more advice on how to report a work accident, please get in touch.