When Could You Make A Claim For Scaffolding Injuries?

Scaffolding injuries can be very serious. As a worker, if you fall from even a moderate height because of bad scaffolding it’s possible to sustain multiple injuries or even a fatality.

As a member of the public coming into contact with scaffolding, the steel tubes and components can be very hazardous if not properly secured or handled. So what steps can you take to be compensated after injuries like these?

Scaffolding injuries claim guide

This guide will discuss scaffolding accidents and what injuries they may cause and we look at who can make a claim. Also, how you can use our compensation calculator to calculate a compensation amount from a liable employer if you were harmed through their negligence.

Please read the sections below for more information and click on the highlighted text for further details about this topic. Or if you would like to talk to a member of our team right now, you can:

Call us for free on 0161 696 9685
Use the ‘contact us‘ option and we will call you back
Or talk to our team on ‘live support’

Select A Section

Types Of Scaffolding Injuries
Your Right To A Safe Working Environment
What Should I Do After Suffering Scaffolding Injuries?
Scaffolding Health And Safety
Compensation For Scaffolding Injuries – How Is It Calculated?
Why Contact Us For Claims Advice?

Types Of Scaffolding Injuries

Construction and scaffolding sites are tightly regulated areas where health and safety law protects both the workers and members of the public from accidental harm. However, scaffolding can often overlap with areas that the public freely use such as pavements or overhead areas. With this in mind, scaffolding injuries can apply to those who work on them and people who may encounter scaffolding.

Workers

A slip, trip, or fall on poorly assembled scaffolding can cause multiple injuries, leaving the worker with possible fractures or spinal damage if they fall
Steel components can fall when scaffolding is faulty and strike a worker on the head causing concussion or traumatic brain injury.
Poor maintenance can render scaffolding unsafe creating cuts, bruises, and other soft tissue injuries.
Multiple injuries can happen in a scaffolding collapse because those that erected it were not trained.

Members of the Public

Head injuries can result if scaffolding components fall from above
Low level scaffolding can cause head injuries.
As above, multiple injuries can result in a scaffolding collapse.

If you suffered scaffolding injuries as a direct result of hazardous scaffolding practices or missing health and safety provisions, speak with our team today to discuss your options.

Statistics on Construction Injuries

Certain accidents at work need to be recorded by the Health and Safety Executive HSE, who are responsible for governing workplace safety. The statistics below show fatal injuries to workers in construction for the period 2016/17-2020/21 according to RIDDOR (The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013)

Source: https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/industry/construction.pdf

Your Right To A Safe Working Environment

Whether you are a construction site worker, a visitor to a site, or a member of the public who encounters scaffolding on the street, there are laws that protect your right to be safe. In the workplace, core legislation called The Health and Safety At Work, etc Act 1974 requires all employers to reduce or remove the risk to employees as much as is reasonably practicable.

Safety guidance explains how scaffolding must be erected, altered, and dismantled in the safest way possible. In addition to this, the Work At Height Regulations 2005 clearly describes the legal requirements of employers who operate any business in which their staff are at risk of falling.

What Should I Do After Suffering Scaffolding Injuries?

After scaffolding-related injuries, it’s essential to seek medical attention, particularly if you have fallen from a significant height. As you recuperate and have time to consider the circumstances of the accident that caused your scaffolding injuries, you could consider whether your accident could have been prevented.

If your scaffolding accident was caused because of employer negligence or lapses in health and safety you may be eligible to make a personal injury claim for any injuries suffered. To prove liability you will need to gather evidence.

You could do this more easily with the help of a personal injury solicitor and the checklist below offers suggestions of the type of evidence that can help:

An independent medical assessment to get a full picture of the injuries – which a solicitor can help to arrange in your local area.
Access your medical records
Ask witnesses if they would consider giving a statement at a later date
Request CCTV footage if available
Or take photos of the accident scene yourself
Ensure the appropriate record of the accident was logged
Start to consider how legal advice could help your scaffolding injuries claim for non-fault compensation

Scaffolding Health And Safety

Scaffolding sites must comply with particular requirements regarding health and safety for the workers who use them or the general public that may encounter them. Some of these essential requirements are as follows:

Scaffolds should be erected, designed, dismantled, or altered only by competent people.
Under Section 169 of the Highways Act 1980, any scaffolding that encroaches onto a highway or pavement requires a license from the relevant local authority
Footpaths may need closure
Scaffolding must be on firm, level ground
The strength and stability of the scaffolding require carefully calculation
Scaffolding decks should be of appropriate size and strength for the tasks expected

The Risks Of Working At Height

In addition to the health and safety requirements specific to scaffolding, employers can protect employees working at heights by safeguarding against risks by:

Trying to avoid working at heights if possible and if practicable, working from the ground
Using the right type of equipment that is stable and strong enough for the job
Ensuring that employees can get safely to where they need to work at height
Do not over-reach or overload

Compensation For Scaffolding Injuries – How Is It Calculated?

The first step in your calculation for scaffolding injury compensation is a medical assessment. A GP or specialist can deliver a report on what they find which can be used as evidence to support your claim. Speak with our team if you would like help arranging an appointment.

By using a guideline compensation tool such as the Judicial College Guidelines, the pain, suffering, and loss of amenity caused by your scaffolding injuries can have an amount attributed to them like these:

Body area	How severe?	JC Guidelines	Supporting notes
Head	Moderately severe brain damage (b)	£205,580 to £264,650	This person will be severally disabled and there will be the need for constant care.
Head	Moderate brain damage (c) (i)	£140,870 to £205,580	Injuries that leave a severe deficit of intellect and no employment prospects.
Head	Less severe brain damage (d)	£14,380 to £40,410	Good overall recovery but some persisting concentration or memory problems
Back	Severe (a) (i)	£85,470 to £151,070	Serious spinal cord or nerve damage, incomplete paralysis and severe pain.
Back	Moderate (b) (i)	£26,050 to £36,390	Lumbar compression or crush injuries, with continuous pain and need for surgery
Pelvis	Severe (a) (i)	£73,580 to £122,860	Extensive dislocations or fractures, bladder or bowel complications
Pelvis	Moderate (b) (i)	£24,950 to £36,770	Although a significant injury, no major permanent disability
Leg	Severe (b) very serious (ii)	£51,460 to £85,600	Injuries that leave permanent mobility problems, deformity and arthritis
Knee	Severe (a) (i)	£65,440 to £90,290	Awards that reflect gross ligament damage causing considerable loss of function and pain
Ankle	Very severe (a)	£46,980 to £65,420	Extraordinary soft tissue damage and possible risk of future below-knee amputation

Important to note is that these amounts are not cast-iron guarantees. In practice, any compensation award amounts given could vary widely.

As well as these general damages amounts, you might be eligible for special damages. Can you present documentation to show the financial costs forced on you by the injuries? For example, you may have missed work or needed to pay for long-term health care needs like physiotherapy. Or did you need a carer at home as you recovered? Speak to our team to see what other costs you could include with the right proof.

Why Contact Us For Claims Advice?

Have you considered using legal help to start a claim for scaffolding injuries but feel discouraged about the cost and complexity? If so, a No Win No Fee agreement could help. At Advice.co.uk, we could connect you with a member of our panel of personal injury specialists offering this service. They could take up your case (well within the time limit for personal injury claims), meaning that:

You don’t have to pay upfront fees to hire their services
Or pay anything as the case progresses
If the case fails, no fee to the solicitors is due
And a successful outcome needs only a fixed maximum percentage (of 25%) to be payable.

So why not learn more about No Win No Fee legal representation today by getting in touch? You can start right now when you:

Call us on 0161 696 9685
Use the ‘contact us‘ option
Or talking to our team on ‘live support’

References

In addition to claims for scaffolding injuries, the resources below offer further help:

More information about slips and trips
Scaffolding rules from the Government
And lastly, more reading concerning working at height

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

Page by FS

Published by AL.

Accident At Work Claims

Road Traffic Accident Claims

Public Place Claims

Medical Negligence Claims

Personal Injury Claims

Scaffolding Injuries Claim Specialists

Get Free Advice