Injuries Caused By Inadequate Training In The Workplace

By Jo Greenwood. Last Updated 17th July 2023. If you sustain an injury due to inadequate training in the workplace, you may be wondering if you could make a personal injury claim. Many risks of accidents at work could be mitigated with adequate training. Employers have a legal duty to provide instruction where necessary to help decrease the risk of harm in their workplaces. A failure to do so could lead to illness or injury to employees, and those employees could take legal action against their employers.

inadequate workplace training

We have created this guide to assist those who feel their injuries resulted from poor workplace training. In the sections that follow, we give some insight into how to calculate compensation for workplace injuries and describe what legal obligations employers have towards their employees regarding health and safety.

We also look at the different types of inadequate work training-related injuries employees could suffer, and when it could be appropriate for an employer to provide role-specific training. If you’re considering making a claim and would like free legal advice, we at Advice.co.uk would be happy to provide this over the phone. All you need to do is call our team on 0161 696 9685.

Select A Section

  1. Compensation Payouts For Work Injuries
  2. Special Damages For Injuries In The Workplace
  3. What Are Injuries Caused By Inadequate Training In The Workplace?
  4. Health And Safety In The Workplace
  5. How Proper Workplace Training Could Be Provided By Employers
  6. Causes Of Injuries Made By Inadequate Workplace Training
  7. Time Limit To Claim For Injuries At Work
  8. Work Injuries Caused By Inadequate Training – No Win No Fee Claims
  9. More Information

Compensation Payouts For Work Injuries

To calculate compensation payouts for personal injury claims, lawyers must assess all the evidence and facts surrounding each case. No two cases are the same. While you may have seen a personal injury claims calculator online, this type of tool would not be able to provide an accurate sum for potential compensation payouts. 

One piece of evidence that could influence compensation amounts is a medical report. As part of a personal injury claim, you would have to attend a medical assessment with an independent professional. They would read your past medical notes, where appropriate, and examine you, asking questions about your injuries. 

They would produce a report containing details of their professional opinion on your injuries and prognosis. Solicitors and courts could use this report to determine an appropriate settlement amount for your injuries.

Examples Of Injury Compensation Payouts

Below, we have produced a table with figures from the Judicial College Guidelines. This provides guidance on recommended compensation amounts for a range of injuries. If you cannot see your specific injury below, please call our team. We’d be happy to offer further guidance on this over the phone.

Where Is Your Injury?Guideline Payout AmountHow Severe Is The Injury?
Arm£96,160 to £130,930Severe
Neck£45,470 to In the region of £148,330
Severe
Neck£7,890 to £38,490Moderate
NeckUp to £7,890Minor
Leg£39,200 to £135,920Severe
Leg£27,760 to £39,200Moderate
Pelvis/Hips£39,170 to £130,930Severe
Pelvis/Hips£12,590 to £39,170Moderate
Back£38,780 to £160,980Severe
Back£12,510 To £38,780Moderate
BackUp to £12,510Minor
Shoulder£19,200 to £48,030Severe
Shoulder£7,890 to £12,770Moderate

Special Damages For Injuries In The Workplace

When making a personal injury claim for an injury due to inadequate workplace training, you might notice that your payout amount includes different types of damages. We explain more about the types of damage you could claim below.

General Damages

General damages are the non-pecuniary damages you receive for the loss of amenity, the pain and the suffering your injuries cause. The above section illustrates how lawyers could calculate these damages.

Special Damages

You could also receive special damages to compensate you for the financial harm your injuries cause. To claim for special damages, you would have to provide evidence, such as bank accounts, payslips, receipts and bills, so that you could include these damages within your claim. They could include:

Medical Expenses

Did you pay for treatments such as private physiotherapy or prescription medicines because of your injuries? You could include these costs as special damages within your claim.

Travel Costs

You could also include the transport costs you incur while travelling because of your injuries, These could include seeing your lawyer or attending a medical appointment.

Care Costs

If you incur injuries so severe that you require care at home to help you with washing or dressing, for example, you could include care costs within your claim.

Income Loss

You could also claim for any loss of earnings your injuries cause you. Loss of income compensation could also include bonuses and overtime.

What Are Injuries Caused By Inadequate Training In The Workplace?

Before we look at how training could impact your risk of injury in the workplace, we should first answer the question ‘What qualifies as a work-related injury?’ Simply put, a work-related injury is an injury you sustain that happens because of or in connection with work.

Can I Sue My Employer For Lack Of Training?

Employers should mitigate the risks of harm in the workplace to their employees. One way in which they could do this is by providing training to employees. The training they provide to employees should help them to do their job safely. 

If you could prove that an injury you sustain results from inadequate training in the workplace, you could claim compensation from your employer. To obtain free legal advice from our expert team, simply give us a call.

Health And Safety In The Workplace

Your employer has certain responsibilities to look after your health and safety while you are at work. These responsibilities are enshrined in law under legislation such as:

The Health And Safety At Work etc. Act 1974: This act states that employers have a legal duty to provide you with a workplace that doesn’t cause harm to your health. It also gives employers the duty to ensure that they provide information, supervision, training, and instruction to ensure employees’ health and safety at work.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999: This legislation reinforces the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Employers should consider the risks towards employees working for them. They must also ensure that employees are given adequate health and safety training:

  • When being exposed to increased risks or new risks
  • If they are being given new responsibilities
  • When being transferred
  • If they introduce new technology, new work equipment, or a new system of work

These regulations also state that training should be repeated where appropriate. It should also occur during work hours and be adapted to take into account increased or new risks.

Work-Specific Training

Various regulations cover specific risks to workers, such as:

If you receive inadequate training in the workplace at any point in your employment, and you sustain an injury because of this, you could launch a compensation claim. If you’re looking for free legal advice on whether you could have a claim, our advisors could offer this to you over the phone.

How Proper Workplace Training Could Be Provided By Employers

To provide adequate training to workers, employers should risk assess the workplace. They should also assess the tasks that the worker will take on. That way, they can see where training could effectively reduce workplace injury or illness risks. Based on their assessment, the employer could provide training such as:

  • General workplace safety training – this could be included in induction training
  • Emergency training
  • Training on how to use specific equipment
  • Manual handling training
  • Work at height training
  • PPE training

While some of the training an employer could give an employee could be in-house, sometimes they may opt to send an employee on a training course. They could even have an instructor come into the facility to train employees for some job roles. Whichever way they arrange training, they should ensure that it is up to date and regularly refreshed to ensure employees are always aware of effective ways to work safely.

A failure to update training to reflect a changing work environment, new equipment or a change in employees’ condition could leave an employer liable if a worker were to sustain an injury due to poor training.

Causes Of Injuries Made By Inadequate Workplace Training

Inadequate workplace training could cause injuries in several ways. There are some types of training specific to certain job roles and tasks. Employers should ensure that the employees they task with jobs that require special training receive such training to work safely. 

They should also make sure that new workers receive training on how to operate in the workplace safely. Workers could suffer injuries if they do not receive training at all of if training is inadequate. 

Some examples of what types of training employers should consider providing to workers could include:

  • Induction training – workers could be given induction training to show them how to operate safely in their surroundings.
  • Manual handling training – if an employer expects an employee to undertake manual handling tasks, they should provide training to take on such tasks safely.
  • Work at height training – if part of a worker’s job is to be done at height, employers must train them how to do so safely.
  • PPE training – if an employer provides an employee with PPE to avoid the risk of harm, they should train the employee in how to use the equipment safely.
  • Equipment training – if employers require workers to use specific equipment as part of their job role, they should ensure they know how to use the equipment safely.

Time Limit To Claim For Injuries At Work

If you meet the eligibility to claim for an injury at work due to inadequate work-related training, you will need to keep in mind the applicable time limit.

Under the Limitation Act 1980, you would typically have three years from the date you suffered your injury at the workplace to file your claim. However, there could be some exceptions to this.

For example, if the injured person lacked the mental capacity to claim, the 3 year limitation period would freeze indefinitely. During the period in which it is frozen, an appropriate adult, such as a solicitor or family member could act as a litigation friend and bring a claim for the injured person.

If no claim is filed, and the person regains capacity, they would have three years from the date they regained their capacity to file their own claim.

There are also exceptions to the limitation period in cases involving injuries to those under 18.

If you would like to know more about how long you’d have to claim, please contact an advisor.

Work Injuries Caused By Inadequate Training – No Win No Fee Claims

Should you decide to launch a personal injury claim for inadequate training at work causing injury, you may consider getting professional legal help. If you are, you may be pleased to learn that if you choose a No Win No Fee personal injury lawyer to handle your claim, you don’t pay them anything unless your claim is successful.

How Do These Claims Work?

Generally speaking, the No Win No Fee claims process works as follows:

  1. Your solicitor sends a No Win No Fee agreement over to you. They ask you to read, sign and return the agreement to them. The agreement details the success fee you will pay if your claim is a success and your lawyer achieves a payout for you. The fee is subject to a legal cap so it can only be a small percentage of your total payout.
  2. You sign and return the agreement, and your lawyer starts work on your claim.
  3. If your case wins and the liable party pays your compensation, the solicitor deducts the agreed success fee, and you’d benefit from the balance.

Could No Win No Fee Claims Fail?

Usually, solicitors only take on claims if they are confident they would be successful. However, sometimes claims do not result in compensation. If you work with a No Win No Fee personal injury solicitor and your claim fails, you won’t pay the success fee or cover their costs. 

Should you want to read about such claims in more detail, you can find our No Win No Fee guide here. If you prefer, you can call us at any time with questions about claiming in this way. To reach us, simply:

More Information

What Are The Negative Effects Of A Lack Of Training In The Workplace? – The HSE provides information on benefits and costs of poor health and safety at work to employers.

How To Deal With Poor Training At Work – Worksmart offers guidance on what to do if you believe you are not receiving the proper training to do your job.

Manual Handling Training – The HSE provides information on manual handling training.

Probation Period Injury Claims – In this guide, you can find out how to claim if you sustain injuries while on probation.

Accident At Work Guide – We offer more insight on claiming against an employer for a workplace injury here. You can also find details of the personal injury claims time limit that could apply to your claim.

Was I Partially At Fault? – This guide shows how some claimants could still claim if they are partially at fault for a workplace accident.

We also have a bunch of dedicated guides on making an accident at work claim, which you can read below: