Industrial Injury Claim
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If you would like legal advice on your potential industrial injury claim, please either:- Click Free Assessment and complete the online questionnaire, or
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Industrial injury claim FAQs
What is my legal position if I get dismissed after my accident?
If I make a claim, will I suffer victimisation?
Is my employer always responsible if an accident has caused my injuries?
If a fellow employee causes my accident, will my employer still be liable?
What steps should I take if an industrial accident has happened?
What happens if my injuries were partly my own fault?
What legislation is there to protect people in the workplace?
What is my legal position if I get dismissed after my accident?
Not infrequently an industrial injury leaves the injured person unable to continue in his or her job. The employer will then often decide to terminate that person's employment on the grounds of incapacity.
In those circumstances there is not much that can be done to prevent the employment being terminated. It is however advisable in such cases for the injured person to seek advice from a specialist employment lawyer as quickly as possible.
If the claim is likely to succeed, then a loss of earnings claim can be made. Claims involving more serious injuries will often involve a substantial loss of earnings.
If I make a claim, will I suffer victimisation?
People frequently worry whether they will suffer retribution from their line manager or from fellow employees if they decide to bring an industrial injury claim for damages.
In the occasional case, sadly this does happen. However in the overwhelming majority of cases there is no difficulty and workplace victimisation as a result of the legal claim is rare.
Most employers are realistic enough to simply refer the matter on to their insurers when a letter of claim is received. After that, all contact is with the relevant employers' liability insurers.
Is my employer always responsible if an accident at work has caused my injuries?
A common law, the employer owes his employee a non-delegable duty of care. In the first instance it is always the responsibility of the employer to make sure that workplace is safe.
Even if the accident was caused by faulty machinery or equipment supplied by third parties, responsibility will remain with the employer.
In addition to the common law duty of care, the employer must also comply with extensive statutory duties to prevent injuries.
If a fellow employee causes my industrial injury, will be employer still be liable?
Under the doctrine of "vicarious liability", if a fellow employee causes your industrial injury, the employer would normally still be liable to pay you damages.
The main exception to this is where your injuries resulted from horseplay or an assault by a fellow employee. In those circumstances, the employer could argue that this was outside the scope of the employment and so deny liability.
What steps should I take if an industrial injury has happened?
Although not always practicable, especially if the injuries require immediate attention, the first sensible step will be to report the matter, and to make sure that an entry is made in the accident report book.
If a legal claim is later to be made, then it helps if a contemporaneous record has been made of the reasons for the accident. Details of witnesses should also be obtained.
One important line of enquiry subsequently will concern previous similar accidents, "near misses" and/or complaints. The existence of these would normally be sufficient to alert the employer that an accident was likely to happen and accordingly preventative steps should have been taken.
What happens if my injuries were partly my own fault?
Sometimes it is possible that your industrial injury was caused partly by your own negligence. One example of this would be where training had previously been provided, but this was ignored.
If an accident takes place consequently, then the defendants would probably raise allegations of contributory negligence.
Sometimes the parties will negotiate a suitable reduction in correspondence, but if not then in the final analysis a judge would have to decide the appropriate deduction.
Expressed simply, it was established that your injuries resulted 50% from your own negligence, then your damages would be reduced by 50%.
What legislation is there to protect people in the workplace?
When an industrial injury claim is made, the injured person can make use of extensive European Union legislation, which covers areas as diverse as unguarded or dangerous machinery, personal protective equipment, and also back injuries caused by manual handling.
We have handled a number of industrial injury claims on behalf of individuals who have suffered lacerations, scalds and burns due to inadequate gloves, and also eye injuries, where goggles or visors were inadequate or not provided.
Under the relevant regulations, the employer is required to assess whether protective equipment or clothing should be provided. The correct use must then be enforced.
Industrial injury claim