Workplace Accident Compensation
Welcome to the website of Boris Kremer, a UK personal injury solicitor specialising in workplace accident compensation claims.
If you would like an initial free assessment of your potential workplace accident compensation claim, please either:- Click Free Assessment and complete the online questionnaire, or
- Telephone Boris to discuss your claim personally, on 0845 021 2222. Your call will be charged at the local rate. Our hours of business are 9am to 5pm.
Workplace Accident Compensation FAQs
What are my rights if my job is ended following my workplace accident?
If I make a compensation claim, will I be victimised?
Is my employer always at risk of fault if I suffer an workplace accident?
If another employee was the principal cause of my injuries, is my employer still liable?
What essential measures should I take following an accident in the workplace?
What if my accident was partly my fault?
What health and safety legislation is there to protect individuals in the workplace?
What is my legal standing if I get dismissed following my workplace accident?
Sometimes an accident leaves the person unable to carry on at the workplace. The employer may then decide to end that person's job on the basis of incapacity.
If so then not much can be done to prevent the person's employment being terminated. It is advisable for the accident victim to obtain legal advice from an employment solicitor as quickly as possible.
If the case has reasonable prospects, then a loss of earnings claim can be made for the medically justifiable period of absence from work. Workplace accident compensation claims involving more serious injuries will often contain a sizeable loss of earnings element.
Do workplace accident claims sometimes lead to victimisation?
Injured people frequently worry that they will suffer retribution from their manager or from their workmates if they decide to seek compensation.
Occasionally this does happen. However in the majority of cases there is no difficulty and workplace victimisation as a result of a legal claim is rare.
Most employers will refer the matter to their insurers upon receipt of the letter of claim. After that, all the correspondence is with the relevant insurers and not the injured person's employers.
Can my employers avoid blame for my workplace accident?
A common law, the employer owes his employee a non-delegable duty of care, meaning basically that the employer is ultimately responsible for the workplace being safe.
Even if the accident was caused by faulty machinery or equipment supplied by other parties, the responsibility is still with the employers.
In addition to the legal duty of care, the employers must also observe the wide statutory duties to prevent workplace accidents .
If another employee causes my workplace accident, will the employer still be liable?
Under the principle of vicarious liability, if a fellow employee causes your workplace accident, then your employer may still have to pay you damages for your resultant personal injuries.
The main exception is where your injuries result from violent horseplay or a physical assault by another employee. If a compensation claim was made, then the employer would probably try to maintain that this was outside the employment and so deny liability.
What steps should I take following my accident at work?
Although not always possible, especially if the injuries are serious and require immediate medical attention, the first step should be to report the matter, and to make sure that an entry is logged in the relevant accident book.
If a personal injury claim is made later on, then it will help later if an accurate record was made at the time, stating the reasons for the accident. Details of any witnesses should also be obtained.
One important line of enquiry concerns previous similar accidents and/or complaints. If these have previously occurred, then the employer would be on notice that an accident was likely and accordingly preventative measures should have been taken.
What happens if my injuries were my own fault, at least in part?
Sometimes it happens that your workplace accident was caused or contributed to by your own acts or omissions. One example of this would be where proper training had been given, but this was not heeded.
If an accident takes place as a result, then the defendants' insurers will probably make an allegation of contributory negligence against you.
Sometimes the parties' representatives will be able to agree a suitable reduction in the course of correspondence. However if not then ultimately a trial judge would decide the appropriate discount.
Expressed simply, if your injuries resulted one half from your own conduct, then your damages would be reduced by one half as well.
What law is there to protect employees in the workplace?
When a personal injury claim is made, the accident victim can make use of extensive EU legislation, which covers areas as diverse as unguarded or dangerous machinery, personal protective equipment, and back injuries caused by unsafe lifting procedures.
We have handled a number of accident at work claims on behalf of individuals who have suffered lacerations and burns due to inadequate gloves, eye injuries, where goggles or visors were not provided, and also back injury claims.
Legally, the employer must consider whether suitable protective equipment or clothing should be provided, and if so then to insist upon their use.