If you are a care worker, healthcare assistant, or work in a supporting role with vulnerable people, you may be able to claim compensation if you are injured whilst at work. At Direct2Compensation we are seeing a growing number of enquiries from the care industry. Typical claims involve soft tissue injuries, such as back injuries, as well as more serious ones involving criminal assault. Often an employer will be liable for such injuries if they have failed to provide adequate training, sufficient risk assessments or the correct equipment.
Table of contents
- Common types of care worker injury
- What training should a care worker receive?
- Do you have a valid claim?
- What to do after your accident
- How Direct2Compensation can help you claim
- How to start your claim
- Comments – your questions answered
Common types of care worker injury
Given the often physical and demanding nature of the job, care workers often run a higher risk of injury than average, particularly those working in mental health with challenging and potentially violent patients.
Typical injuries sustained by care workers:
- Muscular injuries to the back
- Slipped disc
- Herniated disc
- Shoulder & forearm injuries
Common accidents leading to injury:
- Needlestick injuries
- Physical Assault
- Restraining
- Slips, trips or falls at work
Any injury sustained by an employee at work may allow a claim for compensation to be made. To find out whether or not you have a valid care worker claim, read on for more information and then contact us to discuss the specifics of your situation.
What training should a care worker expect to receive?
Employers who are instructing people to provide care and support for people who are immobile or in need of assistance, have themselves a duty of care to ensure staff are adequately trained to work safely and that the risk of injury at work is minimised.
Whether in residential homes or the community, staff should expect to receive guidance in how to identify risks to health, be provided with manual handling training and advised how to lift and move their patient safely.
Lifting
Care workers should be advised as to the maximum weight limit that they should expect to lift manually, and be provided with lifting equipment such as hoists (and trained in how to use them) for any weight that exceeds safe limits.
Risk assessments
They should also be working to a strict risk assessment for each person they provide care for. The risk assessment should be carried out by the employer and should clearly state whether the work is safe for one carer, or if two are required. The risk assessment should also list what, if any, lifting equipment or tools are needed to enable safe working.
Violent patients
Any care worker who is likely to be providing care to service users who are known to be aggressive or violent should expect the employer to have undertaken appropriate risk assessments of the nature of the person requiring care.
Staff placed at risk should have received MVA training (management of violence and aggression) in how to safely restrain patients, and policies and procedures should be in place for handling such incidents. It is also important that the employer ensures adequate staffing levels are maintained so that care workers are not exposed to the risk of an assault that could otherwise be avoided.
Do you have a valid compensation claim?
If you were injured as a result of employer negligence or the negligence of a colleague, you may seek to make a claim for work accident compensation.
This would include if your employer has ignored a risk assessment, failed to ensure that you were adequately staffed or not provided proper working or the correct lifting equipment.
Likewise, if you are injured by way of an assault whilst providing care work, you could well be eligible to claim.
If successful, you can claim compensation for the injuries sustained – the value of which will be reached on the basis of medical evidence, and also recover any loss of income caused by the injuries through the special damages element of your claim.
What a care worker should do after an injury at work
As with any injury at work, it is vital that you make a report of the cause and type of injury with the employer at the earliest opportunity.
Most workplaces will have an accident book or accident reporting system. You should use that to make a report, listing the injuries sustained and any possible areas you can identify that would show employer negligence.
If you haven’t already reported the injury, or your employer won’t let you record it in the accident book, don’t worry, we can help you to do so.
You should also seek medical attention at an Accident & Emergency department, from your GP or NHS walk-in-clinic.
If you need any advice or help with this, please call us on 01225 430285.
How Direct2Compensation can help you
At Direct2Compensation we have an expert understanding of your rights after an injury at work. Our staff will be able to identify whether your injuries whilst providing care will enable you to pursue a claim for compensation against your employer.
We work with leading specialist solicitors who have a proven track record of success with claims from those providing care services. They will ensure that your claim is afforded the maximum possibility of success and that any agreed settlement will appropriately compensate you for the level of injury sustained.
We use expert medical professionals to write detailed reports that will be used to ensure that the injury element of your claim is fully appreciated and appropriately valued. We’ll also ensure that any lost income or costs caused by the injuries sustained (including future loss of income) will be recovered for you.
Direct2Compensation offer a simple and easy to understand personal injury compensation claims process and all of our solicitors work on a fully No Win No Fee basis.
How to start your claim
With Direct2Compensation, starting your claim for compensation or finding out more about your rights after an accident at work couldn’t be easier. If you’re wondering about your situation, feel free to leave a question at the bottom of this article or call us on 01225 430285, or if you prefer, we can call you back.
We’ll only need a few minutes of your time in the first instance in order to get the initial information needed to enable our specialist solicitors to discuss your specific situation with you in more detail.
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