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Construction Site Accidents – Claim Compensation For Your Injury

By Ian Morris | Updated June 12th, 2024

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The construction industry is legally obliged to provide a safe and secure environment for workers and visitors. If you suffer an injury through no fault of your own, you may be entitled to make a construction site accident claim, even if you are self-employed.

Employer responsibility for construction site safety
Why claim compensation after a construction site injury?
How much can you claim?
When can you claim for a construction site injury?
How Direct2Compensation can help with your claim
Comments – your questions answered

Construction site accident claims regularly involve severe injuries with serious consequences. Falls from ladders or scaffolding and into holes are common, as are being struck by falling objects and vehicles. Staff members may be tasked with using machines which are faulty, poorly repaired or missing safety guards. There are also risks of incorrectly stored or labelled chemical substances, exposed electrical circuits and more. While falls from height result in the most serious injuries, the most common reason for a claim is down to injuries sustained through lifting and handling.

Employer responsibility for construction site safety

Employers are legally obliged to provide a safe and secure environment for workers, and ensure they are properly trained for the job. This includes construction site management companies, contractors and other bodies working in the industry. They are also responsible for the safety of visitors to the site.

Injury claims for construction accidents will succeed if it can be proven that the organisation responsible for health and safety has been negligent and failed to comply with their statutory duties. In such cases, the employer will be found liable and the claimant will receive compensation.

Why claim compensation after a construction site injury?

If you have been injured at work on a construction site, claiming compensation can help ease some of the problems you’ll experience and help in a number of ways:

It’s your legal right, and fairly compensates you for injuries that were not your fault.
It can pay for private medical treatment and rehabilitation therapies to speed your recovery.
It can make up for lost wages now and in the future if you are prevented from working again. This is by way of a special damages claim that relates to losses above and beyond any compensation settlement awarded to cover the injuries and distress caused.
In fatal accidents it can provide loved ones with some measure of compensation for their loss.

As all construction accident claims are made on a No Win No Fee basis, you will never be charged if your claim does not succeed. A successful claim will lead to a compensation settlement being made to you.

How much can you claim?

How much compensation you’ll receive depends on the seriousness of your injury and its impact on your life. Solicitors will use guidelines issued by the courts which give upper and lower figures for each injury. The value of the claim will include any lost income and incurred costs, as well as a settlement for the injuries, psychological trauma and medical treatment that you have received.

As well as getting a financial settlement, your solicitor will look to help you to recover more quickly by obtaining rehabilitation therapies or private specialist treatments, at the expense of the 3rd party.

It maybe that you will be able to obtain further treatments unavailable in usual circumstances to help you recover more quickly and return to work and normality. Further information on this will be available from your solicitor once your claim has been started.

When can you claim for a construction site injury?

In the majority of cases, claims will succeed if employer or site management negligence can be proven. Construction employers and site management providers must ensure:

That site staff are given a safety induction relating to the site on which they are working. That they are made aware of the likely risks to health and made aware how to deal with accidents and seek first aid.
That the site health and safety signs are properly and prominently displayed.
That all workers are made aware of their obligations to work safely.
That all people on a construction site are wearing the correct personal protective equipment.
That workers have been given manual handling and lifting training.
That site staff are adequately qualified to use any tools or machinery that they are asked to use.
That the tools and machinery that site staff are tasked with using are fit for purpose, by way of regular servicing and repair of the same.
That any tools or machinery that are faulty are removed from use and only returned to active service once fully repaired.
That any noxious or dangerous chemicals are handled in compliance with the ‘Controls of Substances Hazardous to Health’ (COSSH) guidelines, and that chemicals are stored and controlled accordingly.

Any person who suffers a construction accident at work as a result of employer negligence is entitled to make a claim for personal injury compensation.

If you believe that your employer or a construction site management company (or a contractor) exposed you to the risk of injury due to a lack of training or inadequate health and safety management in the workplace, you should contact Direct2Compensation today to start your claim.

How Direct2Compensation can help with your claim

Direct2Compensation are experts in managing accident at work injury claims. Over the years we have successfully assisted many claimants who have been injured on a construction site, we know your rights and can help you to understand whether the specifics of your accident are such that you are likely to win compensation.

As with all accidents at work, it is important to make sure that the details have been recorded properly within an employer’s or site accident book and that medical attention is sought for any injuries that you have sustained. If you haven’t done this already, we can help you to do so.

If you have suffered a construction site injury and want to know if you can make a claim for compensation, contact us today. You can start your claim online or , and one of our expert team will be in touch to offer help. Alternatively, call us on 01225 430285.

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Comments & Questions

Read on for questions and advice about claiming, plus construction site injury claim examples...

I was employed as a labourer for a roofing company and was never given any training. I never got a cscs card or went on any courses. Can i claim that they shouldn’t of even allowed me on site? Risking my life for £6an hour

You can only make a claim if you have suffered injury or loss as a result of the negligence of the employer you mention. The fact that they allowed you to work in such dangerous environments without the correct training, licence or PPE etc is clearly negligent. It would also seem that they may have underpaid you. However, unless you sustained personal injury in an accident whilst at work, we can’t take any action for you.

Hello, My name is Nick, I am 21 years old and I work in construction industry, two weeks ago (roughly) I was on a construction site at my job, I was waiting in a normal location at ground floor when it fall from level 6 a tool (about 600-1.000 grams) directly on my head, lucky I was having a helmet that took all the damage for me, after the incident I have been going straight to hospital for a check and everything was alright, but from that day I am always stressed and start to panic all the time when I remember. That s why from yesterday I am staying home and I don t want to go in that site again.

Have the details of your accident at work been recorded in an incident or accident book recording system? If not, make sure that a written record of the incident is held by the employer. In terms of your injury, as you appear to have avoided serious physical injury and are now beginning to notice the psychological impact caused to you by this incident, you should immediately arrange a GP consultation to discuss this. It may well be that you need to be referred to a specialist to consider whether you are now suffering from post traumatic stress disorder as a result of the incident and by getting medical treatment, that will help by providing good medical evidence to support you should you opt to pursue a claim for personal injury compensation.

If you would like to discuss your situation and the possibility of pursuing a claim for compensation with our specialist Solicitors, please call us on 01225430285.

April 5th 2017 I fell through an unprotected opening on a building site and broke both shoulders and hip. Had 4 major operations spent 6 weeks in hospital and needed paid care for 12 months. Both shoulders have nails and hip was eventually replaced.

I engage no win no fee big name solicitor and with 14 days to go before expiry of three years they have not had any admission of liability from other side other than they ask for information. At no time would they give me an estimate of the value of the claim even though I had sent them full details and all evidence of my losses to date of £105,000 for care and loss of earnings.

They have agreed to claim and today sent me for to sign, I signed for loss of earnings for £76000 and they have put on claim form value from £50k to £150k.

This values the injuries as £75k.

We have had all medical exams and experts agreed injuries along with psychology experts agreeing trauma.

It does not feel right.

Have your injuries been assessed and noted by a medical expert and a report written and made to your Solicitor? If so, if the contents of the medical report has been agreed by you and is not contested by the defendant, the usual process would be for a Barrister to assess the report and give an opinion on the appropriate injury valuation range for the claim. If the defendant makes an offer that is below that which the Barrister has suggested, you could take the defendant to court for the purposes of having a claim valued independently by a Judge. Of course, the risk of that is that the Judge could disagree with the Barrister and side with the defendant and leave you with a lower settlement than you currently have on the table. Of course, your Solicitor should advise you as to whether or not the value that has been reached by the defendant is one you should accept or reject.

I was at work on a building site, and hit my head on a low beam in an attic, there were no warning signs up on the wall, and I was not told I needed to wear a hard hat, although I do my own risk assessment on every visit I was not made aware of this low beam and I now feel dizzy and sick and have a lump on my head, how should I approach this?

Has the accident and your injury been recorded in an accident book or similar site injury reporting system? If so, you could then look further in to making a claim for compensation. Please contact us to get further help and make your claim.

I dislocated my shoulder at work on a building site, there was no lighting and i fell and it dislocated, the last time this happened six years ago the doctors advised me to have surgery but i never, now this time round i believe it is worse, do i have a case against the builder and will it affect my compensation?

The pre-existing damage/weakness in your shoulder will be taken in to account in terms of the claim and the value of compensation, but it would not prevent you from being able to take action in this matter.

Essentially, you would appear to have a claim with worthy prospects of success. The lack of lighting could well be seen as negligence as the risk of injury would have been obvious. Therefore, we would suggest it is worth making a claim! If you would like to take this further, please call us on 01225430285 to discuss this further so that our team can help you start your claim for compensation.

I have had an accident at work on a construction site due to a company we are sub contracted to, I have had an accident where they made a make shift ramp in to the building and when i put pressure on to it ramp bent and caught my foot where i fell and done damage to my ankle. I’m in a boot with crutches so was just wondering what rights i got in case my company tried to lay me of due to me being off because of this accident.

The rights you have in terms of employment and whether or not your employer can terminate your employment is something that you will need to discuss with an employment law Solicitor.

We can assist with a claim for personal injury compensation as it would appear that the injury you sustained was avoidable and was caused by negligence. If you would like to make a claim for the injury to your ankle and all associated loss of income or incurred cost, we would be happy to help you. Please call our team on 01225430285 to start your claim.

I have fallen at work and suffered a deep laceration on the front of my shin. I was taken to AE treated and sent home. It’s taken 3 weeks to get back to work. My leg is still not fully healed but I must earn some money. I still have pins and needles in my foot and a sore back from the fall. I was working on a construction site and the area I was working was a designated walk way but was full of building materials. Very poor house keeping. I have photographic evidence of the site of the incident before and after as they tried to hide the evidence. I have photos of the injury to my leg. The walk way was still insufficient after the incident. I feel I have a strong case. I was wearing full PPE. The only thing I wasn’t wearing was steel toecap boots. I was wearing hiking boots with rubber toes. I’m self employed so have to supply my own PPE.
My employees wanted me to attend a disciplinary meeting as they said I was not compliant on my PPE and no compliant with site risk and methods statement! Letter says I could receive a written warning or dismissal. Very nice of them! As I had tripped over a pile of timber and fallen on some of there scaffold tubes.
The people I feel are at fault are the property development company as they are in charge of house keeping and already have a poor record on that site but also I feel my contracted company can be at fault.

We would like to assist you with your claim as it could well be the case that you are in a strong position to hold the building company you mention liable for negligence. The fact that you have photographs of the area where you fell is further supporting evidence.

Can I make a claim for injury at work as I don’t have cscs card?

Yes, the employer and construction site management operator has responsibility to ensure that you are qualified to work on site. Therefore, if you have been injured at work you can look in to making a claim for compensation.

Hi, I had an accident at work on a construction site. On 12th of June 2019 during manual lifting my left hand index finger tip got crushed by an RSJ steel beam. I was rushed to the hospital, got first help and x-ray done there. I was directed to the plastics hospital to rebuild the finger tip as the bone is crushed and finger need to be stitched up and nail removed. Yesterday I had a surgery – doctor said it’s gonna take around 3 months to get well, but there might be some issues with finger in the future like lack sensation of temperature, good grip, responsiveness etc.

Im a self employed, working through recruitment agency. Company who I work for now gave me few days off to sort out my finger, but were asking to come back to work next Monday. They also offered me to pay me my salary while I will be recovering 2-3 months under the condition that I will be present at work, but not performing any tasks. Just sit there 8:00 till 16:00. All this was communicated to me verbally by my supervisor after he spoke with the company’s director.

I don’t know what to do, whether to take their offer as it sounds a bit dodgy, because there is no written agreement between us, so they will be able to get rid of me asap, not paying me the money for 2-3 months while I recover.

Also, if I’ll agree to their terms: coming to work and be there 8:00 – 16:00 Monday-Friday, will I be able to file an injury claim after few months when I’ll see how did my finger healed and whether there’s no complications?

Whether self-employed or employed, UK law affords you a claim limitation period of 3 years from the date of any accident within the UK in which you can make a claim for finger injury compensation. However, it is important to note that the details of the accident need to have been reported properly and recorded within an employers/site accident book. Also, it is always a wise move to make a claim as early as possible within that 3 year period.

You are right to carefully consider whether the employers offer to pay your salary if you attend work is a wise move. On the one hand, it could be seen as a great gesture from the employer. The fact that they are willing to pay you would immediately remove any concerns you may have had as to how you would cope without an income during your recovery. However, as you say, you have nothing in writing to bind them to this agreement.

The other key thing to consider is the long term impact that the injury you have had may have on your career and future earning capabilities. You have clearly suffered a nasty injury and it is most likely that you will not make a full recovery and could well have loss of fine motor skills and dexterity. As the injury is to an index finger, the potential impact on your life and work could be extensive. Whilst your employer may pay you in the short term, they would not cover any future loss of income down the line.

The sensible move would be to make an immediate claim for personal injury compensation. Such a move would ensure that your best interests were protected. Whilst you may have to cope with a short term loss of income, you would be certain that the full extent of the damage to your finger was understood and noted by a specialist medical expert and that any compensation settlement down the line would take this in to account and would ensure that any loss of strength or dexterity and loss of income – both previous and in the future – were included in the claim.

I am an employer of a small family construction company. One staff member hurt his back yesterday and has today said he wants to sue for loss of income etc. He is a family member so it makes it tricky.

He was working with all the correct workwear and health and safety equipment needed. He was given precise instructions of what the task was and had direct communication with his supervisors if any problems occur. He was working alone at the time but has the adequate training needed for the job he was doing.

We have advised we will cover his sick pay whilst off for 2 weeks, but he is asking for more money or he will sue for loss of income.

He has not visited a GP. We want to know where we stand and if he can actually proceed with any kind of claim, we have no idea if he had any injury prior to this but it seems as he is 60+ plus and doing a manual job is not possible for him anymore. We are able to offer him less manual jobs, any advice would be appreciated.

For an employee to succeed with a claim for compensation for an injury suffered at work, they will need to demonstrate that their employer has been negligent towards their health and safety at work. In the scenario you describe, it would appear that you have fulfilled the relevant obligations upon you as an employer – full training, correct PPE provision and work equipment. Therefore, as long as your training records are up to date and you have written notes of the work being undertaken and instructions given, it would appear to be a struggle for the employee to succeed with a claim against you.

Of course, the employee can proceed with a claim as he will likely approach a specialist Solicitor and give a different side of the story to that provided by you. As such, a Solicitor acting in good faith may proceed with a claim. However, with the help of your insurers and the detailed evidence that you appear to have, his Solicitor would likely close the case on receipt of your robust denial.

Hi,
I am a construction site engineer, i have been working in a project for 3 months and because of so much dust i had a sore throat all the time, eventually it got so bad that I couldn’t swallow food. I left work for two weeks, i still have sore throat problems. Can I claim for the weeks i couldn’t go to work? I work freelance.

To be able to succeed with a claim for personal injury compensation, a claimant must demonstrate that there is a negligent party and that their injury was caused by this negligence – this is known as causation. In your case, as you were working in a dusty environment, it would be expected that the site safety requirements would have required dust masks or appropriate ventilation. If that has not been done, you could possibly look to hold the site management liable. However, you would also have to prove that your throat issues were caused by the dust, so it would be important that you have presented your throat issue and difficulty in swallowing to your GP or a Hospital and for them to agree that the issue was caused by dust. Finally, as a self-employed worker, you need to check whether personal protective equipment – such as a dust mask – was not something you had a personal responsibility to provide and wear.

My partner was delivering building materials to an address recently. As he was pulling into the drive there was a radiator on the floor. So as not to damage the vehicle he got out to move it. As he picked it up he took a step forward and fell straight down a man hole he was unaware was there. The radiator had been covering this, no warnings or signage in place.He has injured his back and does not get sick pay. Has been asked if he wants to take time off as holiday. Can he claim for loss of earnings?

UK law would not oblige your Partner’s employer to pay him his usual salary whilst he is off work due to injury – even though the injury was caused whilst he was at work.

Your Partner should look further in to making a claim for compensation as he was injured whist at work. However, the claim in this scenario is not straightforward in that the liability for the accident may not rest with his employer, but with the landowner of the address that he had delivered to.

The only way that your Partner can recover his loss of income would be by succeeding with a claim for compensation, as any settlement would include compensation for the injury as well as recovery of any costs and lost income.

I am a bricklayer and sustained a repetitive strain injury in my arm. I’ve spent 6 weeks off, I did see a doctor plus had osteopath treatment and have returned to the building site this week to try and carry out light duties.
My arm is still painful, but I have been told if I make a claim I will not be able to do my job anymore because it comes under occupational health? Is this true?
How do I stand to making a claim?
I work for a subcontractor but I’m told the main contractor of the building site is liable. Is this true?

Simply making a claim for compensation – whether successful or otherwise does not prevent you from returning to your chosen line of work or position of employment. If you have recovered, you would be claiming for the repetitive strain injury caused and any loss of income and then able to return to your normal life and work. If you have not recovered, you would be claiming for the ongoing injury and any associated loss of income going forward.

If your injury is long term and you have not recovered, it may be that this will prevent you from being able to return to your usual work.

Hi I had a accident at work I work on a building site whilst picking up a 40 kilo steel lintle that was on the floor and wet in an untidy yard it fell from my shoulder on to the inner crease of my elbow causing a large deep cut. The lintle should be in racks and dry. Can I claim competition even though I have had health and safety training?

Health and safety training provision is an important requirement for all employers to provide to all staff, especially those working in dangerous environments such as construction sites. However, simply providing Health and Safety training does not in and of itself absolve an employer from responsibility should an accident then occur.

The key thing with any claim for personal injury compensation is that to succeed, you need to be able to establish ‘negligence’ against an employer or 3rd party. In your case, it seems that the employer does have questions to answer in regards to the condition of the working area – you mention that it was an untidy area and that the lintle should have been dry and on a rack. In this case, I think we should look further in to this accident at work and see if we can help.

Hi my sons just had an accident at work, a building site, whilst building his wall his leg fell through a hole, with some type of metal poking out, that should have been covered previously! Causing him to go by ambulance to a&e being admitted for surgery due to to the large gash going through his calf. It’s causing him some discomfort only happened fri, he’s due to go back to hospital for follow up next fri, we don’t know how many stitches weather he needs to have any physio ok to use it walk drive etc. Yet his firm are asking him to go back on light duties before the weeks out! Obviously not to cause them any more grief, my son feels torn! What advice can you give please? It feels like they are pressurising him, & he’s not allowed to even get over an incident that was the fault of the firm.

Firstly, on the basis of what you have described, there is clearly a case of negligence here as the opening/hole that your Son’s foot/leg went through should not have been opened or the cover that was over it should have been strong enough to withstand pressure. I think that your Son should pursue a claim for compensation for this injury as it is likely that he will have suffered long standing injuries in this incident. Of course, there is a very nasty laceration injury that will leave a permanent scar, but the long standing problems that can be caused by such a serious laceration will include nerve damage and muscle strength. In the future, such injuries may affect his ability to work properly and it is therefore vital that he takes every step he can to protect his rights going forward. Whilst he has a period of up to 3 years to pursue a claim for compensation, evidence shows that the sooner the claims process is commenced, the better the outcome for the claimant.

With regards to his employer asking him to return on light duties, I would see that as a positive offer from them. If your Son is not be ready to return to work and his Doctor feels that he requires a period of rest, then he can simply inform the employer that he is unfit to work and provide a Doctors note to confirm the same. Whilst he may not receive pay if he is away from work on sickness (only SSP), he would be able to reclaim any lost income through a claim for accident at work compensation if he were to succeed. The offer of light duties will enable your Son to earn his usual salary and therefore avoid the stress of money worries or ability to pay ones bills and expenses. He should not feel torn or pressurised because the decision to return to work can only be taken by the employee on the advice of their Doctor.

We would be very keen to pursue this claim for your Son.

I had an accident at work last year. I work on a construction site as an apprentice and I tripped over some rubber gasket and injured my knee (I have photographs of the area at work). I filed an accident report and went to A&E. I attended hospital appointments on multiple occasions where I was told I had a meniscus tear and may need surgery. I had a total of 17 weeks off work and was sent to numerous physiotherapy sessions in this time, I also received SSP weekly. My employer didn’t make much effort to communicate with me during these weeks and I felt it was me constantly updating them on my injury, I felt they were really dismissive towards me. I’d like to make a claim but I am concerned it will affect my working relationships.

This contractor (MS) provides the company I work for with a massive amount of work and I’m worried that if I make a claim against the contractor (MS) then the relationship between them and my company will become unpleasant and they could refuse work contracts to the company who employs me, which could lead to my company loosing a lot of ‘custom’ and therefore jeopardise my job if they can’t afford to keep me on (once my apprenticeship has ended).

I have been back at work on light duties since the new year. I spoke to someone in my works office today to enquire about how I go about making a claim and she told me she doesn’t want to discuss it over the phone and said she’d send the big bosses to see me on site, this is making me feel really uneasy, intimidated and anxious. Can you advise me on what to do, my rights and if I am entitled to make a claim without my career being put in jeopardy.

Matthew

You have a legal right to pursue a claim for compensation if you feel that the injuries were caused by the negligent acts of someone else (an employer or business). In your case, this is exactly what happened and I would argue that you have a viable and valid knee injury claim.

Your employer cannot terminate your employment because you opt to make a claim – this would be against the law. Most employers are extremely fair with people when they are injured through no fault of their own and when there is negligence, hold their hands up and accept a claim. In your case, it may not be your employer that faces the claim – it could be the site management company or main contractor responsible for the overall management of the site in question and if this is the case, your employers would have nothing at all to be concerned about if you were to claim. However, I cannot say for certain that your employer would not be ‘awkward’ with you if you were to claim – they shouldn’t, but we do hear the odd story of harassment of people who do need to make claims.

In your case, your entire career could be jeopardised by your injury rather than any claim and you need to think of this rather than how a claim may damage your employer.

I think it would make sense for us to chat on the phone as it would be far easier to get to the bottom of what happened and to explain your rights.

If you have an accident on a construction site and was not inducted would an accident claim be successful?

Yes, if you work in construction there is a very clear risk of injuries whilst on a ‘site’ and as such, it is vital that employers ensure that all workers at the site have been inducted and provided with relevant training regarding the health and safety risks on the site.

Whether or not the claim would be successful would depend on the exact details of the accident – how it happened and what caused it. However, the lack of a site induction would give me confidence that a claim would have a good prospect of succeeding if brought forward.

Please call us on 01225430285 so that we can discuss your situation with you and help you get a claim up and running.

Yours sincerely

Ian

In 2015 I fell 14 feet backwards from a house on a construction site and broke my neck resulting in a factors of c5 c6 c7 and a fusion of c5 and c6 . My employer refused to call for medical help made me sit In a truck for three hours before I was taken to the hospital an hour away in another employees truck.

Whether or not the cause of your accident and subsequent injury would make a strong claim for compensation is something I can’t comment on at the moment. We would need to know if it was as a result of employer negligence (i.e a lack of training, safety equipment or site management) as the injury itself is secondary when it comes to establishing who is the liable party (the cause of the accident). However, the actions of your employer in refusing to call for medical assistance or offer immediate 1st aid is clearly indefensible. It may well be that you could successfully sue your employer if you could establish that their negligence in handling the injury immediately (refusing to call emergency service assistance) had worsened the injury, caused your recovery period to be longer or prevented you from making a complete recovery.

Hi, i work in construction i was on a site on 17th of march we where packing up to go home i was told to put the shutters on the telescopic forklift while i was putting one of the shutters on i lost my balance and fell and broke my hand and damaged ligaments in my fingers. I was on the site as a labourer not a forklift driver, i’m wondering if i can claim as it was partly my own fault i think. I’ve been off work for 5 weeks and will most likely be 7-8 weeks before i’m back.

Your gut instinct here could well be right, in that it might be a split liability matter. Split liability claims can still succeed with you receiving a compensation payment for your injuries, but with you having to accept some responsibility for the accident and your employer accepting the rest. In this situation, you would receive a compensation settlement that matched the amount of liability placed on the employer. For example, if you were found to be 25% responsible for the incident as you slipped/lost balance and your employer was 75% responsible as they hadn’t provided you with the right training or asked you to perform a task that should only be done by someone qualified to operate a fork lift, you would receive 75% of the full settlement value of any claim.

We would certainly be willing to help you make a claim for forklift accident compensation and would like to speak with you further so that we could link you with a specialist no win no fee solicitor.