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Does any accident at work let you claim personal injury compensation?

By Ian Morris | Updated August 23rd, 2023

98 questions have been answered on this subject - ask us your question

Just because you have been injured whilst at work, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be entitled to make a claim for personal injury compensation. To make a successful claim the injured employee must be able to demonstrate that the employer was liable and exposed the staff to risk of injury rather than it being their own fault. It’s not always easy to know where you stand so here we look at common themes among valid work accident claims.

Have you got a valid work accident claim?
Taking responsibility – who is at fault?
Example 1 – when an employee is at fault and can’t claim
Example 2 – when an employee is not at fault and can claim
How we can help
Comments – your questions answered

Have you got a valid work accident claim?

All work accident claims and causes of injury should be reviewed on an individual basis. However, there are some basic pointers that can help you identify where you stand regarding the strength of a claim or otherwise. They key is to be able to prove that your employer was liable for your accident and therefore responsible for compensating you for your injuries and any other losses that you may incur.

Did your employer ever give you any training?
This could relate to manual handling training, specific training to use certain machinery or other job relevant training? If the answer is no, your employer has breached health and safety guidance already.
Were you given an induction to the workplace?
This would include guidance on accident management protocols, safety exits, hazard avoidance etc.
Did you have the correct protective equipment?
Were you provided with, or advised what personal safety and protective equipment you should have to complete your job safely? If the answer is no, your employer could be liable for your injury.
Were tools and equipment fit for purpose?
Did your employer adequately maintain equipment and service machines? Did they ensure that safety guards and mechanisms worked?
Did you know how to report an accident?
Were you advised how to report accidents and how to access the accident book? The injured party wishing to claim must ensure that the details of their accident and injuries have been correctly reported and recorded.
Were there enough staff to maintain safety?
Did the employer ensure correct staffing levels and an adequate amount of first aid trained staff?
Were reported risks taken seriously and made safe?
Did your employer act upon reports of potential risks of danger to employees?

The above is just a guide and there could be many more ways in which an employer would be liable.

Taking responsibility – who is at fault?

Employees and employers alike are bound by the rules of the Health & Safety at Work Act. Both parties must ensure that their actions do not put others at risk, with the employers having responsibility for training and equipment management/usage. To answer the question, ‘does any accident work enable a claim for accident at work, personal injury compensation?’ The answer is a definitive no, as not every injury warrants a claim!

As stated, to succeed in claiming accident at work compensation from an employer, the injured party would have to demonstrate that their employer failed to ensure their safety in the workplace, that they breached health & safety protocol and could have avoided the accident if they had done things properly.

For example, let’s take a worker in a factory, using potentially dangerous machinery to do their job. Unfortunately, the employee has had a really nasty accident with the machine and will be off work for quite a while. Is he entitled to make a no win no fee claim for personal injury compensation? Here are two scenarios, the first where the injured party would NOT be entitled to claim and the second, where they would.

Example 1 – when an employee is at fault and can’t claim

A worker works in a factory for a company. The worker was properly trained by their employer to use a dangerous machine safely and the training was regularly repeated. The worker’s use of the machine was also monitored on occasion by a supervisor.

The employer also made sure that the machine was fit for purpose with regular servicing and had all the relevant parts fitted such as a safety guard. The employer gave the employee the correct equipment to do their job safely, provided the employee with all the relevant protective clothing and did not pressurise the employee in to cutting corners by not using their training, work practices and equipment provided.

The staff member then opted to NOT follow the instructions of the employer, or use the safety equipment that had been provided and had a nasty accident and injury from the machine as a result (such as removing the safety guard to enable quicker working and crushing or lacerating their hand/arm). In this case, the injury and accident would entirely be the fault of the employee and not the employer. Therefore, the employee would not be entitled to claim accident at work compensation.

Example 2 – when an employee is not at fault and can claim

A worker working in a similar factory, but for a company that hasn’t provided the employee with any training to use the machine, hasn’t provided relevant safety clothing and equipment and doesn’t service the machine to check it is safe to use. If the employee then gets injured, crushing and lacerating a hand because they were allowed to use a dangerous machine without being given the knowledge of how to do so safely, the employer would be in trouble and fully liable. The claimant would have had a nasty accident at work and be completely entitled to make a claim for compensation.

It comes down to sensible management of potential dangers.

How we can help

Hopefully, you have found this information useful to you when deciding about your claim. It’s also helpful to know your rights after a work injury and what responsibilities your employer has regarding injuries at work.

The most important thing to do, once you’ve received medical attention, is to find out where you stand. In most cases, it is relatively easy for us to evaluate the likely outcome of a claim for workplace accident compensation, so we advise you to contact us and discuss the details of your accident and injury, just leave a question below or call us on 01225 430285, or we can call you back.

We can help to make sure that the details of your accident have been recorded properly and by the right people. We can help you to understand the claims process, how the costs of making a claim on a no win no fee basis are met and whether claiming compensation after an accident at work can impact on your employer or colleagues.

98 questions have been answered on this subject - ask us your question

Comments & Questions

Read on for questions and advice about claiming...

I have just broken my leg as i slipped on water logged grass whilst installing cctv for my employer, am i entitled to claim?

Your enquiry is somewhat unusual as in most cases, slipping on wet grass would not provide any basis to pursue a claim for compensation. However, if you are performing duties for your employer, there could be a claim here. We would need to know more about your work, who tasked you with performing the duties and what risk assessments (if any) the employer had carried out prior to instructing you to install the CCTV before we could advise you further. I would strongly suggest that you call us on 01225430285 or use our ‘start a claim’ page so that we can discuss this with you and help you better understand your rights.

A beer keg fell on my foot from 12ft as it wasn’t properly placed on the lift going down to the cellar properly breaking my big toe, currently off work self certified. Is this my employers fault or the delivery drivers from the suppliers fault?

You certainly have a valid claim for compensation in this matter. You should make sure that the incident and a full description of what happened are recorded within your employers accident book.

The claim would most likely be pursued against the employers liability insurance in the first instance, but they may counter claim against the supplier for the negligent placement of the keg.

From your perspective, you shouldn’t worry about that issue as any claim will eventually fall to an insurer to handle and won’t directly affect the employer.

Please call us on 01225430285 or use our ‘start a claim’ page to get the ball rolling for your claim.

I work loading and unloading wagons we load in a yard with no loading bays we put a motorised pallet mover on back of the artic by picking it up with a forktruck. The truck is heavy so we stand on the forks to balance the weight but it should have a weight plate the truck flipped causing the lacerations to my leg, it is on camera.

I think you should pursue a claim – the lack of a weight that should be provided to make the fork truck safe is likely to be seen as employer negligence.

If there should be a weight on the forks and the employer either hasn’t provided one or the one you have is broken and unavailable, the employer is at fault in this incident.

My view is that you should make a full enquiry with us with a view to taking this matter further.

I wonder if you could speculate on this and advise?

This is a major big employer. If my employer has a risk assessment in place that clearly states the weight limit i should lift is restricted to say ‘X‘kg. To make more profit, if they then themselves change this to ‘Y‘kg without doing a new risk assessment, if I then suffer injuries surely its open and shut – an easy to win case in that the employer have been negligent?

I have been complaining about the increase in the weight and we have had a lot of injuries. They have since been refusing to show us any risk assessments.

I have the risk assessment from the time and it clearly states ‘X‘kg. Yet the company keeps saying its ‘Y‘kg. i have had new and back injuries and want to sue the ass of them. The evidence i have surely its a simple win for you?

No claim is ever an easy win, but the scenario you describe would give an initial view that you do have a valid claim on the grounds of employer negligence.

I slipped and fell very badly at work on a rug that had no grip and was on a polished floor I hit the base of my spine and I am in agony I can’t walk properly and have shooting pains in my back and arms. Who is at fault?

When it comes to assessing whether or not you have a valid claim for compensation, a question you can ask is whether it was foreseeable that the cause of your injuries/accident could happen. In this case, my initial view is that you do have a valid claim for compensation and that the accident was foreseeable. The employer has allowed a loose rug to be placed on a surface with no grip. It is foreseeable that the rug could slip on the surface and that as a result, someone could be injured.

You should make sure that the details of your accident are properly recorded within the employers accident book and of course, seek medical attention from a GP or A&E regarding the injuries.

We are here to help whether you wish to make a claim for compensation – something we would recommend in the circumstances described – or answer any queries you may have regarding your rights and how the claims process works.

i was recently in an accident at work where a heavy metal gate slammed shut on my finger. It was a windy day which led to the gate closing faster in the wind. I fractured my finger and have had an infected wound. Would i be able to claim against the owner of the building? The other gate doesnt close as quick as this gate – it has alot more resistance. Thanks

There is certainly grounds to further investigate whether or not you can make a claim in this matter. The building owner would have a duty of care to make the building, fencing and gates as safe as possible and as such, there may be a breach on their part of the door can be shown to be excessively dangerous.

I worked at the airport for almost 5 years and now have a pterygium on my eye, caused by the wind, dust debris and suns uv rays.
I’ve had it operated on three times now, the last being a few days ago on the 11th October. My eye specialist has said the likely cause will have been from not being provided with, or being able to use protective eyewear (i.e sunglasses/goggles etc) when airside.

We were given ear defenders and a hi-viz vests but nothing to protect our eyes and some days we could be out there up to 9 hours with all the dirt flying about from the engines.

Any advice would be grateful. Thank you.

I am not sure why it would not be acceptable for workers to wear eye protection when airside as it is clearly a foreseeable risk that particles of dust and dirt will be blown in to the faces of airside workers by jet engines and propeller driven aircraft.

With this in mind, it is definitely worthwhile our staff obtaining some further detailed information from you so that we can at least present this claim enquiry to our specialist Solicitors. Given the employers apparent failure to uphold their statutory duties and provide all relevant personal protective equipment, you may well have a claim here.

If you would like to investigate a possible claim further, I would suggest that you use our ‘start a claim’ function to provide our new claims team some initial information. We’ll then call you at a time that suits you to discuss things and take the details needed before passing the matter to our specialist Solicitors.

I trapped my hand in conveyor at work fortunately not broken but still a little swollen, I’m due disciplinary this week, i wasn’t trained on how to deal with blockages on the overhead conveyor, no procedure in place, but they tell me now i should have known to turn conveyor off but everyone there attends to blockages the same way i did. Not sure if i should claim but mainly want to know my rights for the disciplinary hearing.

To fully know your rights at the disciplinary hearing, you should seek immediate advice from an employment law specialist. However, you should take a representative with you and ensure that you are appropriately advised.

The employer has a responsibility to provide training to all staff using machinery that could be dangerous. In this case, there should be mandatory training in place regarding the handling of belt jams and as such, I am of the view that you have a valid claim for compensation here.

My daughter works at a school for kids with autism, one of the kids was trying to slam a door on another child who was on the other side of the door ,it slammed shut on her left index finger causing a deep cut which required surgery and follow up physiotherapist, the other child was not supervised at the time.

There could be a claim here if it can be shown that the employer had been negligent and not ensure that the children were being correctly supervised and managed.

Given the severity of the injury and the fact it is her finger, the settlement amount could be substantial and a claim would be wise.

Hello, I work with children in a school with social, emotional and mental health issues. On Fridays I am timetable to take part in football activity, around 2 and a half years ago whilst playing football a child has taken both feet from underneath me resulting in me breaking my arm/elbow needing corrective surgery. A union rep suggested I can claim but did not advise further. Am I entitled to claim anything?

Your employer would have responsibilities to your health and safety and it maybe that they have not properly risk assessed your involvement in this activity and correctly appreciated the risk to your health and safety. It is hard to know for sure if they are liable, but it you could certainly make a claim and see what the outcome is.

I have recently fallen conducting a security fence line Patrol leading up to the coast on one of the UK’s busiest ports.
I have received no training or instructions as how to best conduct this patrol.
I have to climb up onto some rocks to see at the bottom of the end of the fence line to make sure it is in, tact and not been tampered. As I was climbing down from one of these rocks I slipped and have injured my back. I do not know the extent of my injuries, yet, as I haven’t managed to go to a walk in centre or a&e; but I suspect I have cracked a rib and have am feeling similar symptoms of a recent whiplash injury that I thought I’d fully recovered from coming back. Does it sound like I will have a case for a claim?

The lack of training and instruction from your employer could well be seen as employer negligence and lead to a successful claim for compensation.

I would recommend that you use our ‘start a claim’ page to provide some further details to us as we would then be able to pass the matter to one of our specialist Solicitors who could then seek to pursue your claim for compensation on a No Win No Fee basis.

Hi. I work for a drinks distributor. I had to do a delivery and the way my company tell us to do it is walk backwards and put the keg of beer which is around 80kg down one step at a time whilst walking back. The steps were really small as my feet were overhanging on everyone. Was about 15 step and I fell 4 from the bottom straight onto my back with the keg nearly hitting me. I didn’t have any lasting injuries just a jolted back which lasted 2 weeks. Spoke with a solicitor and they said the legal costs would be more than the claim is worth? Is this correct as they should never expect us to walk backwards with 80kg down 15 steps?

I can only assume that the Solicitor you were talking with was not a Personal Injury specialist and not working on a No Win No Fee basis? Although your injuries were minor, there could still be a claim worth pursuing here.

Hi, thanks for your reply. And the solicitor was working on a no win no fee basis so I don’t understand this.

Hi. I’m a train conductor and during my shift I stepped off the train and fell down the gap. I fractured 3 metatarsals and was off work for 3 months. I don’t know how I did it it was a pure accident. My employer has an ‘average earnings scheme’ for loss of overtime etc when off work, but I don’t qualify as they are implying it’s my fault. I know it’s not my employers fault either, but it happened on work time on work premises. Do I have any case at all? Cheers for the advice.

You would have a valid claim if you could establish that the cause of your injury rests with employer negligence – such as damaged or broken work equipment or a hazardous or disrepaired section of platform at the station in question. If you can not identify any such issue, it is unlikely that you could pursue a claim.

Hi, I fell at work ( outside of the building). The wind had blown the snow shovel from up against the fence to the pavement. The security light was not working, so didn’t see the shovel laid on the ground. I tripped over the shovel, fractured my 5th metacarpal ( left hand) and cracked a couple of ribs. I wore a cast for 4 weeks but have been left with a possible fracture that will not fully heal ( possible non union). I can’t make a fist, straighten my little finger or my ring & middle finger ( visible deformity )and can’t fully flex my wrist after and have been in a lot of pain and have had 4 1/2 months of Physio. I was unfit for work for nearly 5 months and had loss of earnings.I have been informed that I am not entitled to compensation due to non negligence and the fact that I was injured through no fault of my own is not enough!! Is this true considering I was at work, carrying out work duties when my accident occurred?

Who has told you that you are not entitled to claim compensation? Of course, we would need to find out a little more but on face value, we believe that you do have a claim to be made against your employer.

If the security light was not working due to a fault with it or it had not been switched on that could be an area of negligence. Further, the snow shovel should not have been left outside where it was foreseeable that it could blow over and create a tripping hazard.

We would be happy to pursue this further for you and bring your claim to the attention of our specialist Solicitors for further consideration.

Hi I work for a lift company and sent to do a break down on a lift I’ve never had proper training on! I got my arm trapped in the moving lift I was doing repair as I been shown by another person not a trainer! I’ve just come out of hospital where do I stand with sick pay and compensation?,thanks

With regards to compensation, my initial view would be that you are probably in a strong position with regards to your employer being negligent and you have a valid claim for inadequate training compensation. As your employer has failed to provide you with adequate training, it is quite possible to be the case that they have to admit employer negligence and as such, you would have a strong claim for compensation.

Your employer does not have to provide you with your usual salary whilst away from work – unless your contract stipulates that you are entitled to the same. If not, your employer will probably place you on statutory sick pay during your absence from work. Clearly, this would leave you out of pocket. The way to then recover your lost income is to make a claim for accident at work compensation against your employer. If you were to succeed, you would receive a value of compensation for the injury sustained and also be able to recover lost income and costs by way of the special damages element of your claim.

We would be very happy to take this further for you.

I have had an accident at work where I was firing a nail into some wood but the nail came out of the wood and went into the side of my thumb. I have had to have surgery to fix the problem. I have been left in pain and had to take 6 weeks off work, with only sick pay which has left me in financial difficulties and depression with worries, mostly about money. Is there anything I can claim for?

You may be able to make a claim against your employer for the injury and also to recover all lost income and costs incurred by your accident. However, you will only be able to succeed if it can be demonstrated that your employer failed in their duty of care to minimise the risk of injury – such as a lack of training or lack of personal protective equipment provision.

We’d like to speak to you further as our staff would be able to help you identify whether or not we can attach any employer negligence here and if so, you would have a claim.

Hi
I have in the last 8 months had two accidents at work. The first one I tripped over a pallet fell and hit my head. I attended hospital and had a slight concusion so had to have a week off work.
The second one I twisted my ankle on a bolt that was left sticking out of the floor… Although I never had any treatment I was still off work for about a week… Both accidents have been put into the accident book.
Am I in a position to make a claim?
Many thanks

The details you have provided give us an initial view that you should pursue claims against your employer for both matters and we would like to pursue these for you.

In both instances, employer negligence is apparent – the pallet in the workplace could well have been blocking a walkway and therefore a breach of health and safety at work and the bolt on which you tripped should not have been sticking out of the floor as it is an obvious tripping hazard.

Hi,

My BF was polishing glass at a hotel and the washer was broken earlier in the day and then fixed, then someone added too much salt to the machine, due to the machine having too much salt in it the glasses were very cloudy and caused him to have to apply more pressure to polish. The glass broke and he sliced his fingers, had to go to A&E, XR showed glass left in wound, after digging in the wound they decided decided they couldn’t get it out so have left it in and glued it up.
Does he have a claim?

Your partners should contact us so that we can pursue a claim against his employer for compensation. Whether or not the claim would succeed would not be known until further information was obtained as to succeed with a claim against an employer it is vital that employer negligence can be demonstrated. However, as we work on a fully No Win No Fee basis, your partner should pursue this matter.

Hi, I was polishing wine glasses at work at the resturaunt. It then snapped in my hand and cut through my finger and damaging a tendon and nerve. I am in a cast for 3 months and have to have physio therapy. Can I claim from this? Thank you.

We have previously succeeded with a number of identical accident at work claims and would recommend that you provide us with your contact details. One of our team will then call you to take some further information and get your claim enquiry to the right specialist Solicitor.

Hi my husband was working the back door for delivery at a supermarket store, he was informed at the beginning of he’s shift that the lift to put the cages on wasn’t working properly as the metal pole was broken. They told my husband either get a member of staff to hold the pole up as you put the cages on or use a step ladder to hold it up, so he used the step ladder an the pole still fell at fall speed an hit him on he’s head which resulted in him having to go a&e an having it glued.

We was wondering how this would all work etc an of he should put a claim in?

The employer has been negligent here. From what you describe, they have placed your husband at risk of injury. On that basis, he ought to make a claim for compensation against the employer and seek compensation. We would gladly help him with this and discuss how the claims process works and confirm that it would have no implications upon his employment or affect any of his colleagues.

Does any accident at work let you claim personal injury compensation?

Table of contents

Have you got a valid work accident claim?

Did your employer ever give you any training?

Were you given an induction to the workplace?

Did you have the correct protective equipment?

Were tools and equipment fit for purpose?

Did you know how to report an accident?

Were there enough staff to maintain safety?

Were reported risks taken seriously and made safe?