Injured At Work Due To Inadequate Training? You Can Claim Compensation

By Ian Morris | Updated June 22nd, 2023

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If you have been injured as a result of inadequate training, you are entitled to claim compensation. In this article we look at how to know if you have a valid claim, and what’s involved in making one.

Inadequate training accident claims
Why claim compensation for your injuries?
Can you make a claim if you’re injured because of inadequate training?
How Direct2Compensation can help
Comments – your questions answered

Inadequate training accident claims

Employers and event organisers are legally obliged to assess the risks that their workplace or activity present. They must ensure that workers or participants are advised of the risks present and given sufficient and adequate training.

While most often associated with an accident at work, these claims can also arise from leisure activities or other events. Basically, anywhere that a group leader or organisation has failed to adequately train and prepare someone to be able to identify hazards and risks to health, and minimise the risk of being injured.

Inadequate training claims commonly relate to manual handling injuries, such as soft tissue and back injuries, lacerations or crushing injuries from using dangerous machinery or tools. In the more severe claims we see permanent consequences such as restricted mobility, scarring and psychological trauma.

Claims will succeed, and see the claimant obtain a compensation settlement, if it can be proven that an employer or other organisation has been negligent and failed to comply with their statutory duties in providing necessary training to staff.

Why claim compensation for your injuries?

Claiming personal injury compensation can help ease some of the problems you’ll experience and help in a number of ways:

It’s your legal right, and if successful will fairly compensate you for injuries that were not your fault
A successful claim could fund private medical treatment and rehabilitation therapies to speed your recovery
It can help you recover lost income now and in the future if you are prevented from working again
If an inadequate training accident has led to a fatality, loved ones can claim compensation for their loss

As all 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, with the value of the claim including any lost income and incurred costs as well as a settlement for the injuries and medical treatment that you have sustained.

Can you make a claim if you’re injured because of inadequate training?

In the majority of cases, inadequate training claims are made as a result of an injury suffered at work. In such cases, a claim will succeed if employer negligence can be proved. This includes instances where the employer has not provide sufficient training to use machinery or tools safely, or enabled staff to identify risks to health, for example. Therefore, they are deemed to have exposed someone to an injury that could have been avoided.

Employers must ensure:

That staff are provided with an adequate induction to the workplace. In safer workplaces such as an office, this should include fire safety training and basic manual handling to avoid back injuries, for example. In more dangerous workplaces, such as a construction site, factory or engineering plant, training and guidance should be far more in-depth and specific to the risks of that particular workplace.
That staff are made aware of any protective personal equipment requirements.
That equipment is of sound working order and fit for purpose, by way of regular servicing and repair of the same.
That tools or machinery are only used by workers who have been trained or qualified to operate them.

Inadequate training claims relate to injuries that should have been avoided. It may seem obvious to many, but if an employee is tasked with a physical job such as lifting repeatedly, it is important that they are trained to lift safely and have manual handling training. If not, soft tissue injuries to the lower back are likely. If an employer fails to train someone to use machinery safely, the extent of an injury can be much more serious.

Any person who suffers an injury because of inadequate training is entitled to make a claim for personal injury compensation. This applies to agency and temporary workers as well as full time staff. All have the same rights when it comes to injuries at work.

If you believe that your injuries were caused because of an inadequate training accident, you are likely to be able to hold your employer or activity organisers liable for your injuries and may well succeed with your claim for compensation. If this sounds like your situation, you should contact Direct2Compensation today to start your claim.

How Direct2Compensation can help

As with all claims for injury compensation, it is important to make sure that the details of your accident have been recorded properly within an 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.

At Direct2Compensation we have the know-how to evaluate whether you were injured because of inadequate training and can tell you whether or not your claim is likely to succeed. Over the years we have successfully assisted many claimants and helped them to find the right specialist injury compensation solicitor to manage their claim.

We work with some of the best expert injury compensation solicitors in the UK. With our easy to understand claims process and ability to handle your claim quickly, simply and transparently, there are many reasons that make us the right choice.

If you have suffered an injury at work 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 inadequate training accident claim examples...

Hi, I recently had an injury at work. A broken finger, quite badly broken. I’m a class 2 driver and work for a company that operate motorised rear doors, the door on my wagon was however defected 2 days previous not repaired and switched to manual operation!
Long story short at my first delivery i shut the door and as the door came down and trapped my hand. Luckily my middle finger took the full force and prevented breakage on the others.

I have received no training from work on how to operate the door manually as they are normally motorised. And although I have signed the “drivers handbook” it’s far too thick to have been read by anyone in transport fully and I was pressured into signing to say I had read it.

I can’t work for 4 weeks minimum and I’m on holiday for 2 weeks and my employer are now saying they aren’t going to pay my holiday leave!

Straight away I drove the vehicle back to work (automatic) I’m led to believe the vehicle was repaired immediately after I was taken to hospital.

Some guidance in this issue would be great.

The only way you can recover your lost pay whilst you are off work is by succeeding with a claim for personal injury compensation (unless you can convince your employer to pay you – which is unlikely!). Given the lack of training and the apparent fault with the door of your vehicle, you may well have grounds for a claim although the employer will obviously point to your signed ‘handbook’ in their defence.

We would be happy to present your claim to our specialist Solicitors as they may well agree with our initial assessment and wish to act for you in a claim for compensation.

I have had an accident in work I’ve broke my left arm and shattered my left elbow when I was delivering parcels. I have never had any Health & Safety training before the accident. The company I work for has admitted that they cant find any documents to say that I have had Health and safety training. Can I make a claim against my employer?

If your employer cannot demonstrate that they have provided you with the required health and safety training and ensured that you can work as safely as possible, it may be possible to demonstrate employer negligence and succeed with a claim for compensation as a result of the injury you have sustained to your arm at work.

On the basis of my initial view of your situation, it would appear that you could well have a valid claim for compensation.

I get injured at work on 26 nov2018, they give me compensation for occupational injuries form, I am general worker but on 26/11/18 they give me the machine to operate without training so I got injured and and now they put emergency things on that machine I was working, are they going to pay me or not?

Under UK law, an employer is obliged under the Health and Safety at Work Act to ensure that all staff using potentially dangerous machinery are adequately trained and competent in using the machine. Further, the machinery must have the required safety guards and emergency stop mechanisms fitted. If this was not the case at the time of the accident at work, the employer would be liable and negligent under UK law.

I was driving a forklift in my last employment without a licence or any appropriate training given to me at all. Causing me injury to my rotator cuff (shoulder) I have received medical treatment twice now since then and still am. Ì was told by my employer to drive away for practice on it as it would help me pass my test first time. 8 months later I was still driving it with no training, tests, assessments etc. Now I’ve left the place and have struggled with my shoulder ever since in my new job, which is holding back my performance, not only at work but at home too.

Your employer was negligent in allowing you to drive a forklift without the appropriate licence to do so. Therefore, in theory if you have sustained injury as a result you may be able to pursue a claim against your former employer for the injury you have sustained.

Before we can advise further as to whether or not you have a valid claim for compensation, we need to ask some questions about your employment, specifically what has been reported to the employer regarding your injury, any symptoms you suffered with or any complaints you made about lack of training.

I had an accident at work which was me falling off a ladder and breaking my leg which required surgery with a metal plate and 13 screws. I had a previous accident 2 years ago that also involved me falling off a ladder and badly bruising my leg. I didn’t claim for this and after taking a short break went back to work. I am still recovering from the second accident but have now been informed that if I return to work I will no longer be able to do ladder work and as a result my job title and wage will be reduced.

I have worked for this company for over 13 years and don’t remember ever having any specific ladder training. Where do I stand if I feel I am more than able to go back to my previous role and salary?

If your employer has failed to provide you with adequate training to work at height they could well be held liable for your injuries as a result of employer negligence. Working at height is a foreseeable danger and as such requires an employer to provide training to ensure that the risk of a fall from height is reduced, and also ensure that the ladder equipment provided is fit for purpose and regularly inspected and maintained.

In your case, my initial view is that you have a valid claim for compensation against the employer for compensation for the injuries you sustained.

On the issue of returning to ladder work, your employer cannot prevent you from working at height without adequate reason to do so. Therefore if you are deemed fit to work by your Doctor and able to work at height there is no reason for the employer to withhold your current job role and income from you. We’ve an article on ladder accident claims if you’d like further understanding on things.

Hi Ian, I’ve now been told by the doctor that I can return to work on light duties – with no ladder work or driving at the moment. Can my boss pay me less for returning to work on light duties – and if so does this have a bearing on salary etc when I’m back to full fitness and duties? Many thanks.

Depending on the pay structure of your workplace and your specific agreement with your employer, there could be scope for you to receive a lower wage if you are unable to perform some of the duties you would normally have responsibility for. As an example, if you work in a warehouse and drive a forklift you are likely to receive an additional supplement for being a licensed forklift operative. Therefore, if you could work but not operate the forklift, your employer may temporarily reduce your income to that of a warehouse operative. There should not be an impact on your long term position once you are back to full health.

If you do receive a lower than usual income due to the injuries you have sustained at work, you could seek to recover the difference or lost income by way of making a claim for personal injury compensation against the employer – if they were negligent (or any other organisation or person if they were responsible) in this matter.

Okay so I got my finger sprained at work and had to take some time off. I was trained by someone who repeatedly put his hands into the machine and didn’t go over half the machine. Am I entitled.

The training from your employer you describe would appear to be inadequate to ensure that you could work with the workplace machinery safely. Of course, we would need to speak to you in detail to find out more about your work, your employer and the training you were given before we could offer definitive advice to you, but if we can demonstrate employer negligence, then it is very likely that you would have a valid claim for work accident compensation.

So I’m at work and first day of training they put me to work with a little training and the following days of the week all I did was work and with little training but we are told to wear safety boots but today while the guys were pushing an 800 pound roller they ran over my foot and I couldn’t walk for an hour and iced it for that long now the swelling went down and I’m feeling a little better so far Can I still sue ?

If you have been placed in an area of risk by an employer and not been given the correct training or Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and then sustain an injury at work, you can pursue a claim for compensation.

In your case, you need to make sure that the accident has been reported and that you seek medical treatment for your injuries. This will be vital to the outcome of any claim you wish to make. Once you have done this, please call us on 01225430285 and we’ll take some initial details ahead of finding the right specialist Solicitor to pursue your claim for accident at work compensation.

I had an accident at work which caused no pain during the shift but the next day I could not move without severe pain. I phoned in sick and visited the doctors who signed me off with muscle injuries. My Ssp ends soon and don’t feel well enough to go through the benefit process so will have no income. I was asked to do a job for an agency for which i was trained and signed off. On getting to work i was moved to a different job with 3 other people.i was asked if i was trained by the line leader to which I replied no. Despite this I was put on job with person who had been trained. Later in shift this person was taken away so I was left working machinery untrained unsupervised and with no ppe or any awareness of any hazards. All I got was the removed worker said watch out for the lights to which of course I had no idea what he was on about until later a sensor light shone in my eye giving me double vision and problems with my eyesight which I am getting checked to see if the sensor light was the cause. I don’t think my agency made a riddor report so hse would not be aware of this regulation breach. could i claim loss of earnings as I will soon have zero income?

Unfortunately, employers don’t have to pay full pay and can place you on SSP if they wish. Even if your injury was caused as a result of some work you were tasked with doing by an employer.

With regards to your loss of income, the only way that you can seek to recover any costs and lost income after an accident at work is by making a claim for accident at work compensation. However, to succeed with a claim against your employer, you will need to be able to identify an area of employer negligence that lead to you sustaining the injury. Our expert staff know your rights after an accident at work and in just a brief telephone conversation with you would be able to identify whether or not you had realistic prospects of successfully holding your employer responsible for the injuries and losses that you have sustained.

I’ve twisted my knee at work, whilst handling stock and was rushed into hospital. It is swollen and currently in pain. The manager was there and did not say anything about filling in an
accident form or anything. Doctor said i need to rest it a couple days and let the swollen calm down before an MRI can be done on the Knee.

Am i entitled to sick pay and well as claiming them?

You should contact your employer at the earliest opportunity to ask that they make an accident book record of your injury. I would suggest that the best bet would be to email your employer and outline the nature of your injury and also any issues that you think caused the injury – such as a lack of training or manual handling guidance.

Your employer is not obliged to pay you your full salary/usual income if you are signed off as unwell or injured – even if that injury was caused in an accident at work. Sadly, most employers do not pay full sick pay and only provide Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). However, you may well have grounds for claiming compensation against your employer that would, if you were to succeed, see you obtain a settlement for the knee injury and also enable you to recover all lost income and costs.

Hello my names peter just a quick question regarding injuries at work I fell at work over a pallet truck used for moving pallets of trays it was my own fault as i was using it at the time in moving a pallet of trays I wrote that down in the injury report book at work at the time , I was then taking to hospital x rayed resulting in me having fractured my left shoulder the accident itself as i said was my own fault , however I was told to work outside in the yard a few times before this incident because we were short staffed , and I am not trained in anyway or signed off to work outside in the yard or use any equipment such as the pallet truck as my Pacific job with the company I work for is dispatch operative packing food products in to trays for distribution. Do i have a case against the company for making me work outside in the yard with out any formal training is using equipment etc?

Peter

Thank you for your enquiry. I would suggest that it is worth us getting our specialist solicitors to discuss this with you. Although you feel responsible for the placement of the pallet truck that you fell over, you have also cited a lack of training for the area in which you were working at the time. With this in mind, there maybe something we could do.

Clearly, I don’t know the full details at this stage, but I would suggest that you call our office on 01225430285 (or make a contact enquiry through our website) so that we can discuss this with you and find out more. We could then offer proper advice to you and potentially help you make a claim for compensation.

Hi I recently recovered from an injury at work where I was asked to do a job I had not been fully trained on and as a result I rolled my foot after slipping and broke my 5th metatarsal. Was on sick pay for 2 months and now due to the injury I got I developed a blood clot in my leg! Have been on medication for this and am finished being under care by doctors/hospital but my leg is still very swollen and sore from the DVT and have been told I could be like this for rest of my life! Will I be able to claim for the break and the blood clot as without braking a bone at work I would never be in this position?

Stuart

If your employer has tasked you with duties and not provided you with sufficient training, then they are guilty of employer negligence and are in breach of the health and safety requirements faced by all employers. On the basis of the information you have provided, it sounds like you have every chance of succeeding with a claim for compensation for the injuries you have suffered as a result of your work situation.

The initial injury would most certainly form the basis of the accident at work claim, but with the right medical evidence our specialist injury compensation solicitors would look to include the full impact of the ongoing troubles caused by the DVT you mention. To obtain this evidence, we use specialist medical experts to assess our clients, review medical records and then write a report.

You should most certainly bring a claim against your employer as you have not only suffered a nasty initial injury – a bone fracture to the foot could have some permanent implications in itself, but also the ongoing DVT issue and swelling to the leg which sounds like it could be a long-term problem for you.