Our Right To Be Safe At Work
Specific laws secure your right to be safe at work. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 requires employers to protect the safety of employees as far as is reasonably practical. Supervision, training and proper maintenance of the workplace are all areas that employers can look at in regards to this law.
This duty of care extends to contractors, visitors and members of the public on the premises. In addition, employees have a duty under this law to protect their own safety as much as they reasonably can, as well as that of fellow workers.
But if an accident was caused by your employer, and you suffer injuries as a consequence, you could claim.
How Can An Employer Cause An Accident At Work?
Accidents can be caused in a number of ways in the workplace if employers fail in their responsibilities regarding duty of care. For example:
- You could slip on an unmarked wet surface that had been noticed but not attended to. This could lead to you suffering a nasty back injury at work
- Objects that aren’t stored correctly, due to poor training, could fall on you. Poorly stored objects and equipment can also clutter walkways, potentially leading to a fall at work.
- Poorly maintained machinery (that your employer was aware of but failed to fix) could malfunction and injure you.
- Safety instructions for a certain machine might be missing and you’re asked to use it regardless, resulting in injuries.
- Inadequate training could expose you to risk.
- An employer’s aware that the actions of other colleagues could create hazards, but doesn’t do anything to prevent harm.
Safeguarding against these potential risks could be the responsibility of your employer. Therefore, failure on their part which leads to you being harmed at work could make them liable for your injuries.
Proving Accident At Work Claims
It’s important that you can prove there was a breach of duty of care on the part of your employer which led to the accident and injury. The three main points used to establish negligence are:
- Duty of care: Under law, your employer has a duty to protect your health and safety at work.
- Breach of that duty: They breached their duty, causing an accident or incident.
- Consequent injuries: You suffered injuries as a result.
Proof is required for a successful personal injury compensation claim. You’ll need an independent medical assessment to uphold your claim of physical harm. This can be done as part of the claims process.
Additionally, if you claim for financial loss because of the injury, you’d need documentation. This can be in the form of bills, receipts and bank statements that show what you needed to pay out in order to deal with the injuries.
There are also time limits on making claims for a workplace injury. The Limitation Act 1980 generally gives three years. However, this can vary depending on certain circumstances, so it’s advisable to check your time limit with a legal expert before you claim.
Pursue A Workplace Accident Claim Under A No Win No Fee Arrangement
Many people worry that legal representation is expensive and complex. With this in mind, No Win No Fee agreements offer a solution. When you work with a lawyer under an agreement such as this, there are no solicitor fees to pay upfront or while the case moves forward. If your case fails, there are no solicitor fees to pay at all.
When a No Win No Fee case wins, an amount is payable to the lawyers as a ‘success fee’. This is kept to a small percentage and is deducted at the end from your final settlement amount. The success fee is capped by law for your benefit.
No Win No Fee allows you to fund the services of a solicitor at a reduced financial risk. You simply arm your lawyer with all the necessary evidence and they do the rest.
How JF Law Can Help You
Whether you’re claiming for an injury at work or a slip, trip or fall, we can help you.
With JF Law, you access high-quality legal representation on a No Win No Fee basis. Our advisors can chat over the basics of your claim in a free, no-obligation phone call or email. If we can help, we could connect you with our lawyers who could start a successful claim for you.
If you’d like to learn more about how much you could be awarded in your claim, why not try our compensation calculator tool?