Can I Claim If I Suffered A Broken Bone At Work?

By Cat Reeves. Last Updated 29th January 2024. Have you suffered a broken bone at work because of a failure of health and safety standards? Did your employer neglect to properly apply their legal duty in a way that resulted in you being injured?

What duty does an employer actually have to prevent you from being injured in this way?

We explain how you could start a personal injury claim for a fractured or broken bone that happened in an accident at work due to your employer being negligent. Perhaps you would like to discuss your concerns now? If so, please feel free to get in touch with our advisors by:

  • Calling on 0203 870 4864 to discuss your situation
  • Request a ‘call back’ or use the ‘contact us‘ option
  • Access immediate free advice through our ‘live support’ option

broken bone at work

Select A Section

  1. When Could I Claim For A Broken Bone At Work?
  2. How Do You Prove Your Claim?
  3. How Long Do You Have To Claim For A Broken Bone At Work?
  4. Calculating Damages For A Broken Bone At Work
  5. Make A No Win No Fee Broken Bone At Work Claim

When Could I Claim For A Broken Bone At Work?

Per the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, your employer must take reasonable steps to ensure your safety while you are working. This is their duty of care.

If your employer were to breach their duty of care, and this caused you to suffer a broken bone at work, you could be eligible to make a personal injury claim.

Some examples of how you could suffer a broken bone in a workplace accident include:

  1. Your employer failed to regularly maintain a piece of workplace machinery. This causes the machine to malfunction and crush your hand inside, resulting in serious breaks and fractures in your hand and wrist.
  2. Your employer failed to properly secure down or cover some loose cable wires. This causes you to trip on them, and you suffer a broken ankle.
  3. The stairwell in your workplace has insufficient lighting. Due to this, you are unable to see where you are going, and you fall down the stairs, causing you to suffer multiple injuries, such as a broken leg and spinal injury.

If you have suffered a broken bone in a workplace accident and would like to know whether you could be eligible to make a personal injury claim, you can contact a member of our advisory team.

How Do You Prove Your Claim?

As soon as you are satisfied that your broken bone at work injury was caused by negligent health and safety practices, you may be thinking about how to claim.

It’s possible to do this on your own or with the expert guidance of a personal injury solicitor. Either way, evidence is an essential part. With this in mind, start the following:

  • Always seek medical advice
  • Ensure the accident book is completed
  • Take photos or request CCTV of the area where your accident happened
  • Ask any witnesses if they would give a statement at a later date
  • Keep a diary of events
  • Consider engaging legal representation

Suing your employer for their negligence may feel intimidating to attempt alone. So, if you wish, speak to our team and they can answer any questions you may have about doing this.

How Long Do You Have To Claim For A Broken Bone At Work?

If you are eligible to make a personal injury claim for broken bone injuries, it’s important to start proceedings within the time limit. This time limit is set out by the Limitation Act 1980, which states that you will have three years to start your claim. This starts on the date of your accident.

However, there are some circumstances under which you may still be able to claim if you fall outside of this limit. For example, if you broke a bone at work while under the age of eighteen. In this case, the time limit won’t start until your eighteenth birthday. A litigation friend can claim for you before then, but otherwise, you can claim for yourself between your eighteenth and twenty-first birthdays.

Another exception is for those who do not have the mental capacity to claim for themselves. The time limit does not exist in this case, and a litigation friend can claim on their behalf at any time. If they recover the needed capacity and no claim has been made on their behalf, the time limit will begin on the date of their recovery.

Contact our advisors to learn more about the personal injury claims process. Or, read on to get more information on broken bone injuries.

Calculating Damages For A Broken Bone At Work

If you have suffered a broken bone at work and you make a successful personal injury claim, you will be awarded general damages as part of your compensation settlement. This head of your claim compensates you for your injury and the pain and suffering it has caused you.

The Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) is a document that may be used by those valuing your claim for general damages. This document provides guideline compensation brackets for a variety of injuries at differing severities.

Within the table below, we have used some of these compensation guidelines, except for the first figure.

 

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Bone fracture injury Severity JC Guideline award bracket Description
Multiple Severe Injuries + Special Damages Severe Up to £1,000,000+ Multiple severe injuries and financial losses, which could include lost earnings, the cost of a mobility aid, or the cost of home adjustments.
Knee Severe (a) (ii) £52,120 to £69,730 Leg fractures extending to the knee causing limited movement and arthritis risk
Back Severe (a) (iii) £38,780 to £69,730 Cases of disc fractures or lesions that lead to chronic conditions.
Arm Other arm injuries (b) £39,170 to £59,860 Serious forearm fractures leaving permanent disability
Pelvis Moderate (b) (i) £26,590 to £39,170 An injury that is significant but there is no major disability
Leg Less serious (c) (i) £17,960 to £27,760 Fractures that leave an incomplete recovery
Elbow Less severe (b) £15,650 to £32,010 Significant levels of impaired function but falling short of surgery
Ankle Moderate (c) £13,740 to £26,590 Fractures that cause difficulty walking or standing
Wrist Less severe (c) £12,590 to £24,500 Cases that can involve some permanent disability or stiffness
Collarbone Serious (e) £5,150 to £12,240 Depends of level of disability or residual symptoms

 

Special damages is the second head of claim that you could be awarded as part of your compensation settlement. It compensates you for the costs you have experienced due to your injury. These could include:

  • Medical expenses, such as prescription fees and paying for a wheelchair.
  • Travel expenses to and from medical appointments.
  • A loss of earnings due to taking time off work to recover from your injury.

When claiming for these financial losses, you will need to provide evidence of them. This could include invoices, payslips and receipts.

For a free valuation of your personal injury claim, you can contact one of our advisors. They could also offer you free advice for your case and answer any questions you may have.

Make A No Win No Fee Broken Bone At Work Claim

Now that you know more about making a broken bone compensation claim, you might be wondering how working with a solicitor could benefit your case. You aren’t obligated to work with personal injury solicitors on your claim, but they can help you gather evidence, ensure your claim is filed on time, and explain complex legal jargon. 

Plus, our panel of solicitors work on a No Win No Fee basis by providing their clients with a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). Under a CFA, your solicitor generally won’t ask you to pay for their work upfront or as the claim continues. Likewise, if your personal injury claim fails, your solicitor won’t take a fee for their services. 

If your claim does succeed, then a success fee will be taken from your compensation. This fee is a small percentage of what you receive which is subject to a legal cap. The legal cap is in place to help make sure that you keep the majority of what you receive. 

Contact Our Team

If you are interested in working with a personal injury solicitor from our panel, get in touch today. One of our advisors can evaluate your claim through a free consultation, and if it is valid, they could connect you with a solicitor from our panel. To get started:

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