Can You Sue For Falling Down Stairs At Work?
By Lewis Aaliyah. Last Updated 8th June 2023. Falling down the stairs at work can be a painful and traumatic experience. If you fell down the stairs at work and it wasn’t your fault, then you may be able to claim compensation if you were injured. That’s where we’re here to help.
Our advisors are available to take your call night or day. Once we know more about the circumstance surrounding your case, we may be able to put you in contact with our panel of personal injury solicitors.
By getting in touch with us today, you could get the process of claiming compensation started. Whether you had a slip, trip or fall, if you were injured and it wasn’t your fault then you could have a valid claim. Get in touch with us today and we will do our absolute best to assist you. Read on for more information.
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Advice On Claiming Compensation For Injuries From Falling Down Stairs
Services And Information
- The Criteria For Claiming For Injuries From Falling Down Stairs
- What Can Cause You To Fall Down Stairs At Work?
- The Kind Of Injuries Can You Get From Falling Down The Stairs
- Calculating Compensation For Falling Down Stairs At Work
- I Fell Down The Stairs At Work Due To Bad Lighting – Can I Claim?
- Should I Go To The Doctor After Falling Down Stairs?
- I Had A Fall At Work, What Should I Do?
- Claim For A Fall – No Win No Fee Solicitors
- Other Information
- Frequently Asked Questions
The Criteria For Claiming For Injuries From Falling Down Stairs
If you have suffered injuries from falling down the stairs at work, you may be eligible to make a personal injury claim. However, you will need to prove that your injuries were caused by your employer breaching their duty of care. Together, this is known as negligence.
Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, your employer owes you a duty of care. Per this duty, they must take reasonable steps to ensure your safety while you are in the workplace and performing work-related duties. If they were to breach this duty of care, you could become injured, and you may be eligible to make an accident at work claim.
Contact our advisors today to discuss your potential fall at work claim and receive free advice.
How Much Time Do I Have To Claim For Falling Down Stairs At Work?
If you fall down the stairs at work and it wasn’t your fault, you generally have 3 years from the date of the accident to make a claim.
There are some exceptions to the 3-year time limit which we’ll explain below:
Child Accident Claims
If someone under the age of 18 suffers a workplace accident, they have until their 18th birthday before the 3-year time limit begins. Prior to this date, their case can be pursued by someone else for them.
Anyone under 18 cannot legally make their own personal injury claim. However, an individual known as a litigation friend could do so on their behalf. For example, a litigation friend can be a parent, guardian or solicitor.
Claiming For Individuals with Reduced Mental Capacity
If someone lacks the mental capacity to claim, then the 3-year time limit functions slightly differently again. The time limit only starts from the date the injured party regains sufficient mental capacity to pursue their own claim. However, before this happens, a litigation friend could claim on their behalf.
What Can Cause You To Fall Down Stairs At Work?
There are many possible scenarios that could lead to you falling down the stairs at your place of work. The causes could range from damaged stairs or a damaged floor to items being left or dropped on the stairs.
Some other causes for falling down the stairs at work include:
- Loose or unstable handrail/bannister
- Torn carpet or another form of damaged floor
- Wet floor signs not being properly displayed
- Spilt liquids not being attended to
- Inappropriate flooring material without non-slip properties
Your employer has a responsibility to protect your health and safety. If you’re injured due to their negligence, you could claim.
The Kind Of Injuries Can You Get From Falling Down The Stairs
As a result of falling down the stairs at work, there are a number of injuries you could sustain. The severity of these injuries can vary depending on a number of factors. Some injuries that could be sustained are:
- Spinal/disc injuries: Compressed or slipped discs are not uncommon after falling down the stairs. Not only is the pain known to be very extreme in some cases, but there can also be a great deal of treatment/physiotherapy involved during recovery.
- Nerve damage: This can be felt in a number of ways. Tingling and burning are not uncommon symptoms, but some fine motor function has also been known to be lost or affected. This kind of injury may not present itself immediately following the accident but could start to display itself further down the line. There can be extensive rehabilitation involved.
- Head/brain injuries: A head injury or brain injury can range from minor to severe. Taking a blow to the head can lead to a concussion. Whilst a concussion can seem to rectify itself relatively quickly in a number of days or weeks, there can still be lasting damage for some. Memory loss, changes in behaviour and waves of nausea are all concussion symptoms that have been known to occur to varying degrees of persistence. Severe damage to the brain can lead to irreversible side effects.
- Broken bones: Fractures can occur in almost any bone in the body as a result of falling down the stairs at work. The height of your fall and the angle at which you hit the ground can affect which bone could be broken, and how badly. Sprains and bruising can sometimes be mistaken for broken bones, so it’s always best to seek medical attention to make sure.
Seeking Medical Advice
All of these injuries can be very severe, and life-threatening in some cases. If you suspect you have suffered an injury after falling down the stairs at work, you should seek medical attention to check if you require any treatment.
We are not medical professionals, and so may not be able to elaborate further on these injuries. We are however personal injury experts. If you have any questions about an accident at work that wasn’t your fault, then get in touch with us today.
Calculating Compensation For Falling Down Stairs At Work
There are two potential heads of claim in personal injury cases: general damages and special damages.
General damages are intended to address the level of physical or mental pain and suffering that the individual endured as a result of someone else’s negligence. Recovery time also factors into this amount.
This figure can be calculated using a publication known as the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). The JCG is used by legal professionals to help them value injuries. It contains a list of different injuries and recommended awards for differing levels of severity.
We’ve created the compensation table below to illustrate the potential compensation awards you could receive.
| Damages | Awarded For | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Less Serious Leg Injuries | (iii) Simple Fractures to Tibia or Fibula or Soft Tissue Injuries | Up to £11,840 |
| Moderate Brain Damage | (iii) Cases in which concentration and memory are affected | £43,060 to £90,720 |
| Back Injuries | (a) Severe (iii) | £38,780 to £69,720 |
| Chest Injuries | (f) Injuries leading to collapsed lungs from which a full and uncomplicated recovery is made. | £2,190 to £5,320 |
| Back Injuries | Severe back injuries (a)(i) – The most extreme of back injuries resulting in incomplete paralysis and impaired bodily functions. | £91,090 to £160,980 |
| Knee Injuries | Moderate knee injuries (i) – Injuries that result in minor instability, wasting or weakness. Other mild future disability or worsening of pre-existing symptoms. | £14,840 to £26,190 |
| Ankle Injuries | (a) Very Severe | £50,060 to £69,700 |
| Ankle Injuries | (c) Moderate | £13,740 to £26,590 |
| Foot Injuries | (g) Modest | Up to £13,740 |
| Toe Injuries | (b) Amputation of the Great Toe | In the region of £31,310 |
The second head of claim is special damages. Special damages are calculated on a case-by-case basis. This bespoke amount is paid to cover any financial losses or additional outgoings that the claimant may have experienced due to their injuries after falling down the stairs at work.
For example, as a result of the injuries, you may have taken time off work which resulted in a loss of earnings.
You can prove special damages by providing documents such as bank statements or payslips.
If you’d like a free, accurate estimate of what you could claim, why not get in touch today?
I Fell Down The Stairs At Work Due To Bad Lighting – Can I Claim?
If the visibility in a workplace stairwell is reduced due to reasons such as a broken light fitting, then this could lead to an employee falling. If you were injured due to falling down the stairs in work with bad lighting, you could potentially claim against your employer.
It is the employer’s responsibility to rectify any issues with visibility that could lead to an injury. If the employer does not take all reasonably practicable steps to rectify hazardous conditions, such as fixing a broken light fitting, they are breaching their duty of care.
If you are injured as a result of a breach such as this, then you could make a claim against your employer. To find out more about accident at work claims relating to injuries in stairwells, get in touch with our advisors today.
Should I Go To The Doctor After Falling Down Stairs?
It’s always strongly advised that you seek medical attention following an injury that requires it. Even seemingly minor injuries can result in more serious consequences in both the near and distant future.
Your health following a workplace injury is of paramount importance. For example, it’s important to seek medical advice regarding a head injury or suspected brain injury if you’re experiencing concussion symptoms.
Seeking medical care is not just vital for ensuring your own physical well-being. By visiting a doctor, you will be medically assessed as you are treated. The entry in your medical records can be used as evidence when pursuing a personal injury claim.
However, if you didn’t seek medical help at the time, you may still be able to claim. That’s because, during the claims process, you would attend a medical assessment. An independent medical professional would check your injuries and create a report which aims to:
- Assess the severity of your injuries.
- Establish whether your injuries were caused or exacerbated by the accident (or whether there’s no link between the accident and the injuries). If there’s no link between your injuries and the accident, you may not be compensated.
If you use the help of a solicitor, they could use this report to help value your injuries.
I Had A Fall At Work, What Should I Do?
Following a fall at work, you should always seek medical attention. Even superficial-looking injuries can result in more sinister outcomes, so it is always best to be safe and get looked at by a medical professional.
Seeing a medical professional should also result in an entry in your medical records. This evidence could prove useful in proving the date, severity, and prognosis of any injuries sustained.
Obtaining other evidence is also an important next step. Taking photographs of hazards that could have caused your injury (such as a broken floor or damaged stairs) could also help your case. Contact details of witnesses are also very useful to get hold of for witness statements. The incident should also have been logged in your place of work’s accident book.
Once you have all your evidence in place, you could be ready to claim. You could get in touch with a lawyer who deals with personal injury claims. Our panel of solicitors are very experienced in these matters. Call our advisors today and they may be able to connect you with them.
Claim For A Fall – No Win No Fee Solicitors
When making a fall at work claim, you might seek the help of solicitors to help you. However, if you are worried about the financial risk of using solicitors, our panel of accident at work solicitors could work with you on a No Win No Fee basis.
Under this type of arrangement, you may not be required to pay an upfront fee. If your claim is unsuccessful, you won’t need to pay your solicitor’s fees at all. If your claim succeeds, they will deduct a success fee from your compensation. The percentage that No Win No Fee solicitors take is legally capped under the Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013.
If you want to claim for a fall injury and think you’d benefit from working with an expert solicitor from our panel, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Get In Touch About Falling Down The Stairs At Work
To find out more, why not get in touch with our advisors? They give free legal advice and are available 24/7. Plus, you won’t be under any obligation to proceed with our services. You can get in touch by:
- Calling us on 020 3870 4868.
- Using our live chat to get instant answers.
- Using our online claim form to request a callback.
Other Information
Here are some additional resources to explore regarding your injury:
- Statistics for injuries sustained from falls from a height in the food and drink industry
- NHS advice regarding falls
- More on concussions and related symptoms
- We also have our own guides that are related to claiming:
- Your rights following an accident at work in the UK
- Guide to claims for accidents on holiday
- How much compensation you could be awarded following a slip, trip or fall
Frequently Asked Questions
In this final section of our guide, we look at frequently asked questions regarding fall injuries.
What do you do if someone falls down the stairs?
Your first step if someone has fallen down the stairs is to seek medical attention if appropriate. In some cases, you shouldn’t try to move the injured person. Some injuries can be made worse by movement without proper medical assistance such as a paramedic.
If you’re unable to get up after a fall, the NHS advises that (if possible) calling 999 may be the best course of action.
What should you look for after a fall?
Superficial injuries after a fall may be easy to spot at first glance. These include cuts, bumps and bruises. Deeper-lying problems are often much harder to see. If the person’s fall has caused them to lose consciousness then you should seek medical attention.
In the event that the injured person seems dazed, confused or not themselves, then this could be a sign of a concussion.
Thank you for reading our guide exploring whether you could be eligible to claim after falling down the stairs at work.
Writer IB
Checked by HT
