When Could I Claim Compensation For Industrial Accidents?
This guide will offer information on claiming for industrial accidents. Was your accident at work caused by negligence on the part of your employer? This guide aims to explain how you could claim for harm caused by a breach of duty of care.
At UK Law we have direct experience that can help if you’re looking for free legal advice after an industrial accident. Simply call our advisors for a free initial consultation; they could also connect you with a personal injury solicitor from our panel.
You can:
- Call our team on 020 3870 4868
- Fill in our ‘call back’ form or email us at our contact page
- Speak with an agent on our ‘live support’ option
Our guide contains highlighted links to offer further help and advice and if you have any questions as you read the sections below, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Select A Section
- What Is An Industrial Accident Or Injury And Could I Claim Compensation?
- What Is An Employer’s Duty Of Care To Prevent Industrial Accidents?
- What Injuries Could Industrial Accidents Cause?
- Causes Of Industrial Accidents In The Workplace
- Industrial Accident, Injury And Illness Compensation Calculator
- Claim Industrial Injury Compensation With A No Win No Fee Solicitor
What Is An Industrial Accident Or Injury And Could I Claim Compensation?
Industrial accidents can be any accident directly attributed to or acquired from your working environment. Industrial injuries can be caused by, for example, inadequate safety equipment or missing PPE such as proper hard hats, safety goggles, or steel toe boots. However, this list is not exhaustive.
A claim for compensation can be made for industrial accidents if you are able to prove:
- You were owed a duty of care by your employer.
- This duty was breached.
- You suffered harm as a result.
These three points form negligence on your employer’s part. If you are successful in proving your employer’s liability, your employer could have to pay you compensation for your injuries.
Call to find out whether you could claim industrial injury compensation following employer negligence.
What Is An Employer’s Duty Of Care To Prevent Industrial Accidents?
A piece of legislation called the Health and Safety At Work, etc Act 1974 (HASAWA) outlines the duty of care that employers owe their employees. It states that they should take reasonably practicable steps to reduce the risk of injury or ill-health. Under the legislation HASAWA, employers have several specific tasks with regards to ensuring and protecting the safety and wellbeing of their employees.
Some of the steps an employer can take to uphold their duty of care include:
- Carry out regular risk assessments so that hazards can be identified and removed or reduced
- Providing PPE that is needed for the role in question
- Properly training employees
- Informing employees about risks, and giving them instructions on how to deal with them
If you can show that your employer breached their duty of care towards you, and that this caused you to be injured, you may be able to claim. Find out more about the industrial claims process, speak with our team today.
What Injuries Could Industrial Accidents Cause?
With this in mind, you may be wondering what kind of injuries can be acquired in an industrial setting. Below are some examples:
- Fractures or head injuries
- Neck and back injuries, for example, a broken back
- Cuts or lacerations on sharp tools
- Industrial hearing loss
- Vibration white finger caused by constant contact with vibrating machinery
- Chemical burns
- Occupational asthma and lung disease
Not every accident or injury is automatically the fault of an employer. Employees have a responsibility to take care and abide by health and safety directives themselves. However, if you can show that the negligence of your employer caused the accident to take place, you might be able to claim.
In addition to this, in order to make a claim, there must be an injury. Industrial accidents alone are not sufficient. Speak with our team if you suffered any type of injury that was directly related to a breach of workplace health and safety.
Causes Of Industrial Accidents In The Workplace
Industrial accidents and injuries could be the consequence of numerous different things. For example:
- Lack of proper training- if you’re not trained to carry out a role and you injure yourself while performing it because of this, then you may be able to claim
- Poor housekeeping- for example, if walkways are left obstructed, and this could cause a slip, trip or fall and you may be injured as a result.
- Lack of PPE- if you’re not given steel toe boots when your role requires it, then you might sustain a broken foot as a result.
- Poor maintenance- if a piece of machinery is not maintained as it should be, it could malfunction. This could cause someone to be hit by a piece of machinery, sustaining bruised ribs.
The list above is far from exhaustive and if your particular reason is not included, do still get in touch. You could have a valid claim if you were injured as a result of negligence.
For more information on claims for industrial accidents, get in touch with our team.
Industrial Accident, Injury And Illness Compensation Calculator
You may wonder how compensation claims for industrial accidents are valued. Firstly, if a claim is successful, you could be awarded a settlement comprising general damages and special damages. General damages compensate for the pain and suffering of your injuries. Special damages compensate for the financial losses incurred due to your injuries.
An independent medical assessment with an impartial GP or specialist will be carried out as part of your claim. If you work with a personal injury solicitor, they may be able to arrange this for you.
This will generate a medical report that gives a clear idea of how bad your industrial injuries are. These are then compared with injuries listed in the Judicial College Guidelines when valuing general damages. As mentioned, this head of your claim is designed to acknowledge pain, suffering and loss of amenity.
Below, we have included some excerpts from these guidelines:
| Injury | Severity | Guideline Award Bracket |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple serious injuries with financial losses | Serious | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Brain damage | Very Severe (a) | £282,010 to £403,990 |
| Moderate (c) (i) | £150,110 to £219,070 | |
| Leg | Amputation of both legs (a) (i) | £240,790 to £282,010 |
| Injuries Affecting Sight | Total Blindness (a) | In the region of £268,720 |
| Scarring | Multiple Noticeable Laceration Scars or One Disfiguring Scar | £7,830 to £22,730 |
| Shoulder | Moderate (c) | £7,890 to £12,770 |
As well as this, financial losses incurred as a direct result of your injuries could be claimed back. This part of your claim is called special damages. You will need to provide proof in the form of wage slips, receipts, or invoices that show you needed to pay out money to cope with your injuries.
Tell our advisors what other expenses you incurred because of your injuries to see if they are eligible for inclusion in your claim. They could also connect you with a solicitor from our panel who can
Claim Industrial Injury Compensation With A No Win No Fee Solicitor
If you’re eligible, you could instruct an expert solicitor from our panel to help you claim industrial injury compensation. They have experience handling claims for industrial accidents and can offer their helpful services via a No Win No Fee agreement.
This typically means you won’t pay for your solicitor’s services upfront, as the claim proceeds, or if the claim fails. If your case has a successful outcome, you’ll pay a percentage of your compensation to your solicitor as their success fee. This percentage is legally capped ensuring you keep the majority of your settlement.
With this in mind, find out more about how a No Win No Fee agreement could benefit those making industrial accidents claims. Our team is available right now when you:
- Call our team on 020 3870 4868
- Fill in our ‘call back’ form or email us at our contact page
- Speak to our team using the ‘live support’ option
Other Related Articles On Claims For Industrial Accidents
For more of our helpful guides:
- Find out more about claiming on behalf of someone else after an accident caused by a negligent third party.
- More information on claiming for a permanent injury suffered in an accident that wasn’t your fault.
- Learn more about your rights after an accident at work in the UK including when you could claim compensation.
Below are some further resources that you might find useful:
- Find out about reportable incidents from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
- Information about asbestos from HSE.
- Lastly, further reading on self-funded care from the NHS.
For more information on claiming for industrial accidents, speak with an advisor today.
Writer FE
Checked by NC
