Are you a victim of a burn due to radiation exposure? Could it be that you’re still trying to handle the physical and psychological consequences? And, crucially, did this come about due to an accident through no fault of your own? If this applies to you, then we could help. This guide covers what you should know about making a radiation exposure claim. Included in the guide, we have an example case study about a compensation payout of £6,500 for such an injury.
Radiation exposure burns compensation
Ahead of reading this guide, we wish to advise you that you could contact us at any point to discuss your case. Our team of advisors are on-hand 24/7 to answer your queries. The team offers confidential, free legal advice. You’re also under no obligation to proceed with the services of our panel of lawyers after contacting us.
Our panel of personal injury solicitors handles situations like yours, meaning they could help you. Simply complete our online form, make use of the live chat below, or call us on 0800 408 7825.
Choose A Section
- A Guide To Calculate Radiation Exposure Compensation
- What Is Radiation Exposure?
- Can Radiation Exposure Cause Financial Loss?
- Common Radiation Exposure Accidents
- Our Compensation Estimates
- Get A Care Claim
- Case Study: £6,500 Radiation Exposure Compensation
- How To Estimate Compensation Settlements
- No Win No Fee Policy
- The Right Personal Injury Lawyers
- Contact Us Today
- Extra Resources
A Guide To Calculate Radiation Exposure Compensation
The critical points in this guide to making a radiation exposure claim include:
- Defining what radiation exposure is.
- Clarifying the potential accident scenarios.
- Explaining general and special damages.
- Discussing compensation calculations.
- Outlining No Win No Fee agreements.
We’ll try to explain legal jargon and guide you through the personal injury claims process. To illustrate this process, we include an example case study that outlines how a compensation claim for radiation exposure may proceed.
Personal Injury Claims Time Limit
In many cases, you would have three years to claim after suffering a radiation burn due to someone else’s negligence. But what if a child under 18 suffers such an injury? And how about a victim who doesn’t have the mental capacity to claim? In both situations, a close relative or other appointed representative could act as a litigation friend to pursue the claim for them. If they turn 18 or regain their mental capacity and no claim has been made their time limit clock of three years will begin then.
Find out more about your potential radiation exposure claim by talking to us. Our advisors are available 7 days a week, throughout the day and night. They provide free legal advice with no necessity for you to proceed with the services of our panel of personal injury solicitors.
What Is Radiation Exposure?
Radiation is the emission of energy that travels in electromagnetic waves or subatomic particles. Radioactive material can be dangerous, so it should be handled with care and using personal protective equipment (PPE).
Exposure to radiation can be relatively safe. For example, we use X-ray beams when investigating injuries. But when exposure results in someone being burned, that’s when we may realise the gravity of the risk. And if the injury happens because of a third party’s negligence, and the incident could have been prevented then they may be liable for any suffering caused. Importantly though, the third party must have a responsibility towards your health and well being.
The most noticeable symptoms of a radiation exposure burn include swelling, redness and blistering. The severity of the symptoms would depend on the level, frequency and length of exposure. The recovery time for the skin to heal could be several weeks for a mild burn.
In a more severe situation, the healing process could take several months. The severity of your injuries could influence the amount you could seek when filing a radiation exposure claim. Get in touch to learn more about radiation exposure burns.
Can Radiation Exposure Cause Financial Loss?
There could be financial loss from suffering a radiation burn. For example, you may spend money trying to repair the skin. This could possibly be via plastic surgery. Other medical expenses, such as prescriptions or private healthcare costs, could also add up noticeably, especially for a severe burn.
What’s more, the burn could keep you off work for some time while you fully recover. This could result in some loss of income. If the injury affects your ability to work in your chosen profession, your career prospects could be in jeopardy.
Therefore, you could recover any financial losses you’ve suffered because of the injury. You would need to prove the losses with, for example, bills and invoices. To find out more, please speak with our friendly team today.
Common Radiation Exposure Accidents
Making a successful radiation exposure claim involves proving the negligence of a third party. To do this, somebody should have owed you a duty of care to protect your health and safety. If they breached that duty, which led to you suffering an injury such as a radiation exposure burn, then there is the potential for you to make a claim.
Legislation and Duty of Care
An accident at work could potentially breach the duty of care employers have to safeguard employees’ wellbeing under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. It would depend on the circumstances, but suffering this injury via a workplace accident can be unfortunate and could leave your employer liable.
An example of employer negligence could be if they knowingly provide you with inadequate PPE for the handling of radioactive materials. If they ask you to handle radioactive materials with that PPE and you suffer burns, they could be liable. However, it is important to remember that not every accident that takes place at work will mean your employer has been negligent. To prove breach of duty of care you must be able to supply evidence to show your employer acted in a negligent manner.
Controllers of land, property and premises should take reasonable steps to avoid accidents in public places and injury to visitors. This is their duty of care under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. An accident in a public place could still happen, and there are plenty of locations where it could occur.
An example of you being injured in a public place might be as simple as using a tanning salon’s faulty sunbed. If the salon neglected to ensure that the bed was regularly tested and safe for use and didn’t warn you of risks, then you could potentially claim for any harm suffered.
Contact Public Interest Lawyers for further guidance about making a radiation exposure claim.
Our Compensation Estimates
A medical assessment would be a requirement of the claims process for any injury. It is used to determine the true extent and cause of your radiation exposure burn. Therefore, it could prove that the accident or incident caused your injuries, or worsened them if they were pre-existing. If the assessment found that your injuries were not caused or exacerbated by the accident, then you wouldn’t be able to claim.
The estimate for your possible radiation exposure compensation is divided into two heads of claim: general damages and special damages.
General damages are compensation for physical and mental pain, related suffering, scarring, as well as, the impact on your life. Special damages compensate you for costs stemming from your burn injury. So they would include medical treatment, time off work (resulting in lost income) and any additional treatment you receive in the future.
To ask further questions about general and special damages, please talk to our helpful team.
Get A Care Claim
You could make a care claim as part of the special damages in your radiation exposure claim. This could include compensation for the following:
- Gracious care, meaning assistance from family members and friends.
- A nurse or carer looking after you regularly.
- Hiring professionals to handle home chores.
You would need proof to recover the costs of care or reclaim the time your family spent caring for you. Get in touch if you want to discuss care claims and how this would impact your case as a whole.
Case Study: £6,500 Radiation Exposure Compensation
Mr Lloyd, 25, works at a radiation plant. He has worked there for several years now. However, it had just come under new management. It seemed that they thought the old rules and safety measures were costing more money than they should.
One particular day they decided to change things around. Reduce the amount of personal protective wear that was needed when handling radioactive substances. Mr Lloyd was confused by this. He thought that the new management wanted to cut corners to save costs. After speaking with his manager he became more concerned as the way in which he had worked was also being changed. He decided to go along with things to see how they went.
However, one morning his job had been changed and he was now dealing with radioactive waste. As he donned on the new PPE and got to his job he was not feeling confident at all. Coming to the end of his shift as he was moving the last of the barrels, one of the lids had not been secured properly. Before he knew it, a radio substance had leaked on to his hand. Straight away he took off his gloves and could see where his skin had become red.
Mr Lloyd went to the A&E department at his local hospital. He was diagnosed with first and second-degree burns caused by radiation exposure.
Making a Radiation Exposure Claim
Mr Lloyd would miss four weeks of work due to the extent of his injuries. Luckily, he had managed to get his glove off before huge amounts of the substance had leaked through. A distraught Mr Lloyd felt that he had been put in unnecessary danger due to the new management cutting corners.
After talking to a personal injury solicitor, Mr Lloyd learned he could file a claim based on his employer’s negligence. He received £6,500 as a settlement, with £4,500 for general damages and £2,000 for special damages.
| Type Of Special Damages | Includes: | How Much? |
|---|---|---|
| Lost Earnings | Costs of being unable to work | £1,500 |
| Medical Costs | Costs of aloe vera gels, aftersun lotions, painkillers, blister plasters and dressings | £300 |
| Care Costs | Time mother spent cooking, cleaning and caring for him | £170 |
| Travel Costs | Travelling to and from A&E | £30 |
Note: Mr Lloyd’s case study is merely an example and based on a potential accident scenario along with a possible injury payout.
How To Estimate Compensation Settlements
If you choose to claim through a solicitor, they should ensure that you receive the fairest and most accurate compensation estimate possible for your radiation exposure claim. They would do this by considering how you suffered the burn and the impact on your life now and moving forward. That’s why our team of advisors avoid using an online personal injury claims calculator, which can generalise figures.
We would much prefer to work closely with you so that your estimate is specific and accurate. Our team provides this for free as a courtesy before you decide whether to pursue the case. Learn more by calling us via the number at the top of this page.
No Win No Fee Policy
No Win No Fee agreements are there for claimants who want to use a solicitor but do not have the funds to or do not want to pay a solicitor upfront. A No Win No Fee solicitor would only take a success fee in the event that your case wins. But a lost case means they receive nothing from you in terms of their fees. Therefore, a personal injury solicitor would share the risk of your compensation case with you. Use our 24/7 live chat to ask any questions.
The Right Personal Injury Lawyers
To find a top-quality personal injury lawyer, we recommend that you search for those that have:
- Many years of experience.
- Plenty of successful wins for other personal injury claims.
- Positive reviews aplenty from previous clients.
- The ability to offer you No Win No Fee terms.
When you call our advisors they will assess your case for free. In a no-obligation chat, you can ask as many questions as you like. If you have a case with winning merits they may ask if you want to be connected to a No Win No Fee solicitor so that your case can begin. Call our knowledgeable team anytime for further details.
Contact Us Today
To talk with our expert team about filing a radiation exposure claim today, you can:
- Use our telephone line on 0800 408 7825.
- Drop us a message via the live chat function.
- Complete our contact form.
Our team is available to talk 24/7, and it isn’t mandatory to pursue your claim after speaking with us.
Extra Resources
Further information is available via these six links.
The Public Interest Lawyers website details all of our legal services in full.
We also discuss public accident claims in great depth.
And we outline any scenarios resulting in a public liability claim.
The NHS has a page where they explain recovery from burns and scalds.
They also discuss the various treatment options for such burns.
And the Health and Safety Executive details radiation monitoring in the workplace.
Article by AE
Publisher UI
Thank you for reading our commentary about making a radiation exposure claim.