Can I Make An Injury At Work Claim?

By Richie Billings. Last Updated 10th January 2024. This guide will explain how to make an injury at work claim for compensation.

Employers owe their employees a duty of care. Therefore employers are responsible for taking reasonable measures to ensure that their employees have a safe and hygienic space to work in.

If an employer’s negligence causes an employee’s injuries, the worker may be eligible to claim compensation for an accident at work.

This guide will explain how to make an injury at work compensation claim. To see if you can begin your workplace accident claim, call Public Interest Lawyers today.

Our advisors are available 24/7 and give free legal advice. If you have grounds for a favourable claim, they could connect you with our panel of personal injury lawyers who could manage your claim. To get started:

  • Contact us via our website.
  • Call us on 0800 408 7825 to discuss your claim with an advisor.
  • Or alternatively, you can chat with us online. Just enter a question into our Live Support widget.

A worker in a high-visibility vest lies on the floor in pain. His knee is bleeding and being bandaged.

Learn How To Make An Accident At Work Claim

Select A Section

  1. What Is An Injury At Work Claim?
  2. What Injuries Could I Claim For?
  3. How Do I Show My Employer Was Responsible For My Injuries?
  4. Do I Have To Have Taken Time Off Work?
  5. Check How Much Your Injury At Work Claim Could Be Worth
  6. Find Out If A No Win No Fee Solicitor Could Help You Make A Claim

What Is An Injury At Work Claim?

When you are working, your employer owes you a duty of care. This means that they have to take reasonably practicable steps to keep you safe, as outlined in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA).

There are various steps your employer can take to ensure that they fulfil their duty of care. For example, they may take risk assessments to help mitigate any dangers before asking you to do a task. Or, they could assess your role and make sure that they are providing sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE).

If your employer breaches this duty of care, and this causes you to suffer injuries in an accident at work, you may be able to claim compensation. All personal injury claims, including claims for workplace injuries, have to meet the same criteria, which means establishing that:

  • You were owed a duty of care.
  • This duty was breached.
  • You were injured as a result of this breach.

Our team of advisors are here to help. When you get in touch, they can assess whether you have a valid claim and could help give you a better idea of how much compensation you could receive if your workplace injury claim succeeds. Or, read on to find out how a workplace accident could occur.

What Injuries Could I Claim For?

You could claim compensation for a number of injuries caused by employer negligence, including the following:

A worker in a hardhat holds his head as he lays on the floor after an injury

Learn How To Make An Accident At Work Claim

How Could An Injury In The Workplace Occur?

Let’s look at some workplace accidents and injuries now.

  • Hazards on the floor can cause slip, trip and fall accidents. Consequently, workers can experience soft tissue injuries, fractures and back injuries if they fall.
  • Manual handling activities can cause musculoskeletal injuries. If employers have not trained workers to carry heavy objects, they may experience musculoskeletal injuries.
  • A loose railing or scaffolding can cause a worker to fall from a height. Consequently, the worker may suffer from spinal injuries, such as a slipped disc.
  • If an employer does not provide a worker with the correct and necessary personal protective equipment, the worker can suffer chemical burns.

If you have been affected by any of the accidents at work examples above, please call us to discuss whether you could claim compensation.

How Do I Show My Employer Was Responsible For My Injuries?

You can make an injury at work claim if there is evidence to prove the following: firstly, that your employer owed you a duty of care.

And secondly, your employer breached this duty, which caused the accident that injured you.

You could collect the following pieces of evidence to prove your compensation claim:

  • Medical records and an independent medical report
  • Photographs of your injuries
  • Witness contact details for statements at a later date
  • Receipts and prescriptions for any medication you took
  • A copy of the logbook where you reported the workplace accident

if you experience an accident at work, how long do you have to claim compensation? The personal injury claims time limit is generally three years.

The time limit begins on the date of your accident or the date you gained knowledge that negligence at least contributed to your injuries.

However, there are exceptions to this time limit. For more information, get in touch today.

Do I Have To Have Taken Time Off Work?

You don’t have to have taken time off work to make a valid personal injury claim. However, if you did take time off and you lost earnings because of it, you could recover these losses in a claim.

You could claim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) if you have to take time off work after being injured. Not everyone is eligible, so please check the government guidelines.

Your employer may also pay you sick pay. Please check your contract to see if you are eligible to claim sick pay.

To learn more about making a claim after an accident at work, get in touch with our team of advisors today.

A man in a high visibility jacket signals for help as his colleague lays on the floor with an injury

How Much Compensation Could You Receive After A Successful Claim?

Check How Much Your Injury At Work Claim Could Be Worth

How much you could claim for a successful accident at work claim can vary depending on factors such as the severity of your injuries and whether your mental health was impacted.

To illustrate potential compensation amounts, we’ve included the table below. We used guidelines from the Judicial College to create this table.

The Judicial College Guidelines is a publication solicitors use to help value injuries. However, the final amount of compensation you receive may differ from what is included in the compensation table below.

Guideline Compensation Brackets

Injury Type Level Settlement Comments
Multiple Severe Injuries And Special Damages Severe Up to £1,000,000+ Multiple severe injuries in combination with substantial financial losses, which could include lost earnings or the cost of mobility aids.
Back Injuries (A) Severe (i) £85,470 to £151,070 Including severe damage to the nerve roots and spinal cord.
Back Injuries (A) Severe (ii) £69,600 to £82,980 Cases with ‘special features’ such as orthopaedic injury to the back.
Back Injuries (B) Moderate (i) £26,050 to £36,390 There is residual disability but at less severity.
Burn Injuries Likely to exceed £98,380 Impacts of burn injuries will generally be considered more serious and could cause greater pain. They could lead to psychological and physical injuries. Severe burns will likely attract higher damages payouts.
Chest Injuries (C) £29,380 to £51,460 Injuries affecting the lung(s) or chest that causes some continuing disability.
Chest Injuries (D) £11,820 to £16,860 This bracket includes simple injuries such as penetrating wounds. This may cause some permanent tissue damage or injuries but which does not leave the person with significant (or long-term) effects on function of the lungs.
Wrist Injuries (B) £22,990 to £36,770 A wrist injury which results in significant and permanent disability. Some useful movement does remain in the wrist.
Wrist Injuries (D) Rarely exceed £9,620 The initial injury was a soft tissue or a fracture which takes longer to recover from but which is complete.

You could receive general damages to pay for your pain, suffering and loss of amenity. These are demonstrated in the compensation table above.

Special Damages

To evidence special damages, you’d attend a medical assessment as part of the personal injury claims process.

An independent medical professional would check your injuries and create a report. This report can be used to help value your injuries.

Furthermore, you may be eligible to receive special damages, compensating you for the costs associated with your injuries, such as the cost of paying for medical treatment or the cost of adapting your home if you become disabled.

To prove special damages, you’d need to provide evidence such as payslips, invoices or bank statements.

Our team of advisors are here to help. If you’d like to learn how much compensation you could receive for a successful accident at work claim, contact us today.

Find Out If A No Win No Fee Solicitor Could Help You Make A Claim

We hope our guide has helped you learn more about workplace accident claims. If so, you might be interested in seeking legal representation to help you through the claims process, provided you have a valid case. Working with a solicitor isn’t mandatory, but it does come with a number of benefits. For example, a solicitor could help you:

  • Gather evidence.
  • Explain legal jargon.
  • Arrange an independent medical assessment.
  • Communicate with the other party.

What Is A No Win No Fee Solicitor?

Our panel of solicitors work on a No Win No Fee basis, and offer their services under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This means that you generally won’t be required to pay them any upfront fees in order for them to start working on your claim. Similarly, you don’t need to pay for their continued services, nor for their work if your claim fails. This can help mitigate some of the financial risk that can come with making a claim.

If you make a successful accident at work claim, then your solicitor will take a success fee. They deduct this directly from your compensation as a small, legally capped percentage. The legal cap helps the make sure that the larger share of your injury at work compensation stays with you.

Contact Our Team Today

To see if you can begin your claim, please get in touch:

  • Contact us via our website.
  • Call us on 0800 408 7825 to discuss your claim with an advisor.
  • Or alternatively, you can chat with us online. Just enter a question into our Live Support widget.

A woman leans over an unconscious man and offers first aid.

Find Out How No Win No Fee Solicitors Could Help You

Learn More

To learn more about claiming compensation for an injury at work, please see our guides below.

External Resources

If you need any more information on making an injury at work claim, get in touch today.

Article by AH

Publisher UI