Compensation Claims For Carbon Monoxide Poisoning At Work

In this guide, you can determine how much compensation you could claim after suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning at work. If you’ve suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning at work due to a breach of duty of care by your employer, you could be entitled to claim damages. We can help you figure out how much you may be owed.

Carbon monoxide poisoning at work guide

To get free legal advice about making a claim, you can speak to our experienced team of advisors today at 0800 408 7825 or by using our contact form. If they judge that your claim has a chance for success, they can connect you with a lawyer from our panel of adept solicitors, who can help you make a personal injury claim.

Continue reading for more information about carbon monoxide poisoning at work compensation amounts and how you could claim.

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What Is Carbon Monoxide Poisoning At Work?
What Are The Symptoms Of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning?
Causes Of Exposure To Carbon Monoxide Poisoning At Work
How Is Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Treated?
How Could Your Employer Protect You From Carbon Monoxide Poisoning?
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning At Work Compensation Calculator
Talk To A No Win No Fee Workplace Illness Solicitor
Read More About Carbon Monoxide Poisoning At Work

What Is Carbon Monoxide Poisoning At Work?

According to the NHS, carbon monoxide can be very difficult to spot, as it cannot be detected by smell or taste. If you breathe it in, it can make you very sick, and high amounts could even be fatal.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is commonly produced by burning fuel and can often be sourced from gas appliances. If there are gas appliances in your place of work, they are required to be serviced by registered technicians regularly. There should also be appropriate ventilation to ensure the CO doesn’t build up to dangerous levels in the workplace. Other sources of CO could be in paint fumes or car exhausts.

Your employer is bound by a duty of care to all employees, as laid out in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. As part of this duty of care, they need to take all reasonable steps to ensure your safety. Therefore, if they are not following acceptable precautions (as outlined above), and you’ve suffered because of it, you could be able to hold them liable for your injuries.

What Are The Symptoms Of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning?

It can be difficult to tell if you’re suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning. Common symptoms can include:

Tension headaches
Dizziness
Feeling or being sick
Tiredness and confusion
Stomach pain
Difficulty breathing

It may be difficult to tell these symptoms apart from other common illnesses, such as the flu. However, carbon monoxide poisoning is highly unlikely to give you a temperature in the same way.

The longer you’re inhaling the gas, the more severe your symptoms will be. Long term exposure could cause incredibly serious symptoms, such as vertigo, breathlessness, chest pain, seizures or even an impaired mental state. It’s important to see a medical professional as soon as you become suspicious you may have carbon monoxide poisoning. They can give you an accurate diagnosis and help you treat your symptoms.

Causes Of Exposure To Carbon Monoxide Poisoning At Work

Carbon monoxide poisoning could be caused by a variety of things in the workplace. For example, if you’re working in a car garage without proper ventilation, the exhaust fumes from the cars could make you sick.

For the most part, you can avoid carbon monoxide poisoning by ensuring your work area is properly ventilated whenever you’re working with fuels or fumes. It is your employer’s responsibility to ensure safe working conditions. This includes the installation of windows or vents to let gases out and the organisation of safety checks for appliances.

Every year, around 60 people in England and Wales die from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. All practicable steps should be being taken to ensure you don’t become one of these people.

How Is Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Treated?

There are different treatments for carbon monoxide poisoning, depending on the severity of your illness. If you only have mild symptoms, you often will not need any hospital treatment, but you will need to cut off your exposure to CO as soon as possible.

For more serious symptoms, you may need oxygen therapy. Normal air contains only 21% oxygen, but a doctor will fit you with a mask providing up to 100% oxygen in oxygen therapy. This is to counteract the shortage of oxygen that carbon monoxide poisoning causes. Doctors will monitor your blood and will continue this therapy until everything returns to normal. Recovery will depend on the level of CO you have been exposed to and how long the exposure lasted.

How Could Your Employer Protect You From Carbon Monoxide Poisoning?

There is an assortment of ways your employer can keep you safe from carbon monoxide poisoning at work. According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), it’s important to adhere to the Assess, Control and Review model when dealing with carbon monoxide:

Assess – Identify the situations where CO may be perilously present.
Control – Reduce the risks by using safer alternatives, providing proper ventilation and giving mandatory training about carbon monoxide.
Review – Make sure all equipment is being used correctly by staff and is up to date on maintenance.

If your employer has taken all reasonably practicable steps to keep you safe from carbon monoxide poisoning at work, you may not be able to make a claim against them. It is always important to note that before making a claim, it is best to collate as much evidence as possible, such as medical records, to support that it wasn’t your fault.

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning At Work Compensation Calculator

See below for our compensation calculator table for possible injuries relating to carbon monoxide poisoning. These figures are taken from the Judicial College Guidelines and aren’t guaranteed compensation amounts, but we have used them for illustrative purposes. Legal professionals use the Guidelines to help them when valuing claims.

Injury	Severity	Amount	Note
Brain	Very Severe	£264,650 to £379,100	This includes cases where there may be some basic functioning, such as opening eyes or following basic commands. But for the most part, there will be little response to the environment.
Brain	Moderately Severe	£205,580 to £264,650	This includes cases where the person will be seriously disabled with a high dependence on others. It could include a physical disability as well.
Lung Disease	(d)	£29,380 to £51,460	This includes cases of breathing difficulties requiring use of an inhaler or having a significant effect on social and working life.
Lung Disease	(f)	£9,990 to £19,510	This includes cases of slight breathlessness with little effect on working life and permanent recovery within a few years of exposure.

You may also receive special damages compensation. This covers any losses or expenses already accumulated because of your injuries, as well as any that may arise in the future. It can cover:

Loss of past and future wages
Medical expenses
Travel expenses
Adjustments to the home

In order to claim special damages, you’ll need to provide evidence of the costs you have incurred. For example, you could show receipts for prescriptions that you’ve had to pay for yourself.

Talk To A No Win No Fee Workplace Illness Solicitor

If you’ve suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning at work and could prove that it was not your fault, you could be able to talk to one of our specialised solicitors about making a claim.

Our panel of solicitors offer their services on a No Win No Fee basis. This means that if your claim is unsuccessful, you will have nothing to pay your solicitor for their work. However, if it is successful, they will take a legally capped fee from your compensation amount.

This fee only gets taken once the compensation comes through. What’s more, you’d know the fee percentage before the solicitor agrees to work on your case, so there are no surprises for you at the end.

Get in touch today to find out more about our panel’s No Win No Fee services. You can:

Call us on 0800 408 7825
Use our contact form via our website
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Carbon Monoxide Poisoning at Work Personal Injury Guide

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