Chemical burns can be serious injuries. They may leave victims with excruciating pain, disfigurement, psychological distress and disabilities. If your employer failed to comply with safety legislation on the proper handling and storage of chemicals and you were harmed, you could be eligible to claim compensation. In this guide, we look at when and how to make chemical burn at work compensation claims.
We begin by addressing the main question of this guide: how much compensation for chemical burns may be awarded. We explain the factors taken into consideration when calculating compensation for chemical burn injuries. Next, you can find information on the different degrees of chemical burns. Following this, our guide looks at the criteria claims must meet and the wider claims process. Finally, you can find information on how burns occur, what chemicals could cause them, and how a specialist solicitor from our panel could help you.
To find out more about chemical burn injury claims, contact us by:
- Click here to contact us using our form.
- Phoning 0800 408 7825.
- Talking to us now over our live chat.
If your accident was caused by someone else’s negligence you could have grounds to make an accident at work claim. To find out more, continue reading this guide or speak to an advisor from our team.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How Much Chemical Burn At Work Compensation Could I Get?
- How Are Chemical Burn Compensation Amounts Calculated?
- Am I Able To Make A Workplace Chemical Burn Claim?
- How Can I Make A Chemical Burn At Work Compensation Claim?
- How Can Chemical Burns Occur?
- What Chemicals Can Cause Burn Injuries?
- What Can Public Interest Lawyers Help Me With?
- More Information
How Much Chemical Burn At Work Compensation Could I Get?
A chemical burn injury causing scarring to over 40% of the body and which leaves the person with both physical and psychological harm, would likely be awarded more than £127,930. This is based on the latest figures from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG).
The JCG is a document containing guideline compensation figures. It may often be used when estimating how much compensation may be awarded for an injury.
Settlements for any workplace injury, such as a burn, may consist of two parts. These are:
- General damages – deal with compensation for physical and psychological pain and suffering. They may compensate for the impact of physical scars or psychological injuries. General damages may be calculated with reference to the JCG.
- Special damages – these compensate for various financial losses associated with your accident and resulting injuries.
How much compensation you could be awarded may depend on the severity of your burn injuries and the impact they have had on you. In general, the more severe your burns are, the higher your compensation award may be.
Below, we present figures from the JCG (except for the first figure) illustrating compensation brackets that could be relevant to chemical burn claims. The first figure is our example of what could be awarded for a combination of special and general damages.
| Injury | Severity | Compensation |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple, very severe chemical burns + special damages. | Severe burns. | Up to £500,000+ if awarded special damages, such as for medical treatment. |
| Scarring to other parts of the body. | Significant burns which cover 40% of the body or more. | Likely to exceed £127,930. |
| A (single) disfiguring scar or a number of laceration scars which are noticeable. | £9,560 to £27,740. | |
| Post-traumatic stress disorder. | Severe - A | £73,050 to £122,850. |
| Moderately severe - B | £28,250 to £73,050. | |
| Moderate - C | £9,980 to £28,250. | |
| Facial disfigurement. | Very severe scarring - A | £36,340 to £118,790. |
| Less severe scarring - B | £21,920 to £59,090. | |
| Significant scarring - C | £11,120 to £36,720. | |
| Less significant scarring - D | £4,820 to £16,770. |
Next, we look at what financial losses your chemical burn compensation claim could include.
Can I Claim for Financial Losses Resulting From A Workplace Chemical Burn?
The second part of your settlement for a workplace chemical burn may be for financial losses. This part of your settlement may be referred to as special damages.
Financial losses that could be claimed for:
- Loss of earnings. Severe chemical burns could leave you facing a lengthy recovery time during which you may be unable to work, or only be able to work at a reduced level. You could be compensated for the impact on your income. This allows you to continue providing for yourself and your loved ones, concentrating on your recovery.
- Medical expenses. Severe burns may require extensive medical treatment, such as care for your wounds. Subsequently, you may also face medical expenses to pay for cosmetic and/or plastic surgery.
- Domestic care costs. You may need help and support in the home if the burns have impacted your sight, or your ability to carry out everyday tasks (such as those where you suffered severe burns to your hands).
- Travel expenses. If you had to travel to medical appointments, you may be able to recover associated costs.
You need to provide evidence for these, or any other financial losses, to be included in your chemical burn injury claim. Common types of evidence may include invoices for medical treatment, payslips from your employer or bank statements.
A solicitor from our panel could assess your case, helping to determine what chemical burn at work compensation you could claim. Speak to a member of the advisory team to find out more.
How Are Chemical Burn Compensation Amounts Calculated?
Chemical burn compensation amounts may be calculated by taking the degree of severity into account. As we saw in the previous section and table, the more severe a burn injury, the more compensation may be awarded.
Chemical burns (like other burns and scalds) may be put into one of 4 categories:
- Superficial burns. There is damage to the epidermis (the outer layer of the skin). The area affected may be red, swollen and painful. There are no blisters.
- Superficial dermal burns. There is damage to the epidermis and (part of) the dermis. The area affected may appear pale pink and be painful. There may be some blistering.
- Partial thickness burns. Deep dermal burns damage both the epidermis and dermis. Skin will be blotchy and red. The area affected may become blistered and swollen. The burn may be moist or dry. There may or may not be pain.
- Full thickness burns. There is damage to the epidermis, dermis and subcutis. Skin may be burned away, exposing underlying tissues which appear pale or even blackened. Any remaining affected skin may be dry, looking white, brown or black. It may have a waxy or leathery texture, with no blisters and could be painless.
Chemical burns, such as those caused by caustic chemicals, acids or alkalis can quickly cause severe injuries. They require immediate medical attention. In response to acid and chemical burns, the NHS recommends trying to remove any contaminated clothing and the chemical, such as by rinsing the affected area with clean water.
If you suffered a chemical burn, our team could help you by assessing the severity of your injury and comparing it to compensation brackets in the JCG.
Am I Able To Make A Workplace Chemical Burn Claim?
Yes, you could claim for a chemical burn at work if you can show your employer breached their duty of care to you and that this breach led to your burn injuries.
To make a chemical burn at work compensation claim, you need to satisfy the following criteria:
- Your employer had a duty of care to you. This is a legal obligation that makes a liable party (in this case, your employer) reasonably responsible for another party’s health and safety.
- Your employer breached this duty of care. Breaches may include failing to carry out necessary risk assessments, not providing personal protective equipment necessary to safely handle chemicals, or otherwise failing to comply with relevant legislation on the use of chemicals at work.
- This led to you suffering chemical burns.
Taken together, these three items are what is known as ‘negligence’. In this case, it would be employer negligence.
If you choose to claim with a personal injury solicitor from our panel, they could review your case and help to establish that employer negligence occurred. Contact an advisor today for a free personal injury claims eligiblity review.
What Are My Employer’s Responsibilities To Prevent Chemical Burns?
Employers have a responsibility or ‘duty of care’ to take reasonable steps to prevent workers suffering chemical burns.
The main pieces of legislation pertaining to workplace safety in general, and the use of chemicals, include:
- The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Under this act, employers have a duty of care to ensure the safety of employees in the workplace by taking reasonably practicable steps.
- The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH). Under this act, employers should assess potential risks arising from the use of hazardous substances (such as chemicals) and take reasonable steps to control or prevent these risks.
- The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992. Under these regulations, employers should ensure they provide you with the correct and necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) as well as any necessary training in the handling and use of chemicals.
If you sustain chemical burns due to your employer’s failure to comply with health and safety regulations, you could claim compensation. Contact our team for more information on when an employer may be liable for your injuries.
How Can I Make A Chemical Burn At Work Compensation Claim?
When making a chemical burn at work compensation claim, you should collect supporting evidence and ensure the claim is filed within the applicable time limit.
Evidence which could help you prove chemical burn injury claims:
- Medical records obtained from your healthcare provider. These should contain details of the severity and extent of your burns. Your records should also show what treatment you have had or will need.
- CCTV or other video footage of the accident taking place. You can find out how to request CCTV footage of your accident here.
- Photos showing the scene of the accident, its cause, or your injuries.
- A copy of any reports made in your workplaces accident report book. This should log where and when the incident occurred.
- Contact information for anyone who witnessed the accident take place. They may later be asked to provide a witness statement.
In addition to collecting supporting evidence, your claim must be filed within the relevant time limit. The Limitation Act 1980 sets a standard time limit of 3 years. However, there are 2 notable exceptions to this:
- Where a claimant is under the age of 18 the time limit does not begin until they reach this age. This is because minors are not able to take legal action themselves.
- Where a claimant does not have the mental capacity to handle their own claim there is no time limit. If the claimant’s mental capacity is regained, the 3 year limit will apply from the date they have made this recovery.
In either instance, chemical burn claims could be made by a litigation friend on behalf of the person harmed.
A solicitor from our panel could help to collect evidence and file your chemical burn injury claim.
How Can Chemical Burns Occur?
Chemical burns could occur in the workplace due to poor safety and handling procedures, a lack of protective equipment, explosions, fires and exposure through leaks and spills of liquids or gases. Common causes of exposure to hazardous chemicals include:
- Spills and leaks from poorly maintained equipment.
- Handling errors due to insufficient training.
- A lack of PPE.
- Poor storage or labelling.
- Explosions and/or fires.
Below, we look at examples of how exposure to hazardous substances could occur:
- Skin contact. An employer may fail to provide proper safety gloves and other PPE to a worker handling caustic soda. This causes severe burns to the worker’s hands.
- Inhalation. An employee may be exposed to a tank which is slowly leaking chlorine gas. The employer has failed to carry out regular inspections of the tank, failing to detect the defect and leak. The employee suffers respiratory damage.
- Ingestion. Containers with dangerous substances are poorly stored and labelled. A clear container is stored close to water bottles and is not clearly labelled. An employee accidentally drinks some of the liquid suffering internal burns in their throat and stomach.
- Injection. An employee has not been properly trained in the use of a high-pressure chemical injector nor in correct safety procedures. They cause the injector to misfire and inject a corrosive substance onto their skin causing severe injuries.
Contact our team of advisors if you were harmed in these or other scenarios and see if you could make a chemical burn at work compensation claim.
What Chemicals Can Cause Burn Injuries?
Chemical burn injuries may be caused by a wide range of different dangerous and hazardous chemicals used in workplaces. These may include reactive chemicals, alkalis and strong acids.
Potentially dangerous chemicals include:
- Sodium hydroxide is used in the manufacture of everyday items from soaps and detergents to paper production. It is also used in metal, food, textile and water treatment industries. It can cause severe skin and tissue burns on contact.
- Sulphuric acid is used to produce certain fertilisers, to control acidity in food, in metal extraction, oil refining and producing other acids and industrial chemicals. It is a highly corrosive substance and can cause deep tissue burns.
- Nitric acid is used in the production of fertilisers, dyes, pharmaceuticals, explosives and more products. When exposed to the skin it can cause yellowing and severe burns.
- Phosphoric acid is used in applications such as food additives, fertilisers and removing rust. It is moderately corrosive with prolonged exposure causing burns.
- Ammonia is used in products from cleaners to fertilisers as well as refrigeration systems. It can cause burns to the skin on contact or to the respiratory tract through inhalation.
Improper handling of these chemicals could lead to burn injuries. If they get in the eyes or other parts of the face, they could cause damage to the senses. Get in touch with our expert team to learn more about chemical burn claims.
What Can Public Interest Lawyers Help Me With?
Our trained advisors could review your case and eligibility to claim. If you have a valid chemical burn injury claim our team could help you. An advisor could connect you to one of our panel of specialist workplace accident solicitors.
With decades of combined experience, all our solicitors are experts in helping people to successfully claim compensation. They could also offer to take your case on through a Conditional Fee Agreement. This is a type of No Win No Fee agreement.
The benefits of working with a personal injury solicitor in this way are that you will only need to pay for their work when awarded compensation. If your burn injury claim isn’t successful, there’s nothing to pay for their work. If it is, you’ll pay a success fee which has been agreed in advance. Additionally, this success fee is a percentage that has a legal limit placed on it.
Further benefits of working with a solicitor from our panel include:
- Guidance through the claims process.
- Explanation of legal terms.
- Years of dedicated experience.
- Dedication to a high level of customer service.
Contact Our Panel Of Solicitors
If you have suffered an accident at work, get in touch with our team. We could help with your chemical burn at work compensation claim.
- Call us now on 0800 408 7825.
- Use our online chat to speak to an advisor.
- Click here to use our contact form.
More Information
In this section, you can find further guides about workplace accident and injury claims from our site as well as supporting references.
- Check whether you get full pay if injured at work in this guide.
- Here you can find out more about claims for factory accidents.
- Find out more about construction injury claims in this guide.
Supporting references:
- Find more information on acid and chemical burns in this NHS resource.
- More information on chemical manufacture and storage from the Health and Safety Executive, the workplace safety regulator for Britain.
- Find out more about calculating Statutory Sick Pay in this government resource.
Thank you for reading our guide on how much chemical burn at work compensation you may be able to claim. An advisor from our team could assess your chemical burn injury claim, determine whether you meet the eligibility criteria and connect you to a solicitor from our panel.
