Can I Bring a Personal Injury Claim Against my Employer?
17th February 2012
Yes, if you have suffered an injury as a result of an accident at work you may be entitled to compensation. Understandably, you may be worried about losing your job or being treated differently as a result of bringing a claim. You may think that your employer cannot afford to pay you compensation or that bringing a claim will affect your working relationship with colleagues.
With regards to whether your employer can afford the compensation, this is covered by employer’s liability insurance.
As regards losing your job or being victimised, there are laws in place to prevent this, but we find that often clients do not experience any problems at work when bringing a claim.
Who is to blame?
Compensation for accidents at work is payable if it can be shown that the accident was someone else’s fault. The fault could be with your employer, a colleague or a visitor to your workplace.
What can I bring a claim for?
Potentially any accident that you have whilst in the course of your employment. This can include work in an office, building site or company vehicle.
Most common accidents are:
- Tripping over something, such as computer cables, boxes or tools left around
- Falls from height, such as from ladders, roofs, scaffolding
- Lifting something which is too heavy or big
- Slipping on wet floors
What should I do if I have an accident at work?
Even if you are not sure whether you can bring a claim, you should take these steps to safeguard your position:
- Report the accident at work to a supervisor or first aider and ensure that an accurate record of the accident is reported in an accident book. If possible, take photographs of the accident location.
- Visit your GP and/or hospital to have your injuries examined and get any treatment you need.
- If there is a witness to your accident, make a note of their name and contact details.
- Did your employer make any changes or repairs after your accident? If he did, make a record of it.
- Keep receipts of prescriptions and travel fares, including a note of mileage for hospital/GP appointments.
What should I do if I am sacked for bringing an accident at work claim?
In our experience this is extremely rare. However if you are sacked because you bought a claim against your employers, then this is known as automatic unfair dismissal and you are entitled to bring a claim under Employment Law. Our Employment Law team can assist you with this.