Workplace injuries: know your rights

When you are at work, your employer has a legal responsibility to report any accidents, pay you sick pay and allow you to have time off because of an accident you suffer at work, should it be necessary.

To give you an idea of the scale of this issue, the most recent figures published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show that:

• 581,000 injuries occurred at work in 2019
• 28.2 million working days were lost due to work-related illness and workplace injury in the last financial year

While this is a decrease on the figures reported by the HSE in previous years, it is still unacceptable.

How to report an injury

All employers must keep an accident book. This is a legal requirement, and it is for the benefit of employees. It offers a useful record of what happened and when in case you need time off work or you need to claim compensation.

Who is responsible?

Your employer is legally required to do everything reasonably possible to ensure both your physical and mental well-being at work.

The first thing a responsible employer should do once the initial accident or injury has been dealt with is to carry out a risk assessment and do whatever is needed to ensure that a similar incident does not happen again.

It is important to remember that you and your fellow employees do also have to take reasonable action to ensure that your health and safety needs are taken care of.

Compensation

If you have been injured at work and you believe that your employer is at fault, you are within your rights to make a personal injury claim. Any claim must be made within three years of the date of the accident and you will usually need to hire a specialist personal injury solicitor to represent you.

How we can help

At The Compensation Experts, we work with specialist law firms who have a track record making successful workplace injury compensation claims. We and the firms we work with have a lot of experience in these cases and so, are well-placed to help you get the maximum amount of compensation you are entitled to. After your initial consultation with our advisors, which is done on a free no-obligation basis, we will match you with the firm who best suits the circumstances of your case.

If you decide to progress your claim, your solicitor will collect any evidence to help build the strongest possible case to support your claim. This evidence will be used not only to prove your entitlement to compensation but also to show the extent of your physical and financial suffering to ensure the amount you receive is fair.

Do not hesitate then to get in touch with us via the contact form on our website or by calling 0161 413 8765.