Your employer must do everything they can reasonably and practically do to ensure that your workplace and working conditions are safe and hazard-free. This comes down to everything – the floors you walk on, the desks you sit at, the warehouses you carry boxes round, the equipment you use, and the equipment provided to you to assist you to stay safe in your job.
The focus of this blog is the workplace itself.
There are actually rules that state that every walkway and traffic route must be free from any dangerous defects or potential hazards. The way your employers uphold this is pretty simple; regular inspection and maintenance regimes. Your responsibility, dependant on what it says in your contract, will commonly involve the reporting of dangerous defects or potential hazards to your employer. Once your employer is on notice that there is a dangerous defect / potential hazard, they are legally obliged to act quickly to rectify the defect / hazard as quickly as possible.
A defect can range from any form of tripping, slipping, or falling hazard. For example: a broken section of flooring, raised section of carpet, or a protrusion anywhere in the building. A hazard can range from any form of slipping hazard, such as spillages or areas susceptible to wet floors from outdoor weather activity, or perhaps a walkway that is unstable and may be about to collapse, or an open manhole without a cover.
Anything that has injured you through no fault of your own, that is a result of your workplace or the conditions you are expected to have to work in, is something you should definitely speak to an expert injury lawyer about. We can let you know in minutes whether we think you have good grounds to make a successful claim for compensation.
Making a Claim is actually really easy
If you have been injured in your place of work through no fault of your own, you have just ticked the first box on the “can you make a claim” checklist. Your employer has a legal duty to have a policy of employers’ liability insurance in place to compensate employees when they are injured at work.
In fact, this insurance exists for the sole reason to make a claim from – it’s a completely natural and normal process to claim from it. It’s your human and legal right to claim from the insurance you are covered by for workplace injuries.
The better part of the insurance is that it actually covers your legal fees for claiming as well. You need an independent specialist personal injury lawyer representing you for your case to ensure you rights are fought for, and ensure you receive the highest possible payout. This means you still keep 100% of your compensation if you instruct a lawyer working on a Genuine No Win, No Fee where legal fees are limited to whatever is recovered from your employers insurance.
For a law firm to actually limit legal fees to whatever is recovered is actually a very rare thing. Speak to us for more advice on this, as it’s important to ensure your payout is completely protected from incurring any deductions or percentages.
All in all, a claim for compensation should cost you absolutely nothing. Give us a call for more advice and information.