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If you have been injured and you were not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident, can you still make a claim for compensation? In simple terms the answer is yes, you still may be able to make a claim. You should of course be wearing a helmet if you are on a bicycle or motorbike. The same concept also applies to work accidents in terms of wearing a hard hat where neccessary. There is a possibility that the Defendant (the other driver, an employer etc) may allege something called contributory negligence. This can reduce the compensation that you are entitled to; however this does not normally wipe out your compensation in its entirety.

It may be works practice or rules to wear a hard hat at all times whilst on site. Say you forgot to wear your hard hat and you sustained a head injury when an object fell. In this case it is likely that an element of contributory negligence would be found by a court. You can still claim and recover compensation, as there may still be negligence in that an object fell, putting employees at risk of sustaining injury. If contributory negligence is agreed or found by a court, your compensation would be reduced.
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Many people drive as part of their work. Field salespersons, lorry and delivery drivers, couriers; I’m talking to you! So what happens if you have a road accident whilst you are driving a works vehicle? Do you sue your employer? Is it different to making a ‘general’ road accident claim?

Well if you are not at fault, then it should work in the same way as any other claim – you pursue compensation from the insurers of the driver at fault. Say you are hit in the back, or someone pulls out from a side road; if you are not at fault, you won’t be making a claim against your employers insurance – it’s against the other drivers insurance!
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This is an important question – so here’s three reasons why you SHOULD make a claim against your employer for an injury at work.

You’re Covered

Your employer has a legal obligation to have a policy of employer’s liability insurance that covers their employees for injuries at work. It’s nothing personal when you make a claim for an injury at work – you are simply claiming against the insurance your employer has for the sole reason of making a claim from.

It’s similar to contents insurance – you have it in the event your are the victim of theft or damage. It’s there to be used; just like your employer’s liability insurance.

It can cover legal fees too!
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The law for this subject is very clear – there is a huge burden on your employer to limit as much as possible the need for manual handling at work, or risk assess it and make sure it’s done correctly to avoid any injuries occurring. If you are injured due to a manual handling activity at work, you may have a claim for compensation if your employer has failed to uphold the important duty of care they have for you.

As an example, let’s say you are asked to move a significantly large crate containing bricks. It weighs half a tonne, and unless you possess superhuman strength, it really cannot be moved manually without breaking it down.

If you have to move it, your employer should make sure that you have the right tools to move it. I would imagine a forklift truck or perhaps a pallet truck or pump truck could do the job. But what also needs to be considered in accordance with the regulations above is whether the job can be done risk free. Here is where the risk assessment comes in to place. Your employer should consider:
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If you need gloves to be able to do your job without injuring your hands, your employer has a duty to provide them to you. To quote Regulation 4 of the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992:

4.—(1) Every employer shall ensure that suitable personal protective equipment is provided to his employees who may be exposed to a risk to their health or safety while at work except where and to the extent that such risk has been adequately controlled by other means which are equally or more effective (source).

The law is clear – if there is a risk that your hands could be injured during the course of your employment, your employer should provide you with appropriate equipment to protect you from a risk. Let’s say you handle hot materials or chemicals – you need heat retardant or chemical proof gloves to prevent any potential injuries. The gloves have to be good enough for the job as well. Regulation 6 states the following:
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Today is a Friday – so most of the country (I imagine) is waiting for 5’o-clock to hit so they can escape the workplace and wind down after a week of working hard. Obviously we’re not – we’re open until 10pm tonight and 9am – 5pm over the weekend (and on the bank holiday) because we’re a little crazy and like to be as accessible as possible to our clients!

But the point I’m making is that the last thing anyone expects is to be going about their daily working business and suddenly slip over and injure themselves at work.
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There are numerous workplace regulations that employers must abide by. They are important, and they are there to prevent employees from being injured in the workplace. An employer must do all they reasonably can to prevent an employee from slipping, tripping, or falling in the workplace. This is covered by the Workplace Health Safety and Welfare Regulations 1992.

These important regulations stipulate that all traffic routes in the workplace should be free of any articles or substances that could cause a slip, trip, or fall accident. So liquid should not be allowed to accumulate on the floor, and items such as boxes should be allowed to be left on the floor either. Employers should have inspection and maintenance regimes that can prevent as much as possible something from becoming a hazard on the floor. Policies should be in place to train and instruct employees not to inadvertently create a hazard by, for example, leaving boxes in a traffic route in a warehouse.
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Ladders can be naturally dangerous pieces of equipment. It’s therefore important to use the right ladders for the right job, and it’s important to make sure that ladders are well maintained and replaced when necessary. At work, this duty is directly the responsibility of your employer.
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There is a duty on your employer under the workplace regulations to make sure that all traffic routes in the workplace are free from hazards. Loose cables are an obvious hazard and they should never be allowed to accumulate onto work traffic routes. Common sense dictates that they should be tidied using ties or placed in an area whereby they are not going to cause a tripping hazard.

So if you are at work and you are injured due to tripping over cables, do you have a claim for compensation?

Well as I said earlier, there is a duty on your employers to make sure traffic routes are free from hazards. But whether you have a claim could depend on how the cables have been allowed to become a hazard.
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A lot of people use specialist equipment at work to help them do their jobs as efficiently as they can. For the topic of this article I’m going to focus on those of us that use equipment like cranes, or hand tools as opposed to us office folk who rely upon the trust stapler and pen.

What happens when you are at work and you are injured by faulty equipment? Can you make a claim for compensation?

The responsibility of all work equipment lies with your employer. So if something goes wrong with it, it is your employer’s responsibility. In fact, there are regulations that say that an employer can be strictly liable for faulty work equipment. What this means is that if you are injured because work equipment becomes faulty, even if there was absolutely nothing your employer could have done to prevent it, they may still be liable.
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