How to establish your compensatory claim

Employers, no matter what line of business they operate in, have a duty of care towards their employees and must train you properly to help them avoid any risks associated with the role.

What kind of accidents must be reported?

Employers are also legally obliged to hold records, in an ‘accident book’, of accidents and incidents, as well as to pay you sick pay if you’re entitled.

Accident books are primarily for the benefit of the employer, because it provides a useful record in case any employee makes a claim for compensation – and it’s also useful to help improve conditions.

Records of the following must be held:

• Work-related fatalities;
• Serious injuries (e.g. amputations;permanent impairment to the sight; broken arms, legs or ribs; and injuries where a person became unconscious or where they were in need of resuscitation/was hospitalisedfor 24+ hours);
• Diagnosed industrial diseases among employees, past or present;
• Any injury that prevented an employee from working for seven+ days.
• Near miss incidents e.g. scaffold collapses, explosions, escape of dangerous substances etc.

However not all deaths, injuries or diseases need to be reported – for a list of those that do, visit www.hse.gov.uk (Health and Safety Executive, or HSE).

Who is responsible for health and safety at work?

Your employer must carry out a risk assessment and do what's needed, e.g. train employees accordingly/train enough first aiders, to ensure the health and safety of employees and any potential visitors. This includes deciding how many first-aiders are needed and what kind of first-aid equipment and facilities should be provided in the event of any possible injuries. First-aiders have no statutory right to extra pay, but some employers do offer this.

However, that said, employees are also responsible to ensure their own health and safety by following the guidelines and procedures as presented by their employer.

Making an injury claim 

If you’ve been injured in an accident at work due to what you believe to be employer negligence, then you could well have a case for a claim – but any accident at work claim for compensation must be made within three years of the accident date.

Employers are legally required to be covered by an appropriate insurance plan to ensure that they can pay out if anything should happen and a claim were to be made, and also to make details of their insurance policy readily available to employees.

How to make a claim

If necessary, ensure that your employer has reported the accident/incident in question to the HSE. Then, check your for information about sick or accident pay, and if there’s any dispute of any kind, make your best attempts to settle it with your employer first.

And finally, if there are any health and safety issues at work, highlight them to your employer/ employee safety representative, and ask for them to be dealt with.

This article was brought to you by medicalsolicitors.com.