By Jo Anderson. Last Updated 12th March 2024. In this guide, we will discuss the eligibility criteria that must be met to bring forward an accident at work claim after you have sustained injuries due to unsafe working practices. As outlined by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA), employers owe a duty of care to their employees. This means that your employer is responsible for carrying out reasonably practical steps to ensure your safety in the workplace. If they fail to do this, you may be caused an injury. This would be employer negligence, for which you could be eligible to bring forward a personal injury claim.
As we move through this guide, we will discuss various examples of dangerous working practices, how they could cause you to be injured and the potential compensation amounts that could be awarded for different injuries. Continue reading to learn more.
Alternatively, you can get in contact with a member of our team to discuss your potential claim. Our experienced team of advisors are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to provide free legal advice. Allow them to assess your claim and offer insight into the steps you could take next. They can tell you whether you may have valid grounds to seek compensation.
To reach them, you can:
- Call our helpline on 0800 073 8801
- Contact us via our webpage.
- Use the live chat support feature on this page.
Select A Section
- When Could I Claim For Injuries Caused By Unsafe Working Practices?
- Examples of Unsafe Working Practices
- Types Of Accidents Caused By Unsafe Working Practices
- Employers Responsibility For Safe Working Environments
- Settlements For Accidents Caused By Unsafe Working Practices
- Get Help From Our Team Now
When Could I Claim For Injuries Caused By Unsafe Working Practices?
Your employer needs to implement reasonable steps and safe working practices to help ensure your safety while in the workplace. This is their duty of care, as listed under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. This could include:
- Carrying out regular risk assessment and addressing any hazards they become aware of.
- Provide adequate training.
- Ensure all equipment and machinery is suitable for its intended purpose and are regularly maintained.
- Providing personal protective equipment (PPE) when required.
If unsafe working practices caused you to suffer an injury in the workplace, you may be able to make a claim for compensation. However, the accident at work claiming criteria will need to be for your case to be valid. This is:
- Your employer owed you a duty of care.
- They breached this.
- You suffer an injury as a result.
You can contact a member of our advisory team today to discuss your case and see whether you may have a valid personal injury claim.
Examples of Unsafe Working Practices
There are various ways that you could be injured in an accident at work due to unsafe working practices. Some examples include:
- Failure to provide adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) – For example, if you work on a construction site and your employer fails to provide you with steel-toe-capped safety boots, this could cause you to suffer a foot injury.
- Inadequate training – If your employer failed to provide you with adequate manual handling training before asking you to perform lifting duties, this could cause you to suffer a back injury due to poor lifting technique.
- Defective equipment – Your employer should be performing regular maintenance checks on all workplace equipment and machinery. Failure to do so could cause a machine to malfunction, and you could suffer an arm or hand injury.
- Unsafe work floor – For example, if your employer failed to properly secure or tidy away any cable wires, these could present as a trip hazard, and you could suffer an ankle injury.
However, to be eligible to make a claim for accident at work compensation, you need to prove that negligence occurred.
Contact our advisors today to see whether you may be eligible to make a personal injury claim. If they believe you could, they may connect you with one of our solicitors who could assist you with your case.
Types Of Accidents Caused By Unsafe Working Practices
Unsafe working practices could potentially be the cause of different workplace accidents, such as:
- Slips, trips and falls, for example, tripping over cables at work.
- Being struck by a moving vehicle
- Accidents caused by using equipment incorrectly resulting in injuries such as, vibration white finger
- Manual handling accidents
- Accidents causing chemical burns, such as exposure to harmful substances
If your employer has breached their duty of care, causing you to be injured in an accident, please speak to a member of our team.
Workplace Safety Statistics
Under The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR), employers must report certain workplace incidents and injuries to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The HSE then compiles these figures to provide useful tables of statistics on workplace accidents. These show that in 2021/22, there were:
- 61,713 reported non-fatal injuries to employees. The most common cause of reported non-fatal injuries was slips, trips or falls on the same level at 18,721
- 123 reported fatal injuries to workers. The most common cause of reported fatal injuries was falls from a height at 29.
Employers Responsibility For Safe Working Environments
HASAWA is the overarching piece of legislation governing health and safety at work. However, multiple other pieces of legislation expand on an employer’s responsibilities that are relevant in different workplace industries. For instance, The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 lays out requirements of those responsible for a workplace to protect the safety of everyone in the work area and ensure adequate welfare facilities are available for workers. This discusses topics such as lighting, ventilation and temperature requirements.
Other pieces of legislation that expand on an employer’s duties include the following:
- The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 which sets out an employer’s responsibility to ensure workplace equipment is safe to use for its intended purpose.
- The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 which sets out an employer’s responsibility to carry out regular risk assessments.
- The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 which sets out their responsibility to provide adequate personal protective equipment for free where necessary.
Please get in contact with our team to discuss your potential personal injury claim. Our advisors can provide insight into whether your employer may be liable for the injuries you have sustained due to unsafe working practices.
Settlements For Accidents Caused By Unsafe Working Practices
A successful personal injury claim for an accident at work caused by unsafe working practices could see an award comprised of up to two heads:
- Special damages – compensating for the financial losses you have suffered as a result of your injuries. This may include travel expenses, loss of earnings, the cost of housing alterations and care costs. To support a claim under special damages, it is important that you provide evidence; this could include travel tickets, payslips, invoices and bank records.
- General damages – compensating for the physical and mental pain and suffering resulting from your injuries. This considers the impact your injuries have on your quality of life.
To provide potential compensation brackets for various injuries under the general damages head of claim, we have used the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), updated in April 2022, to create the table below. The guidelines can also be used by accident at work solicitors and other legal professionals to assist them in valuing general damages.
However, these figures are a guide. The unique details of a case determine the outcome. The first entry does not come from the JCG.
| Injury | Details of the Injury | Potential Compensation Amounts |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Serious/Severe Injuries with Monetary Losses | A compensation award for multiple serious injuries, including both physical and mental injuries, and their monetary losses such as medical expenses, lost earnings and travel costs. | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Arm Amputations (a) | Both arms will be lost causing the person to be reduced to a state of helplessness of a considerable nature. | £240,790 to £300,000 |
| Paraplegia (b) | The figure awarded within this bracket will consider the presence and severity of any pain, the age of the person and their life expectancy. | £219,070 to £284,260 |
| Moderately Severe Injury Resulting from Brain Damage (b) | The person will be very seriously disabled and will substantially depend on others. This means there will be a need for constant care. Disabilities could be physical or cognitive. | £219,070 to £282,010 |
| Severe Neck Injury (a)(ii) | Within this bracket, injuries will typically involve serious fractures or damage to discs in the cervical spine. These types of injuries lead to disabilities of considerable severity. | £65,740 to £130,930 |
| Foot Injury (b) | The amputation of one foot with the loss of the ankle joint. | £83,960 to £109,650 |
| Hand Injury (b) | The person will have serious damage to both hands. This will cause significant loss of function and permanent cosmetic disability. | £55,820 to £84,570 |
| Severe Leg Injury (b)(iv) | This bracket can cover multiple or complicated fractures or severe crush injuries, typically affecting a single limb. | £27,760 to £39,200 |
| Moderate Back Injuries (b)(i) | This bracket covers various injuries, such as, damage to an intervertebral disc that causes nerve root irritation and reduced mobility. | £27,760 to £38,780 |
| Moderate Ankle Injury (c) | Ligament tears, fractures and the like which lead to less serious disabilities. This could include difficulty with walking on uneven ground. | £13,740 to £26,590 |
| Moderate Knee Injury (b)(i) | This bracket includes injuries relating to dislocation, torn cartilage or meniscus and result in mild future disability. | £14,840 to £26,190 |
Get Help From Our Team Now
Please contact our team to find out how much compensation you could be eligible to receive. What’s more, they can provide a free assessment of your claim. Should they find you meet the eligibility criteria, they could put you in contact with one of our specialist personal injury solicitors, who could offer to work on your case under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
A CFA is a type of No Win No Fee agreement that typically means you will not pay for your solicitor’s services upfront, whilst your claim is ongoing, or in the event your case is unsuccessful. Additionally, it will generally mean that a No Win No Fee solicitor can take a small amount of the compensation in a successful case, calculated as a percentage. However, the law does cap this success fee. Therefore, you cannot be overcharged.
Please get in touch with our team today to learn more. You can:
- Call our helpline on 0800 073 8801
- Contact us via our webpage.
- Use the live chat support feature on this page.
Learn More About Unsafe Working Practices
Learn more by exploring these additional guides:
- Is An Employer Responsible For An Employee’s Injury?
- I Slipped At Work And Hurt My Back, How Do I Claim Compensation?
- How To Claim Compensation For A Defective Work Equipment Injury
Also, take a look at these external sources:
- NHS – First aid
- GOV – Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
- HSE – Managing risks and risk assessments at work
Thank you for taking the time to read our guide on making a claim for a workplace injury sustained due to unsafe working practices. If you have been left with any questions, please use the contact details provided to get in touch.
Guide by JO
Edited by MMI