By Stephen Burke. Last Updated 18th October 2024. This guide will aim to answer the question, ‘Can I claim if I was attacked as a lone worker?’. Did your agency or employer fail to take adequate steps to protect your safety and well-being whilst working alone? Did this directly result in you being harmed?
If so, this guide can offer you the advice and guidance to seek the compensation you may be owed. At Accident Claims, we understand that you may feel that the process of claiming is daunting. If you speak to one of our sympathetic advisors in complete confidentiality, they may be able to connect you with a solicitor provided you have a valid claim.
Please get in touch by:
- Calling us on 0800 073 8801
- Contacting us to request a callback
- Using the ‘live support’ option
Select A Section
- Can I Claim If I Was Attacked As A Lone Worker Against My Employer?
- What Are The Risks Of Working Alone?
- Employers’ Duty Of Care To Prevent Workplace Violence
- How Much Can I Claim If I Was Attacked As A Lone Worker?
- Get Help With Attack And Assault Claims
Can I Claim If I Was Attacked As A Lone Worker Against My Employer?
Employers owe a duty of care to their staff, including any lone workers they employ. This is established by certain legislation, including The Health and Safety At Work etc Act 1974. This requires all employers to take all reasonably practicable steps to reduce or remove risks and hazards to the health or well-being of their staff. The exact steps required will depend on the workplace and role of the lone worker, but as an example, your employer may reasonably be expected to install security measures in the work area, like CCTV or panic button devices.
You may be asking “can I claim if I was attacked as a lone worker?” There are scenarios which could potentially occur where you were attacked as a lone worker but the circumstances did not come about as the result of a breach of duty of care.
You won’t be eligible to start a claim against your employer if they took all reasonably practicable steps to protect you but you were harmed anyway. A claim may only be possible if you can establish the following with evidence:
- Your employer breached their duty of care.
- You were injured at work as a result of this breach.
For more advice on whether you’re eligible to start an attacked as a lone worker claim against your employer, contact our advisors for free.
What Are The Risks Of Working Alone?
As a solitary or lone worker, it is possible to be at greater risk of assault or attack. Opportunistic individuals may see that you are working alone and exploit this vulnerability. As a lone worker, risks can be different, as can the way in which the employee might have to respond to them. Therefore employers should give closer attention to these needs.
For instance:
- Is communication with the lone worker regular?
- Has the employer conducted a risk assessment to highlight the risks and hazards attached to the role they want the employee to perform alone?
- Are staffing levels adequate and appropriate for that role?
- Are there contingency plans if a member of staff calls in sick, leaving a worker alone?
- Is training on security alerts given?
A valid claim for compensation will rest on your ability to show that the duty of care was breached and this directly led to you being injured.
Employers’ Duty Of Care To Prevent Workplace Violence
Because of the risks associated with working alone, the employer should take all reasonable precautions to put safeguards in place to avoid injury. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) provides detailed guidance on the steps that employers and employees can take to safeguard themselves while working alone. They should:
- Train, supervise and monitor lone workers
- Keep in regular touch with them during shifts
- Liaise with other employers about risk and control measures when working on other sites
- Assess the level of risk or violence in that workplace
- Assess that employee’s medical suitability to perform that task alone
- Ensure that high-risk roles never have just one employee doing them
- Apply these principles to those who work at home as well
How Much Can I Claim If I Was Attacked As A Lone Worker?
It’s important to note that evidence is crucial for your claim. You may need to attend an independent medical assessment as part of the process of claiming. The medical report will reveal how serious your physical or emotional injuries are.
This report will then be compared with injuries listed in the Judicial College Guidelines and the associated guideline compensation brackets. This is a tool to help assess potential general damage compensation amounts. General damages are the part of your claim that reflect:
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of amenity
- Long term health damage
- Impact on personal relationships
The chart below takes excerpts from these guidelines. Please be aware that they do not represent guaranteed compensation amounts:
| Area of Injury | How Severe? | Compensation Bracket | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple Serious Injuries And Special Damages | Serious | Up to £500,000+ | If you're eligible to claim against your employer for multiple serious injuries sustained in an attack, then you could receive a payout that covers all injuries plus any related special damages, such as the cost of home care provisions. |
| Psychiatric Harm | (a) Severe | £66,920 to £141,240 | Marked mental health problems with a very poor prognosis |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) | (a) Severe | £73,050 to £122,850 | Permanent effects that stop the victim from living life at anywhere near pre-trauma level |
| Eye Injury | (e) Injuries Affecting Sight | £60,130 to £66,920 | Complete loss of sight in one eye |
| Facial Injury | (e) Fractured Jaw (i) | £37,210 to £55,570 | Very serious multiple fractures needing prolonged treatment |
| Facial Injury | (b) Multiple facial bone fractures | £18,180 to £29,220 | Causing permanent deformity |
| Facial Injury | (c) (i) Fractures of Nose or Nasal Complex | £12,990 to £28,220 | Multiple and serious fractures that need surgery |
| Facial Injury | (d) (ii) Fractured Cheekbone | £12,450 to £19,260 | Requiring surgery but complete recovery should occur |
| Arm Injury | (c) Less Severe Arm Injuries | £23,430 to £47,810 | Despite disability, a substantial degree of recovery will be expected |
| Wrist Injury | (c) Wrist Injuries | £15,370 to £29,900 | Cases that create a permanent disability such as stiffness or pain |
As well as this, you may be able to present proof of how you suffered financially after being attacked as a lone worker. Special damages can also be included in your claim if you have the receipts and bills to prove that you incurred out-of-pocket expenses as a direct result of the injuries you sustained. You could be eligible to request money back because of:
- Loss of earnings
- Medical bills
- Travel expenses to hospital or work
- Childcare provision
- Adaptations to your home or car
- Damage to personal items during the assault
- Counselling costs
- Scar treatments or other procedures unavailable on the NHS for free
Our team can offer further help on special damage eligibility if you’re not sure. Alternatively, we can also help if you need to claim for costs like these through the CICA.
Get Help With Attack And Assault Claims
At Accident Claims, we may be able to provide you with a lawyer from our panel if you have a valid claim. They can assess your claim expertly and possibly take it up under a No Win No Fee agreement today. There is a three-year time limit to claims such as this, or two years if claiming through the CICA, so it’s important to start as soon as you feel able.
No Win No Fee agreements can allow claimants to have excellent legal representation whilst not requiring any upfront fees or any fees needed as the case moves forward. There’s also no charge at all if the case does not win. If you are awarded compensation, a maximum of 25% of the settlement you receive goes to your lawyer as a success fee. This means you always receive the bulk of the payout.
Why not consider funding legal representation this way? Get in touch by:
- Calling us on 0800 073 8801
- Contacting us to request a callback
- Use the ‘live support’ option
Related Violent Assault Claims
In addition to details on claiming if you were attacked as a lone worker, please find:
- Security tips from UNISON about working alone
- Lone working advice from the TUC
- General tips on personal security from the Government
Below, you can find links to some more of our guides on accident at work claims:
- Head here to view our Accident At Work FAQs
- You can learn more about making an accident at work claim here
- Learn how to make tendon injury at work claims
- A guide to factory accident claims
- How to sue for carbon monoxide poisoning at work
- Find answers to questions on what to do if you have an accident at your workplace
- Head here for examples of fall at work compensation payouts
- A guide to construction accident claims for compensation
- What to do if you slipped on a wet floor at work
- Head here to learn about accidents caused by trailing lead hazards
- Here’s a guide on injuries caused by dangerous machinery at work
- See if you can make a No Win No Fee accident at work claim
- Find examples of payouts for fatal accidents at work
Thank you for considering our guide in answering the question, ‘Can I claim if I was attacked as a lone worker?’
