By Lewis Hendrix. Last Updated 8th February 2024. In this guide, we will explain the steps that you can take if you were injured due to inadequate work safety boots and want to make a personal injury claim. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is essential in some job roles, and it’s your employer’s responsible to provide it if it is required to perform your job duties safely. If they don’t, and you are injured, you may be able to make a personal injury claim.
In this guide, we will explain the health and safety regulations in place to protect workers and what happens if these regulations are breached. We’ll also discuss how a lack of personal protective equipment, such as boots, could cause injuries.
Following this, our guide will touch on compensation in accident at work claims and how this compensation could be calculated. We’ll also discuss how to prove a personal injury claim, and how a solicitor could help you with making your claim on a No Win No Fee basis.
Read on to learn more about how one of our No Win No Fee accident at work solicitors could help you, or contact our team of advisors to get started. You can get in touch with our team by:
- Calling us on 0800 073 8801
- Using the live chat feature.
- Contacting us online.
Select A Section
- Can I Claim If I Was Injured Due To Inadequate Work Safety Boots?
- Common Foot Injuries Caused By A Lack Of Work Safety Boots
- Calculating Compensation For Inadequate Work Safety Boot Injuries
- How To Prove A Claim If You Were Injured Due To Inadequate Work Safety Boots
- No Win No Fee Claims For Injuries Caused By Inadequate PPE
- Essential Guides And Resources
Can I Claim If I Was Injured Due To Inadequate Work Safety Boots?
You may be wondering when you could claim for a foot injury caused by your employer failing to comply with safety footwear regulations.
All employers are responsible for their employee’s health and safety, as they owe them a duty of care; this is outlined in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA). Under this legislation, your employer must take all reasonably practicable steps to keep you safe while working.
Part of this duty includes providing appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) if needed to do the job safely, which can include correct safety footwear. If your job role requires any PPE in order to carry it out safely, then your employer must provide it for free and in working order.
To make a personal injury claim for a foot injury caused by a lack of the correct safety footwear, you have to be able to establish that:
- You were owed a duty of care by your employer.
- This duty was breached.
- You were injured as a result.
To find out if you could be eligible to claim for foot injuries caused by a lack of work safety boots, contact our team of advisors today. They can offer more information on the claims process and could potentially connect you with one of our solicitors.
Common Foot Injuries Caused By A Lack Of Work Safety Boots
The common foot injuries that could be caused by inadequate personal protective equipment could include:
- Crushing – This could cause soft tissue injuries, as well as broken bones, tendon and ligament damage, etc
- Slips and falls – These could cause injuries to many different parts of the body, including head, neck, arm, leg and back injuries
- Sharp object punctures – These could cause cuts, lacerations and in extreme cases, amputations
- Chemicals – These could cause burns, for example
- Heat/cold injuries – These could include frostbite, burns and more…
If you have received a foot injury at work, which was caused by a lack of work safety boots, then you could make a claim for compensation. Why not speak to our team to find out how to go about claiming.
Calculating Compensation For Inadequate Work Safety Boot Injuries
If you have had a foot injury at work that you feel your employer could be liable for, then you may wish to know an approximation of the compensation you could be looking to receive for such an incident. Whether you ask an advisor or use a personal injury claims calculator, the number provided to you would only be a rough estimate, because all claims are assessed on their own merit, and a claim would only really be valued after a medical assessment took place. However, below, we have provided a table with bracket guidelines for compensation payouts for injuries relevant to this guide. If you can’t see your specific injury, then please call us and we’ll be happy to let you know which bracket we feel your claim could fall into:
| Injury | Notes | Compensation Bracket |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Serious Injuries And Financial Losses | Multiple injuries of a serious nature, plus special damages, which can include lost earnings and travel costs. | Up to £150,000+ |
| Amputation (1 foot) | This is actually treated in a similar manner to a below the knee amputation because the ankle joint would be lost. | £78,800 to £102,890 |
| Foot injuries (Very severe) | Permanent/Severe pain or a serious level of disability could be seen in this bracket. It might include a traumatic forefoot amputation, or a loss of a significant portion of the heel | £78,800 to £102,890 |
| Foot injuries (Severe) | Unusually severe injuries to one foot or fractures of both heels could be included here. | £39,390 to £65,710 |
| Foot injuries (Serious) | Less severity than the above, but with pain that continues that could be caused by traumatic arthritis. Future possibility of arthritis or requirement for fusion surgery may also fall into this bracket | £23,460 to £36,790 |
| Foot injuries (Moderate) | Metatarsal fractures (displaced) which cause deformity and other symptoms that continue. Claimants in this bracket may require surgery in the future, and there could be a risk of developing long-term conditions such as osteoarthritis. | £12,900 to £23,460 |
| Foot injuries (Modest) | Puncture wounds, ligament ruptures, and more. Assessed on the prevalence of permanent pain/deformity/disability and how much recovery is possible | Up to £12,900 |
| Toe injuries (Serious) | Injuries to the big toe that are serious, or where several other toes are crushed and fractured. Usually some residual disability exists. | £9,010 to £12,900 |
| Amputation of the big toe | Around 29,380 |
To find out what your inadequate work safety boots claim could be worth, why not speak to a specialist advisor?
What Special Damages Could I Also Claim?
In addition to the amounts above, which are considered general damages, you could also look at claiming special damages for the financial costs that a foot injury at work has left you with. This could include earning losses, medical bills, travel costs, care costs and more. Even your future earnings may be compensated for if you are required to have further time off work in the future due to your injury, or if you could lose out on being able to work entirely after your accident.
How To Prove A Claim If You Were Injured Due To Inadequate Work Safety Boots
Put simply, you could follow the steps below to get the help you may need for a successful claim.
- Follow the rules for reporting a work accident to your employer
- Seek medical attention for your injuries
- Collect evidence in terms of photographs of any defective PPE, your injuries etc
- Collect witness details
- Keep any evidence of costs you have faced as a result of your injury
- Check whether you are within the personal injury claims time limit for work injury claims (usually 3 years from the safety shoes accident date but some exceptions exist – you can call us to check on these)
- Call Accident Claims UK for free advice and an assessment as to whether you could have a valid inadequate work safety boots claim.
No Win No Fee Claims For Injuries Caused By Inadequate PPE
If you have been injured due to your employer providing you with inadequate PPE, one of our solicitors may be able to help you with your accident at work claim, provided it is a valid case.
Furthermore, they may offer you a Conditional Fee Agreement, which is a type of No Win No Fee contract. Under this arrangement, your solicitor won’t ask you to pay anything upfront or during the process of your claim for their services. If your claim is unsuccessful, you won’t have to pay them for the work they have provided.
Should your claim successfully end with you receiving compensation, the solicitor working on your case will take a legally capped success fee from your award.
Get in touch to see if you could be eligible to work with one of our No Win No Fee solicitors, or if you have questions such as, ‘Does my employer have to provide safety boots in the UK?’ Our advisors are available around the clock to offer free no-obligation advice.
Start Your Claim Today
There’s never a bad time to get in touch with us. We’re available, when you need us, via phone (0800 073 8801), email (office@accidentclaims.co.uk) or via the contact form or live chat on the site. We’re ready and able to assist with your claim whenever you’d like to get in touch with us.
Essential Guides And Resources
- A Guide To Reporting Accidents At Work – This page on RIDDOR gives a wealth of information on reporting injuries and accidents at work.
- All About SSP – The government’s page on SSP may help you work out how much you would get paid if you were on Statutory Sick Pay.
- Who Should Report An Accident – More information on accident reporting from the HSE.
- Building Sites And Accidents – We mentioned construction sites earlier on. Here is a guide that covers this type of accident in more detail.
- Are You Self Employed – There are more details about claiming when you’re self-employed here.
- Claiming For Broken Bones – Our guide on fractures and broken bones might be of interest.
- How to make an accident at work claim – head here to learn more
Thank you for reading about how to make an inadequate work safety boots claim.
Article by Jo