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accident at work
Accident at Work Lawyers
Your employer has a duty to protect you and tell you about health and safety issues that affect you. They also have a legal obligation to report certain accidents and incidents, and to pay you statutory sick pay, or contractual sick pay if you are entitled to it, if you need time off because of an accident at work.
Even though personal injury or accident lawyers are trained and licensed to practice virtually any field of law, they generally only handle cases that fall under tort law. Claiming for accidents or personal injury has become much more widespread in the UK recently.
Working as a lawyer involves the practical application of abstract legal theories and knowledge to solve specific individualized problems, or to advance the interests of those who hire lawyers to perform legal services.
Accident Attorneys or Accident Lawyers might deal with such accidents as
Construction Liability
Product Liability
Workers Compensation
General Negligence
Slip And Fall
Medical Malpractice
Wrongful Death
Spinal Cord Injury
Brain Injury Claims
Vehicle Accident
Animal Attack
Premise Liability
Reporting an accident at work
Your employer must report serious workrelated accidents, diseases and dangerous incidents to the Incident Contact Centre of the Health and Safety Executive HSE, or in Northern Ireland the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland HSENI.
They must report
death
major injuries for example, a broken arm or ribs
dangerous incidents for example, the collapse of scaffolding, people overcome by gas
any other injury that stops an employee from doing their normal work for more than three days
disease
The reporting must be done by your employer, but if youre involved its a good idea to make sure its been reported.
Who is responsible for health and safety at work
Your employer has to carry out a risk assessment and do whats needed to take care of the health and safety of employees and visitors. This includes deciding how many first aiders are needed, and what kind of first aid equipment and facilities should be provided. First aiders have no statutory right to extra pay, but some employers do offer this.
Employees must also take reasonable care over their own health and safety.
Any injury at work including minor injuries should be recorded in your employers accident book. All employers except for very small companies must keep an accident book. Its mainly for the benefit of employees, as it provides a useful record of what happened in case you need time off work or need to claim compensation later on. But recording accidents also helps your employer to see whats going wrong and take action to stop accidents in future.
Sick pay
In most cases, if you need time off because of an accident at work, youll only have the right to statutory sick pay. Your employer may have a scheme for paying more for time off caused by accidents, or may decide to pay extra depending on what has happened.
Find out more about sick pay Making an injury claim
If youve been injured in an accident at work and you think your employer is at fault, you may want to make a claim for compensation. Any claim must be made within three years of the date of the accident, and youll normally need a lawyer to represent you. If you belong to a trade union, you may be able to use their legal services. Otherwise, you should speak to a specialist personal injury lawyer. Some lawyers will take your case on a no win no fee basis.
Your local Citizens Advice Bureau CAB can provide free and impartial advice. You can find your local CAB office in the phone book or online.
Find your local Citizens Advice Bureau opens new window If you are a member of a trade union, you can get help, advice and support from them.
By law, your employer must be insured to cover a successful claim. Your employer should place a certificate with the name of their employers insurance company where it can be seen at work. If not, they must give you the details if you need them.
If youre considering suing your employer, remember that the aim of legal damages is to put you in the position you would be in had the accident not happened its not about getting hold of some free money. There are also court costs and fees to think about.
What to do next if you have an accident
make sure you record any injury in the accident book
if need be, make sure your employer has reported it to the HSE, or HSENI in Northern Ireland
check your contract or written statement of employment for information about sick or accident pay
if theres a dispute, try to sort it out with your employer
if there are health and safety problems at work, point them out to your employer or the employee safety representative, and ask for them to be dealt with.
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