Compensation for accidents in the workplace
An accident at work claim is a compensation claim against your employer where their failure to provide a safe workplace caused you injury. Employers in the UK owe every worker a legal duty of care, set out in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and a body of supporting regulations covering equipment, manual handling, protective equipment and workplace conditions.
If your employer breached that duty and you were hurt as a result, you are entitled to claim. Our accident at work solicitors in Bradford act for employees, agency workers, contractors and the self-employed across West Yorkshire and throughout England and Wales, always on a No Win, No Fee basis.
Many people hesitate because they are worried about their job. You should know that dismissing or disciplining an employee for bringing a personal injury claim is unlawful, and claims are met by your employer's compulsory liability insurance rather than out of the business's own pocket.
Common causes of workplace accident claims
We deal with claims arising from every kind of workplace, from warehouses and factories to offices, care homes and building sites. The most frequent causes are:
- Faulty or poorly maintained equipment Machinery without guards, defective tools, and vehicles or lifting equipment that has not been properly inspected.
- Manual handling injuries Lifting, carrying or moving loads that were too heavy, awkward or repetitive, without a risk assessment or mechanical aid.
- Missing or inadequate PPE Where gloves, goggles, harnesses, ear defenders or safety footwear were not supplied, not suitable, or not enforced.
- Inadequate training or supervision Being put to work on a task, machine or vehicle without proper instruction, or left unsupervised when the risk required it.
- Slips, trips and falls at work Wet or oily floors, trailing cables, poor lighting, obstructed walkways and unsafe stairs or ladders.
- Falls from height Scaffolding, roof work, ladders and mezzanines where edge protection or fall arrest was missing or misused.
- Unsafe premises Damaged flooring, collapsing racking, falling objects and poorly maintained buildings.
- Exposure to hazardous substances Chemicals, dust, fumes and asbestos where control measures or monitoring were absent.
Injuries we claim for
Workplace accidents produce a wide range of injuries, from those that resolve in weeks to those that end a career:
- Back, neck and spinal injuries
- Crush injuries and amputations
- Broken bones and fractures
- Hand, wrist and finger injuries
- Head injuries and concussion
- Burns and chemical injuries
- Eye injuries and loss of sight
- Hernias from lifting
- Repetitive strain injury
- Psychological injury and stress
What to do after an accident at work
What you do in the days after a workplace accident has a direct bearing on your claim:
-
1
Report it and get it in the accident book Employers with ten or more staff must keep an accident book. A contemporaneous entry is powerful evidence of when and how the accident happened.
-
2
Seek medical attention Attend A&E, occupational health or your GP even for apparently minor injuries. The medical record dates and describes your injury independently.
-
3
Photograph the scene and the cause The unguarded machine, the spill, the broken ladder, the missing sign. Employers often make things safe quickly, and the evidence disappears with it.
-
4
Note witnesses Colleagues who saw the accident, and colleagues who had raised the same hazard before. Both matter.
-
5
Keep your own record Write down what happened while it is fresh, and keep payslips showing earnings before and after so lost income can be calculated.
-
6
Take advice before signing anything Do not sign a statement or accept a payment from your employer or their insurer without independent advice.
How much compensation could you receive?
Compensation in an accident at work claim is assessed in the same two parts as any personal injury claim, and your employer's insurer pays it rather than your employer directly. No solicitor can promise a figure at the outset, but we can explain exactly how the calculation is built.
General damages — the injury itself
This covers the pain, suffering and loss of amenity caused by the injury: its severity, how long it lasts and what it prevents you doing. Courts value this using the Judicial College Guidelines, supported by the independent medical evidence obtained in your case.
Special damages — your financial losses
This covers your documented financial losses: lost wages for time off, loss of future earning capacity where you cannot return to the same work, private treatment and physiotherapy, prescriptions, travel to appointments, care provided by family, and any equipment or adaptations you have needed.
Statutory sick pay rarely covers what you actually lose. Keep every payslip from before and after the accident — the difference between them is a recoverable loss, and it is often one of the largest parts of a workplace claim.
Will claiming put my job at risk?
No. Dismissing you, demoting you, cutting your hours or treating you differently because you have brought a personal injury claim is unlawful, and would give rise to a separate claim in the Employment Tribunal.
It also helps to understand where the money comes from. Employers' liability insurance is compulsory for almost every UK employer, and it exists exactly so that injured workers can be compensated without damaging the business. The claim is handled by insurers and their solicitors, not by your line manager.
We regularly act for people who are still employed by the company they are claiming against, and it is far more common than most clients expect.
Time limits for accident at work claims
You normally have three years from the date of the accident to start a claim. Where the injury developed gradually rather than in a single incident — repetitive strain, hearing loss, a condition caused by exposure — the three years runs from the date you first knew, or reasonably should have known, that your work had caused it.
If you were under 18 when the accident happened, the clock starts on your eighteenth birthday. Practical evidence, though, degrades much faster than the legal deadline: accident books get archived, witnesses leave, and equipment is replaced. Early advice is always worth having.
Types of accident at work claim
Your employer owes you a duty that does not depend on your contract, your immigration status or how long you have been there. These are the workplace claims we see most.
Warehouse and factory injuries
Falls from height, falling stock, and forklift and pallet-truck collisions. Racking inspection records and traffic-route plans usually decide these.
Machinery accident claims
Unguarded machinery, faulty isolation and inadequate training. Maintenance logs and the risk assessment for that specific machine are the evidence.
Manual handling injuries
Back and shoulder injuries from lifting. The Manual Handling Operations Regulations require the employer to avoid the lift or assess it — not simply to tell you to lift carefully.
Office and workplace injuries
Trailing cables, unsafe chairs, poorly stacked storage and wet floors. An office is a workplace with the same duties as any other.
Needlestick and sharps injuries
Care, cleaning, waste and healthcare work. The injury is often the smaller part of the claim; the monitoring period that follows is the greater one.
Delivery and driver injuries
Loading injuries, unsafe vehicles and unrealistic drop schedules. Being called self-employed does not by itself remove the duty owed to you.
Construction site injuries
Falls from height, scaffolding collapse, and being struck by plant or falling material. Sites carry duties under CDM as well as the general ones.