subject: How To Get Compensation If You Have Been Injured in an Industrial Accident at Work [print this page] How To Get Compensation If You Have Been Injured in an Industrial Accident at Work
All employers have a duty to take all reasonable steps to protect their workers from any potential harm, and if they to do so, they may be either negligent or in breach of their statutory duty. If this is the case, then any employees who suffered a personal injury will more than likely have grounds for making a claim for compensation.
The legal test for determining whether an employer has been negligent is based on a consideration of what steps they could have reasonably been expected to have taken in order to prevent or reduce the risk of their employees suffering harm. The decision as to what is reasonable in the circumstances will depend on the answer to the following questions:
1. How likely is it that harm will result?
2. If harm results, how severe will it be?
3. Is the activity which might result in harm important or necessary?
4. Can the risk of harm be removed or, if not, can it be reduced?
5. How difficult is it to reduce or remove the risk?
6. How expensive is it to reduce or remove the risk?
7. Is the effort involved in reducing the risk proportionate to the increase in safety which will result?
If it is highly likely that harm will occur, or it is not particularly likely that it will, but if it does it will cause a very high level of damage, then the employer should be prepared to take additional steps to ensure their employees safety. For example in an office environment it is extremely unlikely that an employee will drop a heavy item on their foot and cause injury, whereas in a warehouse or on a factory floor the risk is much greater. It would not be reasonable, therefore, for an employer to issue safety boots to all their office-based workers, but they could reasonably be expected to issue them to their warehouse-workers.
Many people have jobs which frequently require them to use dangerous equipment or which bring them into contact with hazardous materials and potentially risky situations and these workers have a right to expect their employer to ensure the safety of their working environment and procedures. In addition to ensuring that hazards are properly signposted, equipment is regularly safety checked and staff are trained properly.
Factories and other dangerous workplaces are also subject to additional safety legislation and government regulations. Any failure to comply with these regulations often results in the employer automatically being liable for any injury, regardless of whether they have acted reasonably. This type of liability is called "strict liability".
If you have suffered an injury in an industrial workplace, then you should consider discussing the issue with a specialist personal injury solicitor to see if you have a claim. Many solicitors will take personal injury claims on a no-win, no-fee basis and because your employer is legally required to have an insurance policy in place to cover personal injury claims, if your cases is successful you are guaranteed to receive your compensation because it will be paid by the insurance company.
