Faulty equipment at work.
Employers owe a duty of care to employees to ensure any work equipment they are required to use is safe and properly maintained. It is also expected of employers to provide adequate training to employees to ensure equipment is used in the correct way and does not cause unnecessary injury.
If you are given a piece of equipment which turns out to be faulty and consequently injures you, your employer has breached their duty of care and therefore can be held liable under the law of negligence. The law of negligence commonly requires three main elements:
- A duty of care owed by the third party to yourself.
- A breach of this duty of care
- Causation- the injury would not have occurred ‘but for’ the accident.
I do apologise for the short ‘law lesson’ – however, it is always nice to get a little insight in to how the process works, and as specialist injury lawyers, we know this process like the back of our hands.
Of course, work is not the only place where you will use equipment. For example; you may have been injured by faulty equipment at the gym or by other types of sports equipment such as faulty trampolines or hurdles. The same principles as above apply – whoever is responsible for this equipment is also responsible for ensuring it is safe to use and therefore if you use it and it is not working correctly you potentially have the right to claim.
The last thing I would like to address in this useful article for you is the use of faulty equipment in healthcare. If you suffer an injury because equipment has failed or not worked to its full capability whilst in hospital, or any other place providing treatment, you may also have the right to claim under the same principles as above. Of course, it can become a lot more serious in these circumstances and ultimately lead to possible fatalities. If this does occur, it is possible to bring a claim on behalf of someone else.
If you feel you have been injured because of using faulty equipment, you may have the right to claim compensation. As injuries can be serious, it is advisable to contact a specialised personal injury lawyer like ourselves, and there is no need to worry about funding your case as we work on a genuine no win no fee.
Give us a call on 0800 634 75 75 for the free advice you need for your potential claim!