Dealing with Accidents in the Workplace?

Accidents in the workplace can result in severe injury, as of course many workplaces are filled with large equipment and a number of people working closely together. However, what is the procedure you should follow when wanting to pursue a claim for compensation? Many people are worried about doing so, as they feel it may jeopardise their job and of course this is a worry you could do without when you are already suffering from an injury.

Accidents at work can potentially be very good cases as your employer is obliged to have insurance to cover accidents under The Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969. This is in place to ensure that should an employee have an accident they will be able to pay compensation. Therefore, in the majority of cases, we send the letter of claim of to your employer who just hands it across to their insurance and it is them that continue with the claim– your employer may even encourage you to bring a claim!

So there really is no need to worry. If you have had an accident there are a few things you should try to do and are the types of things we will ask on the initial call (mainly because we like to gather all the information we need straight away to ensure your claim gets underway ASAP.)

• Seek medical attention as soon as possible! Of course, this is to ensure that your injury is dealt with for your own health’s sake! But also, this means that everything is recorded in your medical records. This can help us later on down the line of the claim.
• Try and complete and accident report form (or if your injury is severe and you are unable to- try and ensure that somebody else does so, for example; a colleague or your line manager). It can also be handy to get a copy of this!
• If you know that there is CCTV in the area that you had your accident request this immediately! CCTV can make or break some cases and therefore if you have a copy clearly showing someone else’s negligence- well pictures say more than words!
• It may also be helpful to try and gather any evidence to support your claim such as training records, photographs of the faulty equipment, see whether anyone else has had an accident etc. All these types of things can help your case move quicker and more smoothly.

Of course, if you are suffering from a very severe injury, it is unlikely that you will be able to as much as you would like as you may be straight to hospital. This is understandable and most of the above we can request on your behalf (such as CCTV) but if this is weeks after the accident sometimes things have a habit of changing and videos are erased.

So what happens next? The procedure for an accident at work is as follows:

1. We gather all the information we need the first time you contact us if you’re happy to go ahead.
2. This is then compiled into a “letter of claim” which is sent across to your employer (and then probably passed to their insurers remember!)
3. They have 21 days to acknowledge receipt and 3 months to do their own investigations. They then are required to respond with an admission or denial of liability.
4. Of course, throughout the whole procedure we will keep you informed all the way and also seek any private medical treatment you require.

So as you can see, making a claim for an accident at work is not as daunting as it may appear. Contact us today and one of our friendly team will answer any questions, dispel any fears and also get your claim started that very same day!