Building sites can be dangerous places, so it is not surprising that accidents are quite common. However, just because you work on a building site does not automatically mean that you should get injured or deserve to get injured; after all none of us get up to go to work to end up in hospital or at our GP later in the day.
Common accidents that occur on building sites can involve the heavy machinery that is being used (such as diggers, cranes and other such mechanical instruments), a lack of personal protective equipment for employees, and the acts of fellow employees causing you harm.
One of the most difficult things with these claims can be ascertaining who is responsible as it is quite common on building sites that several different contractors working (builders, joiners, plumbers, and electricians) and companies are responsible for different things.
The general rule is that whoever has control over the workplace will be the ones that are responsible for ensuring your safety – therefore it may be best to establish this information as soon as possible. This is often your employer as they will be under a duty to provide you with the necessary equipment and training to ensure that when you go on the site you are working in a safe manner to ensure the safety of yourself and your fellow employees. Equally if the injury was caused by machinery being defective, then it could be the responsibility of whoever has control of the machinery. Or defective scaffolding responsibility could be with the scaffold company.
So what happens if, rather than there been a lack of something, your accident is caused by a fellow employee “larking around”. In this circumstance, your claim would likely fall under something called vicarious liability. What this means is that the person who causes the accident’s employer is responsible for their actions. So for example: if somebody decides to throw something at you off some scaffolding and this then hits you in the face causing injury, it will be the “throwers” employer that can be held liable. This may seem harsh but this encourages companies to train their staff properly and take responsibility for what they are doing.
Accidents on building sites can lead to extreme injuries – some of which are potentially life threatening, and therefore may have an extensive effect on your everyday life. As part of your personal work injury claim we can look at claiming two things…
One thing is called the general damages – these are for your pain and suffering and the injury. The other is your special damages and this includes things such as loss of earnings, travel expenses, medication expenses and also care and assistance from friends and family. In certain claims we can also look to request an interim payment to help you financially whilst you recover from your injuries.
We have extensive experience in claims ranging from a small value all the way up to serious injury claims such as amputations and brain damage. Therefore we know exactly how to run these type of claims and how to get the maximum amount of compensation! We are open until 10pm throughout the week (bar Wednesday’s where we are open until 9pm) and 9-5 every Saturday and Sunday so don’t hesitate contact us straight away to ensure that your claim gets going at the earliest convenience.
