It’s one of the ultimate embarrassing situations to be in – you sit down on a chair and it gives way under your weight, causing you to fall down with it to the ground. Whether it’s at work or in a public place, it not a nice situation to be in.
So if you are the unfortunate victim of an accident where your chair has given way and injured you as a result, can you make a claim for personal injury compensation?
Your Rights – Public Places
As I often do, I will split the advice in to two parts – one for public places and one for at work. The reason for this is that the law is different, and although it can be similar, it often imposes a stricter duty on an employer if it happens at work.
In a public place like a restaurant, cafe, or a bar perhaps, the law that commonly applies is the Occupiers Liability Act. This imposes a duty on whoever is in control of an area to take all reasonable steps to prevent a person being injured. When it comes to a broken chair, the big question to ask is whether those in control knew, or ought to have known, that the chair was dangerous.
Regular systems of inspection and maintenance can assist with this. But if someone reported that a chair was unstable or broken and nothing was done about it, you may have a successful claim for compensation.
Your Rights – at Work
At work, you can apply The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. A chair can fall within the realms of work equipment.
These regulations can be quite strict; Regulation 5 for example states the following:
(1) Every employer shall ensure that work equipment is maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair.
The term “shall ensure” can impose a strict duty on your employer which means they have to pay out if it is the case that the chair is defective and has injured you. Even if there was no way they could have known, or ought to have known, of the danger, contrary to the Occupiers Liability Act, they can still be liable. We would happily investigate this on a No Win, No Fee basis for you.
100% Compensation Offer
Whether it has happened at work or in a public place, for this type of claim we should be able to offer you a full No Win, No Fee guarantee and a promise that you can keep all 100% of your payout if the case wins.
