All workplaces should be subject to the many workplace health and safety regulations that are in force. Such regulation is very important to protect employees from being exposed to risk that can be easily preventable.
Building sites can naturally be a hotspot for accidents and compensation claiming due to the many dangers involved in working on them. So what happens if you suffer an accident due to a fall on a building site? Can you claim and who do you claim from?
If your fall is caused by a breach of important health and safety regulation, we may be able to make a successful claim for personal injury compensation. If we take the two classic examples of either a trip or a fall from height, we can look at the law and the provisions needed to be in place.
Trips
Trips – The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations put provisions in place to ensure that an employer takes all reasonable steps to prevent tripping hazards in the workplace. Normally this is achieved through preventing rough or uneven terrain, or preventing anything from ending up on the floor that could be a tripping hazard.
However, many building sites may naturally be cluttered with debris or subject to rough terrain. As such, employers should look at other ways to prevent accident, such as:
- Regulated traffic routes were the ground is better maintained
- Provision of strong work boots for solid grip and stability – sometimes a requirement under The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations
It’s all about what is seen as reasonable.
Falls from height
We can look at several things here as well. The aptly named Work at Height Regulations cover the duties an employer has to keep their employees safe when working at height. Proper risk assessments, guards and rails, and protective equipment where an employee may be exposed to a fall are all examples. One classic example of equipment that can be used is a harness. Proper training needs to be in place as well so employees know how to prevent themselves being exposed to fall from height injuries, which can of course be very serious.
You can apply other regulations mentioned above – walkways at height still need to be clear and free from hazards, and scaffolding can be classed as work equipment and can therefore be subject to The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations. These important regulations ensure employers have a duty to maintain and construct scaffolding to a safe standard, and properly risk assess activities involving their use.
Who is at fault?
It can of course depend as there are often multiple companies and agencies working on a building site at any given time. Normally it is the duty of the company or organisation responsible for the particular workplace where it has happened, or responsible for the task you are carrying out. So if it’s the site in general, it could be the site owners / managers. If it happens on scaffolding then it could be the responsibility of the scaffolders.
It is always important to remember that workplace regulations can often fall on the responsibly of your employer as your employer still has an overall duty to adhere to the regulations – so there always remains an important responsibility.
For help and advice, call our free claims helpline on 0800 634 75 75.
