Work equipment accidents can be incredibly common, but they can also be very avoidable. In some cases, employees can be seriously injured, and that’s where our work is so important.
It’s vital to know that you’re protected by important health and safety legislation that exists to stop you being injured in an accident through the course of your employment. These regulations put a duty on your employer to take all reasonable steps that can prevent injuries, and there are also specific actions that they need to take to prevent accidents.
If you’ve been injured at work in an accident that wasn’t your fault, and equipment was involved, we may be able to represent you for a personal injury claim on a No Win, No Fee basis.
Compensation for work equipment accidents
Injured employees can be entitled to make claims for personal injury compensation that arise from work equipment accidents.
If the accident wasn’t your fault and could have been prevented, that’s where you may be able to win a legal case. It could be that moving parts of equipment were exposed and this caused you an injury. It may be that equipment has been left in a state of disrepair and has caused injury because it has become damaged or faulty. It may even be that the equipment you used wasn’t suitable for the task you were undertaking, or that you weren’t properly trained in using it safely.
All these can be scenarios where you may be able to make a case and succeed with it. These kinds of issues are covered in the regulations that govern the use of work equipment, so no employee should be exposed to these kinds of risks. Where they are, and someone is injured, you could be entitled to compensation.
These accidents are avoidable
Generally speaking, most work equipment accidents are avoidable. The law is clear in making sure that there are specific duties on employees to take active steps that can reduce the risk of injuries being caused by equipment in the workplace.
The key piece of legislation that we rely on is the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER), and these outline that work equipment:
- Should be safe and suitable for the job at hand;
- Should only be used by employees who have received adequate training and instruction, as well as information about using the equipment being available. Ongoing training is also a requirement where applicable;
- Is maintained in an efficient working state and is in good repair to avoid the risk of injury;
- Should be subject to risk assessments to make sure all bases are covered;
- Should have active safety measures like guards, accessible emergency stop buttons and isolation measures.
Help and advice
For injuries caused by work equipment accidents, we can represent victims who make a claim for personal injury compensation with us on a No Win, No Fee basis.
It normally takes just one quick phone call with us to be able to determine if we can help you. All of our initial help and advice is available on a free and no-obligation basis as well.
To speak to the team today, you can contact us in several ways or call now on 0800 634 75 75.
