There is a duty on your employer under the workplace regulations to make sure that all traffic routes in the workplace are free from hazards. Loose cables are an obvious hazard and they should never be allowed to accumulate onto work traffic routes. Common sense dictates that they should be tidied using ties or placed in an area whereby they are not going to cause a tripping hazard.
So if you are at work and you are injured due to tripping over cables, do you have a claim for compensation?
Well as I said earlier, there is a duty on your employers to make sure traffic routes are free from hazards. But whether you have a claim could depend on how the cables have been allowed to become a hazard.
If cables are put in place but are not tidied properly, then the employer could be liable. Cables should never be allowed to accumulate in traffic routes for the obvious reason that they can be a tripping hazard. If they have fallen out from a concealed or safe location, then whether you have a claim comes down to any knowledge that your employer had that a hazard has been caused by the cables. An inspection or maintenance regime could prevent this.
If a colleague has been negligent and left some cables and you have tripped over them, your employer can be held vicariously liable. This means that the negligence of an employee falls on the employer to take responsibility. So don’t worry about suing your mate at work – it’s the employers insurance that should still cover it!
Employers have a legal duty to have a policy of employer’s liability insurance that is there to pay compensation to employees or are injured in the workplace. It’s a normal and common process to claim from the insurance, as the insurance exists for the whole purpose of claiming from. It can also include most legal fees as well.
If you have tripped over cables at work and you want to make a claim for compensation, call our free claims helpline on 0800 634 75 75 today.
