Accidents at Work - Claim Compensation

Considering the variety of employment in Factories, Offices, construction sites etc. it's amazing that we don't get more accidents at work causing personal injury. Over the years much improved Health and Safety standards and Regulations, together with more stringent risk management procedures have helped to reduce accidents at work. Employers are often very proud of their reducing accidental injury statistics. You can regularly see signs, particularly on construction sites celebrating the number of days working on the site accident free. 

But despite their best intentions, employers sometimes get it wrong and as a direct consequence an employee has an accident at work and suffers personal injury. That is why employers pay insurance companies. Indeed, it is the law that all employers must take out insurance to cover any accident causing injury to their employees. It is a specific stand alone policy called an Employer's Liability Cover. If the personal injury sustained in the accident was as a result of the Employer's mistake (negligence), then the Insurance Company will pay the compensation for personal injury.

Making a claim for an accident at work

Of course, many people are reluctant to make a compensation claim against their employer, especially in smaller organisations where there is often a personal relationship. It is important to recognise that the word "negligence" means a mistake has been made, not on purpose or due to any malice, a simple mistake.

Everyone makes mistakes, but sometimes an apology is not enough when you have suffered personal injury. You are entitled to compensation, paid by the Insurance Company, for which the employer has already paid an insurance premium. So you see, the employer doesn't pay, the insurer does. Most employers are savvy enough to recognise that where personal injury has occurred, compensation is due and many encourage the employee to bring a claim for compensation for personal injury against the insurer. That is the point of the policy.

Whatever the type of accident at work, it can have devastating effect on families as well as individuals. Research has shown that the most important thing to people who have been involved in a work related injury is to get back to work. So early rehabilitation is essential. Here at Sunshine Legal we place an emphasis on this because we know how important it is to you and your family. Rehabilitation followed by compensation. A winning combination.

Accidents at Work - Did you know......?

• According to the Health and Safety Executive, whilst rates of injury have reduced over the past decade, an estimated 603,000 workers had an accident at work in 2010/11 Fortunately only 25,000 were classed as "major" injuries, but that is still a big figure.
• Manual handing injuries are the most commonly reported kind of accident at work
• More than half of fatal injuries were caused by being hit by a vehicle, falling objects or falling from a height.
• About two million working days were lost due to handling accidents or tripping and slipping
• New workers are at a higher risk of personal injury than established workers. The risk is four times higher for workers in their first month of employment.

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