Workers Compensation Law & Lawyers

If you have been injured at work you could be entitled to claim a lump sum compensation payout.

To find out if you are eligible, please complete your free legal enquiry form on the right, or click here.

Accidents in the work place can happen at any time. The list of possible causes is endless but some common examples of work injuries are as follows:

• Slip, Trip and fall Injuries,
• Back Injury due to Lifting Objects,
• Forklift Truck Accidents,
• Injuries caused by operating machines
• Finger injuries carring out manual work
• Scaffolding Accidents,
• Factory Accidents,
• Vibration White Finger,
• Asbestos Related Disease,
• Industrial Diseases,
• Industrial Deafness,
• Accidents due to Inadequate Training
• Accidents due to unsafe or dangerous work conditions

All employers have to comply with strict health and safety legislation to ensure that their employees are not put at risk of being injured and that the work environment is safe. Despite this, many personal injury at work or work accidents still occur – accidents which lead to injuries.

Injuries sustained from work accidents may mean you have to take time off work to recover which can lead to financial difficulties. Making a work accident claim will help ease the financial burden and also provide you with treatment to enable a full recovery.

If you have had an accident at work and need advice on making a claim then please complete your free legal enquiry form on the right, or click here.

There are many different situations giving rise to work injuries. Some examples include:

• Falling over objects
• lifting heavy objects
• moving difficult objects
• carrying out excessive physical activities
• using stairs and ladders
• bending, twisting and lifting
• Being hit by a vehicle
• finger and hand injuries
• Tools breaking
• Falling Objects
• Catching your hand in a machine and many more

Accidents at work are very common and can occur in any job, in any situation. You shouldn’t be afraid of filing a work accident claim against an employer if you have had an accident at work. After all, they have a duty to provide safe working conditions, and if they don’t fulfill this then they are breaking the law, as well as putting you at risk.

Work accidents can happen regardless of where you work. You may think that factory accidents and construction site accidents are the only types of accidents which occur at work, but office environments have their own set of dangers to watch out for as well.

Every employer has a set of responsibilities to their employees to ensure their environment is safe, and the risk of an accident at work is minimal. This not only protects their workers, but prevents work accident claims being filed against them.

Responsibilities could come in many different forms, whether they be testing machinery regularly, providing adequate safety equipment, or informing employees of dangers in the workplace, and how to avoid them. Each environment will have its own set of work accident risks, which need to be handled by the employer.

Accidents at Work

There are an infinite number of ways in which accidents can occur at work. However, broadly speaking, work accidents and work injuries can occur through four main areas as follows:

• Manual Handling Accidents
• Construction Accidents
• Factory Accidents
• Industrial Accidents
• Office Accidents

Manual Handling Accidents

Manual handling accidents account for the majority of workplace injuries. Manual handling accidents can occur when lifting, pushing, pulling, twisting, bending, squatting and lowering and carrying heavy objects.

Manual handling accidents can cause injury to almost any part of the body (including the lower body and upper body) in particular the back, neck and shoulders.

Anyone who has had a manual handling accident is covered. Some jobs are obvious contenders, such as work on building sites, farm workers, workers in warehouses and shops, nurses and ancillary staff in hospitals and care homes, and delivery workers. Other less obvious occupations (although injuries can and do occur), are office workers, workers in banks and what might traditionally thought to be "lighter jobs". Pre existing health problems can play a part and injuries do not have to be immediate, they can occur over time as a result of repeated activity.

What should the Employer do to prevent or minimise the risk of manual handling accidents?

Well first off, the employer has to assess the risk of injury from the manual handling and where so far as is practicable, avoid the need for it all. If manual handling is the only way to carry out the task, then there should be risk assessments to reduce the risk to as low as possible and the use of mechanical aids should be considered, such as hoists and other lifting equipment.

If you have suffered a work injury due to a manual handling accident while at work, then please complete your free legal enquiry form on the right, or click here.

Construction Accidents

Construction sites are dangerous places, your employer has a duty of care to ensure that the workplace and work environment is safe at all times during work.

Construction sites pose a large variety of risks, making the possibility of an accident quite high. Working with dangerous equipment, working around hazardous and unstable materials or simply putting your body through demanding work and strain could all lead to a construction accident.

Other dangers include working at height where materials can fall, failing to erect safety barriers as construction work progresses, hazards at ground level during ground works and heavy machinery and lifting procedures. All of these situations carry a degree of risk that needs to be addressed with special training and extra care to avoid a construction site accident.

Because of the different risks, your employer and site manager have responsibilities (or a ‘duty of care’) to provide correct, suitable and up to date safety equipment and advice. By neglecting this duty of care, they are running the risk of a construction accident claim, and also putting you in danger.

Safety regulations are enforced by the workplace health and safety regulatory authorities. They try to ensure that risks in the continually changing workplace, including construction sites, are properly managed to reduce the risk of accidents.

Workplace health and safety regulations Regulations are put in place to help protect construction site workers. A claim for construction compensation can also be influenced by Workers’ Compensation – a form of insurance that provides medical care for injured employees.

If you have suffered a work injury due to a construction site accident while at work, then please complete your free legal enquiry form on the right, or click here.

Types of construction site accidents

It’s true that most accidents happen when moving around the workplace or walking across a construction site – surprising, considering the areas of risk on a site. To ensure that this isn’t due to an employee’s lack of concentration, it’s important to take regular breaks as prescribed by law. Many people may not realise that this is the case, yet it could be the difference between a construction site accident happening, or being avoided.

Faulty equipment can also be to blame for accidents and injuries on construction sites. The equipment manufacturers need to thoroughly test that equipment is safe before use, as a small defect could cause large problems. It is the responsibility of the employer to replace whatever equipment may have a fault.

Unfortunately, construction sites can also cause problems that you may not realise until later in life. Exposure to asbestos can cause cancer, and is potentially deadly - another reason to ensure correct equipment is used, the correct protective clothing is worn and the correct procedures are always adhered to.

What to do if you have an accident

If you are injured in a construction work accident then do your best to collect the evidence about exactly what happened. Get names and addresses of witnesses, if possible. Following medical treatment, get independent specialist advice about making a construction accident claim.

If you have suffered a work injury due to a construction site accident while at work, then please complete your free legal enquiry form on the right, or click here.

Because construction workers usually depend on their fitness to be able to work, any construction site injuries can result in significant loss of wages. You need compensation for this, and for your injuries. Also, you need to be covered for the future as your injury could affect you later on in life when you get older. In deciding whether to seek compensation for your work injury, you should also consider how your injury may affect you later on when you get older in life. A workers compensation claim will provide cover and protection to you (and your family).

If you have suffered a work injury due to a construction site accident while at work, then please complete your free legal enquiry form on the right, or click here.

Factory Accidents

Employees in factories are entitled to just the same protection as any other employee. Any employer has a duty to comply with all the relevant statutory requirements and regulations about safe working practices and safe premises in which to work, or they could be liable for factory accident compensation claims.

Requirements include making sure that factory floors are clear of slippery substances like grease, which can cause slipping accidents. Floors must also be kept clear of obstructions, and tripping hazards, like discarded plastic wrapping bands and trailing cables.

Moving parts of machinery have to be safely guarded. Safety shoes and suitable gloves should be provided when there is a risk of foot injuries or injuries to the hands during the working process. Appropriate overalls should be provided if there is a danger of hot or toxic materials or liquids being scattered or splashed.

Other factory injuries could include industrial deafness; fork lift truck accidents; chemical spills; or falling machinery.

If you have suffered a work injury due to a factory accident while at work, then please complete your free legal enquiry form on the right, or click here.

Industrial Accidents

In the construction industry, on building sites, in heavy and light industries, in factories and in warehouses, accidents occur every year that cause injuries to workers. Many of these industrial accidents could have been avoided, and the Health and Safety Executive works hard to enforce regulations and to improve the safety of workplaces. Industrial injuries are caused either through negligence, by accident or through incompetence.

Because of the varying types of industrial accidents, claims can be made for any number of injuries. For example, on building sites, debris or machinery could fall from scaffolding; a construction site accident could be caused by machinery or vehicles; in factories there’s the risk of accident by faulty machinery; and in warehouses there’s often the risk of tripping or getting hit by falling products – victims of any of these accidents could be entitled to claim compensation.

Other injuries/illnesses that could occur as a result of working in industrial workplaces include:

• Industrial deafness,
• Chemical Injuries,
• Asbestosis,
• Vibration White Finger, and
• Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

In the majority of industrial situations, employees will be safe – with employers providing safety precautions to ensure this. It is in the vast minority of industrial workplaces that industry accidents occur, but this doesn’t make them any less serious.

Injuries can leave you out of work, losing out on earnings, as well as often resulting in long term health problems, such as in the case of asbestos exposure. And in the short term there’s the physical and mental pain endured, as well as medical bills from the cost of treatment and recovery.

Making a claim after an industrial accident

If you are unfortunate enough to have an industrial injury, you may have a claim for compensation. Your employers have to comply with many safety regulations in relation to your workplace, access to it, and the way that machinery and equipment has to be guarded, maintained and operated.

If you haven’t been informed of how to be safe in your workplace, safety precautions aren’t in place, or you are put in dangerous situations that you shouldn’t have been and you’ve suffered an injury, then you should consider claiming for industrial injury compensation. Aside from helping you get your life back on track, it will help encourage your employer to be less negligent in the future, ultimately reducing the chance of an industrial accident occurring again.

If your employer has been at fault by failing to comply with any of the regulations, or has failed in some way to take reasonable precautions for your safety, and your accident was caused completely or even in part by this fault or failure, you should get independent specialist advice about making an industrial injury claim.

If you have suffered a work injury due to a industrial accident while at work, then please complete your free legal enquiry form on the right, or click here.

Office Accidents

Offices are usually considered to be fairly safe working environments, without many of the hazards associated with factories, construction sites and other workplaces where there’s a risk associated with using machinery. But every year there are a significant number of office injuries and compensation claims arising from accidents and bad working practices in offices.

Office injury claims tend to arise as a result of inadequate workstations and seating arrangements - bad ergonomic planning for desk workers - and also from trips over trailing cables and other obstacles on the floor, slipping on worn or broken steps, and injuries from inappropriate lifting.

As with all personal injury claims, if an employer has failed in a duty owed to an employee to comply with safety regulations, and to take all practical steps to ensure safe working practices and a safe workplace, and it can be proved that injuries have arisen as a result of this failure, compensation may well be recoverable for an office-based work injury claim.

Causes of office accidents

Office injury claims tend to arise as a result of inadequate workstations and seating arrangements or due to faulty equipment or appliances.

If you’ve suffered from an office injury, it is worth investigating whether you can claim for office injury compensation – in particular if the injury has caused you to take time off work and lose out on earnings.

Office injuries could include:

Repetitive strain injury – Bad ergonomic planning in the office can lead to this long-term injury, usually caused by typing

Tripping over – Trailing wires not tidied up correctly or other walkway obstacles can lead to a trip

Slipping over – Wet floors and icy courtyards that haven’t been gritted can cause considerable injury and broken bones if someone slips on them

Electric Shocks – Usually caused as a result of faulty equipment and untested electronics, these can lead to particularly nasty injuries

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning – Can occur if there are broken appliances that burn fuel, such as gas boilers. Usually the gas is disposed of safely but leaks can occur and poison those in the vicinity

Back Injuries – If a job involves lifting heavy boxes or other weighty objects the employee would need to be fully instructed of how to lift properly. If not, and an injury occurs, the employer is at fault

Claiming compensation following an office injury

In any office accident case, you shouldn’t be afraid to make a claim for injury compensation against an employer. They should have insurance to cover them against compensation claimed by any employee. It’s also important to know that, by law, your employment cannot be terminated as a result of an office accident claim.

A personal injury claim can arise if an employer has failed in a duty owed to an employee to comply with safety regulations. Compensation may well be recoverable for such a claim if the employer has failed to take all practical steps to ensure safe working practices and a safe workplace, and it can be proved that the employee has been injured as a result of this failure.

Remember - by making an office injury claim, you may prevent the same accident happening to someone else in your office in the future.

If you have suffered a work injury due to an office accident while at work, then please complete your free legal enquiry form on the right, or click here.

Total and Permanent Disability Compensation Claims

If you become Totally and Permanently Disabled, you can claim your superannuation early. Most superannuation funds also have a TPD insurance component. Therefore in addition to receiving your super early, you may be entitled to a lump sum payout through the TPD insurance component.

For more information click here: Total and Permanent Disability Compensation Claims

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