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Accidents at Work

Employers owe employees a legal duty to provide a safe place of work, safe equipment, competent colleagues and safe systems of work, and they must insure against exactly this. That is why a claim after a workplace accident is made against an insurance policy rather than against your employer's pocket — a point worth understanding, because fear of damaging the business stops more valid claims than any legal obstacle. Call 07476 557650 free, any hour — and a one-hour consultation with a UK solicitor (£145, a fixed fee) can be booked right on the call.

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Three years from the accident, or from the date you knew a condition was work-related — which is the relevant date for industrial disease, hearing loss and repetitive strain. Report the accident in the accident book immediately: a contemporaneous entry is the single most useful document you will have.

Accidents at Work at a glance

Employers must insure

Employers' liability insurance is compulsory — claims are paid by insurers, not by your employer directly

Record it in the accident book

A contemporaneous entry is the strongest evidence that it happened as you say

Some accidents must be reported

Serious injuries and dangerous occurrences must be reported to the regulator under RIDDOR

Dismissal for claiming is unlawful

Dismissal or detriment for pursuing a claim or raising safety concerns is automatically unfair

Sick pay and benefits are separate

Statutory sick pay and industrial injuries benefit run independently of any claim

What your employer must actually do

The duties are practical, not abstract: risk assessments carried out and acted on, equipment maintained and inspected, adequate training and supervision, protective equipment provided free of charge, manual handling assessed and reduced, and hazards guarded. Where a specific regulation has been breached — work at height, lifting operations, machinery guarding — that breach is powerful evidence in a claim. Employers must also report specified serious injuries and dangerous occurrences to the Health and Safety Executive under RIDDOR, and a failure to do so is itself telling. Talk it through with a lawyer now →

Protecting your position after an accident

Get medical attention and make sure the cause is recorded accurately, because insurers read medical notes closely and a vague entry causes trouble later. Enter the accident in the accident book and keep a copy of the entry. Photograph the scene, the equipment and your injuries, and take the names of anyone who saw it. Note the conditions — lighting, floor surface, missing guard, absent training. And be careful about signing anything an employer or insurer puts in front of you early; early offers are commonly made before the medical picture is clear, and they are usually low. Talk it through with a lawyer now →

You cannot lawfully be punished for it

Dismissal for bringing a personal injury claim, or for raising a genuine health and safety concern, is automatically unfair and needs no qualifying period of service. So is subjecting you to a detriment — lost shifts, demotion, exclusion — for the same reason. This protection exists precisely because the fear is so common, and it means the practical answer to should I claim is that the law already anticipated the question. If treatment changes after you report an injury, record the changes as carefully as you recorded the accident. Talk it through with a lawyer now →

If you are injured at work, step by step

Get treatment and have the cause recorded accuratelyThe medical note is read closely by insurers later.

Enter it in the accident book and keep a copyContemporaneous, specific, and in your possession.

Photograph the scene and take witness namesConditions change quickly once an accident has been reported. Call 07476 557650 free, any hour — and a one-hour consultation with a UK solicitor (£145, a fixed fee) can be booked right on the call.

Accidents at Work — your questions answered

Will I lose my job if I claim against my employer?

Dismissing you for bringing a claim, or for raising a genuine health and safety concern, is automatically unfair and requires no minimum service. Subjecting you to a detriment for the same reason is also unlawful. Practically, claims are met by the employer's compulsory liability insurer rather than out of the business's own money, which is exactly why that insurance is a legal requirement. If your treatment changes after you report an injury, document it.

The accident was partly my own carelessness. Does that end it?

No. Employers are expected to design systems that allow for ordinary human error and momentary inattention — that is much of what a risk assessment is for. Your share of responsibility reduces the compensation proportionately rather than defeating the claim. It is a reason to get advice, not a reason to assume there is nothing there.

What if I am agency or self-employed?

You may still be protected. Occupiers and principal contractors owe duties to people on their premises regardless of who employs them, and agency workers are covered by health and safety duties on the end user in most practical respects. Genuinely self-employed contractors can still claim against whoever controlled the site or supplied defective equipment. Employment status affects which duties apply and who you claim against — it rarely means nobody is responsible.