Advice On What To Do If You Have An Accident At Work

Being injured in an accident at work could be a traumatic and difficult experience. In the aftermath of a workplace accident, once medical attention has been sought, you could be left with questions over whether an accident at work claim is eligible and, if so, what action you need to take. In this guide, we provide advice on what to do if you have an accident at work and want to pursue personal injury compensation.

This guide examines why seeking medical treatment after a workplace accident is vital, whether your accident needs to be recorded or reported, and the importance of retaining evidence. We complete this guide by looking at how Public Interest Lawyers can help you and providing you with additional reading resources.

If after reading our guide you have any questions about what to do after an accident at work please contact our team. You can call us on 0800 408 7825 or use either the live advice feature or fill in our online form to be contacted by a member of our team.

Different types of accidents at work.

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What To Do If You Have An Accident At Work

Under The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, all employers have a duty of care to ensure the safety of all employees in the workplace. Employers should ensure that workplaces are kept safe and free of hazards (where possible), that you are provided with any necessary personal protective equipment and given the training needed to carry out your job. If you were harmed because your employer negligently failed in any of these steps, you could make an accident at work claim. 

We understand that if you were injured, you could have questions such as how does an accident at work claim work. The first step you should take is to ensure your safety, seek medical care and report the accident to your employer. You should record that the accident happened in the accident book. 

Whilst also ensuring that all incidents are correctly logged and getting your injuries treated, doing so also starts to create evidence which can be used to support any personal injury claims you intend to make. Gathering evidence is an important part of the accident at work claim process. 

Find out more about what to do if you have an accident at work in the next section.

Is Seeking Medical Treatment Important After An Accident At Work?

If you have suffered a workplace accident the most important step that you can take is to ensure that your injuries are treated promptly and correctly. If necessary, ask a colleague to contact the emergency services to get any urgent medical care. Whilst waiting for any further medical care or to attend a hospital or GP surgery, ensure that a member of staff trained in first aid provides immediate care. 

No matter how serious or minor your workplace injuries are, you should ensure that you do seek medical attention. Not only is this to take care of your own health, but it will also help you to establish that you did sustain the injuries you want to claim compensation for. In conjunction with other evidence, this could help to prove your claim. 

A doctor or other medical professional can carry out a full assessment of your injuries. They may request diagnostic tests, such as x-rays, other scans or blood work to determine how you have been harmed. Along with their notes and your medical records this creates evidence which can help prove your injury at work claim.

Should My Accident Be Recorded In The Workplace Accident Book?

All employers that employ 10 or more staff members are required by law to have an accident report book, to record accidents at work. By recording your accident in the workplace log, you are creating evidence of the incident taking place. If you go on to make a personal injury claim after an accident in the workplace, you could request a copy of this log, so be sure to put details of the incident taking place, along with the time and date and any other relevant information. 

Your employer should comply with all legislation regarding the reporting and recording of injuries, such as the Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR). 

It is important that you ensure that your injury has been recorded in the workplace accident book. If you do not have a formal record of the incident which is acknowledged by your employer it may be harder to claim for compensation at a later date.

What Is RIDDOR?

RIDDOR requires all workplaces to report specified injuries to workers, deaths in the workplace, instances of reportable occupational diseases and specified dangerous occurrences to the Health and Safety Executive HSE, the workplace health and safety regulations enforcer.

Should I Keep A Record Of Losses And Expenses After An Accident At Work?

As well as seeking medical attention to have your injuries looked at and to create a record of how you were harmed and as well as reporting the incident in the log book to create a formal acknowledgement, amongst other things, there is also other evidence you could collect if making a personal injury claim. This can include:

  • Requesting CCTV footage of the incident taking place
  • Photographs of the accident scene and any visible injuries
  • Contact details of anyone who saw what happened incase a witness statement is needed.
  • Retaining proof of any out-of-pocket expenses or financial losses caused by your injuries.

This evidence can help establish liability for your injuries, but it can also help determine the amount of compensation you could be awarded. If you make a successful personal injury claim for an accident at work, you will be awarded up to two heads of loss. The first is general damages, and this is to compensate for the pain and suffering caused by your injuries. Medical evidence is key here to work out the value of this head of loss.

The second head of loss is known as special damages. It is vital that you retain proof of financial losses caused by your injuries to be awarded special damages. 

Special damages are awarded for the impact that the injury has on your finances. For example, if you were injured in a crane accident at work, you may be unable to return to the same job role as before. This could impact your current and future earnings. Special damages could take this into account.  

Special damages can also compensate you for:

  • Lost workplace benefits. This may include lost overtime, pension contributions or other workplace benefits. 
  • Medical attention. This could include private medical care, medication and prescriptions, and medical equipment. 
  • Travel expenses. If you have to travel to a medical appointment, you could claim for travel-related expenses. 
  • You could also claim for the cost of home care, adaptations to your home, mobility aids and assistive devices. 

Money such as pound notes and coins

You need to keep records such as wage slips, bank statements, and invoices to prove your costs and losses.

How Can We Help You Claim For An Accident At Work?

This guide has looked at what to do if you have an accident at work. Finally, we look at how our team could help you. By having a quick chat with one of our advisors, they can inform you whether or not you have an eligible claim through a free case assessment. If you have good grounds to make an accident at work claim, they will offer to connect you to a solicitor from our panel.

All the solicitors on the panel work on a No Win No Fee basis via a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). Under a Conditional Fee Agreement, your solicitor will charge you a success fee at the end of your claim. This will be levied on successful cases and is set at a specified percentage of your settlement. This percentage is capped legally. If your claim is not successful, the fee will not be charged.

No win no fee solicitor discussing what to do after an accident at work.

You can find out more about how we can help you with accident at work claims by phoning us on 0800 408 7825, filling in our contact form or using the live advice chat on this page.

Learn More About What To Do If You Have An Accident At Work

Here, we have included further resources on No Win No Fee workplace accident claims. 

Here we have included some helpful external resources. 

  • In this resource, you can find out how to request CCTV footage of an accident. 
  • This government resource has information on statutory sick pay SSP if you are not entitled to contractual sick pay. 
  • Find out how to assess if you have broken a bone in this NHS guide.

We hope that our guide on what to do if you have an accident at work has helped you.  If you have any further questions, please contact our team to find out how a No Win No Fee solicitor could help you.