By Stephen Anderson. Last Updated 27th October 2023. Are you asking the question ‘I slipped at work and hurt my back – what do I do next?’. If the accident was caused by your employer breaching the duty of care they owed you, you may wish to seek compensation. This guide will help you understand the next steps you may wish to take in order to do so.
It can be a very difficult time as you try to deal with the physical and psychological impact of the injury. In addition, you may have been financially affected by your injuries if you have been unable to work while recovering, for example.
Our guide will explore the compensation you could claim and the evidence you’ll need to provide to support your case.
Additionally, this article aims to explain how you can work with a personal injury solicitor under a No Win No Fee agreement to start a claim against the negligent party who caused your back injury.
There are various ways in which a broken back or other types of back injury could occur. We’ll explore examples of how an employer’s negligence could cause you to sustain harm in an accident.
At Public Interest Lawyers, we aim to help you as much as possible to ensure those responsible reimburse your costs and acknowledge your pain and suffering. If you have any questions after reading or you’re ready to start a claim right now, get in touch by:
- Calling us on 0800 408 7825
- Contact us by filling out our online form with your query
- Use the ‘live support’ option to the bottom right of this screen
How to claim compensation if you slipped at work and hurt your back
Select A Section
- I Slipped At Work And Hurt My Back – Can I Claim Compensation?
- How Should Employers Prevent Slips, Trips Or Falls In The Workplace
- What Could Cause Me To Slip At Work And Hurt My Back?
- Compensation Payouts In Back Injury At Work Claims
- What Should I Do If I Slipped And Fell At Work And Hurt My Back?
- Claim Back Injury Compensation On A No Win No Fee Basis
- Start Your Back Injury At Work Claim
I Slipped At Work And Hurt My Back – Can I Claim Compensation?
You may be wondering, ‘I slipped at work and hurt my back, could I be eligible to receive compensation?’
While you are working and in the workplace, your employer owes you a duty of care. This is stated in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1957. Per their duty of care, they need to take reasonable measures to ensure your health and safety. For example, they should perform regular risk assessments and clean any spillages or clearly signpost them.
If you slipped at work and injured yourself, in order to have a valid personal injury claim, you must prove:
- Your employer owed you a duty of care.
- They breached this duty.
- Due to this breach, you were injured.
To see whether you may have a valid back injury at work claim, you can contact our advisory team today.
How Long Do I Have To Claim For A Back Injury At Work
If you have slipped at work and hurt your back due to the negligence of your employer, you may be able to claim compensation. If so, it’s important to be aware of the time limits involved. The Limitation Act 1980 tells us that you typically have 3 years to start a claim. This time limit begins either from the date of your injury, or the date of knowledge regarding your injury. For the latter, you would need proof such as medical evidence.
There are two exceptions to the time limit when claiming for back injuries at work:
- Under 18s – Children can’t make a claim for themselves. Because they need to wait until adulthood to do so, the time limit only begins from their 18th Before then, a litigation friend must be appointed to make a claim on their behalf.
- Those with a reduced mental capacity – If the injured party lacks the mental capacity to claim, then a litigation friend must also be appointed to do so in this instance as well. If the injured party ever reaches a point where they are deemed capable of making their own claim, the 3-year time limit would begin. If not, it remains suspended.
If you’ve injured your back at work and what to find out if you’re still within your claim window, get in touch with our advisors today.
How Should Employers Prevent Slips, Trips Or Falls In The Workplace?
Regardless of the potential severity of an injury, it’s important that your employer does everything they reasonably can to control or remove the risk of accidents, including a slip, trip or fall.
There are certain workplaces that may have a higher risk for slips, trips and falls, such as kitchens. However, practical steps could be made to prevent them from occurring, such as:
- Use entrance mats in areas that get wet or icy
- Attend to leaks or other issues causing wet surfaces
- Use the correct cleaning methods and products
- Always put out signage to warn of wet areas or cleaning in progress
- Remove spillages promptly and have effective arrangements for dealing with spills.
- Repair floors if they are damaged or worn
- Ensure lighting is adequate in all areas and that all slopes or stairs are clearly visible
- Keep walkways and work areas free and clear of obstructions.
- Provide correct footwear (such as non-slip shoes) as appropriate
If you have slipped at work and hurt your back as a result of employer negligence, you could claim compensaiton. Speak with a member of our team for more information.
What Could Cause Me To Slip At Work And Hurt My Back?
Employer negligence in the workplace could cause a number of different scenarios in which you could injure your back. These can include:
- Tripping down the stairs due to poor lighting in the stairwell, causing you a soft tissue injury in your back and a fractured jaw.
- Falling from a faulty ladder due to your employer failing to carry out regular risk assessments on the workplace equipment.
- A spill in the break room that wasn’t cleaned up or signposted with a wet floor sign. As a result, you may have experienced a spinal injury.
- Damaged or uneven floor surfaces that your employer was made aware of after carrying out a risk assessment. However, they may have failed to put measures in place to control or remove the risk, causing you to sustain a serious back injury.
Slips and falls are a very real hazard in the workplace. The consequences of an employer’s carelessness and failure to uphold their responsibilities could result in injuries that range from back muscle spasms to herniated discs or spinal cord damage.
If you’re wondering ‘I slipped at work and hurt my back in a different kind of accident, can I still claim?’, call our team to discuss your case in more detail.
Compensation Payouts In Back Injury At Work Claims
There are often two heads to a compensation claim made for a back injury. The first is called general damages which seek to provide compensation for your physical and psychological injuries.
The amount of compensation you receive will vary depending on the severity of your condition and how badly it’s impacted your quality of life. In order to determine the full extent of your condition, you may need to attend a medical appointment that’s completed independently of your claim.
Alongside the report produced from the medical assessment and any other medical evidence provided in support of your claim, the Judicial College Guidelines may be considered when looking at how much your claim could be worth.
This publication lists bracket compensation figures for injuries of differing severities. The table below shows examples of the compensation that may be awarded for different injuries:
| Injury | Notes | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Back injury | (a) Severe: (i) Spinal cord and nerve root damage resulting in severe disability. | £91,090 to £160,980 |
| Back injury | (a) Severe: (ii) Damage to the nerve root alongside loss of sensation and impaired bladder and bowel function. | £74,160 to £88,430 |
| Back injury | (a) Severe: (iii) Disc lesions or fractures that causes ongoing severe pain and discomfort. | £38,780 to £69,730 |
| Back injury | (b) Moderate: (i) Crush fracture of the lumbar vertebrae that causes a risk of constant pain and discomfort. | £27,760 to £38,780 |
| Back injury | (b) Moderate: (ii) Disturbed muscles and ligaments due to a frequently encountered back injury. This could accelerate an existing condition by 5+ years. | £12,510 to £27,760 |
| Back injury | (c) Minor: (i) A soft tissue injury that fully recovers without surgery within 5 years. | £7,890 to £12,510 |
| Back injury | (c) Minor: (ii) A minor back injury that recovers without surgery within two years. | £4,350 to £7,890 |
| Back injury | (c) Minor: (iii) A less serious back injury that recovers fully within three months to one year. | £2,450 to £4,350 |
| Back injury | (c) Minor: (iv) A full recovery in made within 3 months from a minor back injury. | Up to £2,450 |
| Injuries to the Pelvis and Hips | (a) Severe: (i) The lower back joint is dislocate with extensive pelvis fractures. | £78,400 to £130,930 |
You should only use these figures as a guide because your actual settlement will vary depending on different factors unique to your case. To get a more accurate valuation of your injuries, you could work with a personal injury solicitor. They can accurately value your claim as part of the services they offer.
For more information on ‘what can I claim if I slipped at work and hurt my back?’, call our team. If you have a valid case, you could be connected with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel.
What Special Damages You Could Claim If You Slipped At Work And Hurt Your Back?
In addition to this, your claim may also comprise special damages which reimburses you for any past or future financial losses. Provided you have proof of all the out of pocket expenses caused by the injury, you could claim them back under special damages. They might include:
- Any lost wages due to you being unable to work
- Physiotherapy or chiropractor costs
- Expensive medications and pain management needs
- Child care
- Care costs for yourself to help you perform essential tasks, such as washing or eating
- Modifications to your home such as wheelchair access or other fittings to aid mobility
- Impact on your pension or staff bonus
- Loss of deposits for special occasions
- Travel costs to work or hospital appointments
Evidence you could provide to support any monetary losses might include receipts, bills or invoices.
What Should I Do If I Slipped And Fell At Work And Hurt My Back?
If you have been involved in a workplace accident, you may be wondering, ‘I hurt my back at work, what steps should I take to claim?’. With all accident at work claims, you will need to prove that you were injured because your employer breached their duty of care. This is why evidence is crucial for proving negligence occurred. Some of the evidence you could gather if you slipped at work and injured yourself include:
- CCTV footage or any photographs of the accident.
- A completed accident report book.
- Eyewitness contact details.
- Evidence of your injuries, such as a copy of your medical records.
Remember, if you are eligible to make a claim for compensation, payouts in the UK for a back injury will vary depending on the factors of your claim.
You can contact our advisors today if you would like to discuss your potential claim. They can also provide you with free legal advice concerning personal injury claims.
Claim Back Injury Compensation On A No Win No Fee Basis
No Win No Fee arrangements, such as Conditional Fee Agreements (CFA) are a way for people to access legal representation at no upfront cost. Also, if your claim fails, you won’t pay your solicitor’s fees.
At the conclusion of winning cases, you’ll pay a small, legally capped percentage as their ‘success fee’. However, your No Win No Fee solicitor will make you aware of the fee before you start your claim with them on this basis.
In practice, agreements such as this can offer a financially risk-free alternative to people pursuing compensation with legal representation. Our panel of personal injury solicitors can take on your claim under this agreement. For more information, call our team on the number above.
Start Your Back Injury At Work Claim
We hope our guide answering the question ‘I slipped at work and hurt my back, what do I do?’ has helped. However, if you need any additional information, get in touch with our team.
An advisor can assess your claim and if they feel it has a chance of success, could connect you with a solicitor from our panel. Alternatively, if you’re not ready to claim, they can provide further clarification on anything of which you’re unsure.
Either way, contact our team on the details below to find out more:
- Telephone: 0800 408 7825
- Contact form: Fill out our online form with your query
- Live chat- Use the ‘live support’ option to the bottom right of this screen
Find Out More About Workplace Injury Claims
Below are links to further reading on other types of personal injury.
- A guide on how to claim loss of earnings after a car accident.
- Claiming for a hand injury sustained in a car accident
- Claiming for a minor injury in a car accident
- More statistics about non-fatal injuries at work.
- Visit the NHS website for any medical advice.
- Further reading about living with back pain.
Thank you for reading our guide exploring the question ‘I slipped at work and hurt my back, what can I claim?’.