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Accidents at Work

Legal Knowledge (3)>Employment (1)>Accidents at Work (0)

About this section

Your employer has a legal duty to protect your health and safety at work. They need to ensure that the workplace is a safe environment, free from potential risks to your health. Risk assessments should be carried out, and safety equipment, such as warning signs or protective clothing, provided when necessary.

Employers are required by law to report serious accidents and incidents to the Incident Contact Centre of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Employees may be able to claim statutory or contractual sick pay if they have an accident at work.

An employer has a legal duty to report the following work accidents:

Death
Major injuries (for example a broken leg)
Dangerous incidents (for example the collapse of a roof)
Any other incident that prevents an employee from doing their normal work for more than three days
Disease

Your employer is required to undertake a risk assessment of the employment premises, and take precautions to ensure health and safety measures can be implemented. This could include appointing first aiders and fire wardens, and ensuring equipment is up to standard.

Any injuries in the workplace should be recorded in an accident book (most companies are required by law to have one), as this provides a useful record in case employees need time off or wish to claim compensation as a result of an accident.

If you need time off after an accident at work, the pay you receive will depend on the terms of your contract of employment. If your employer has their own company sick pay scheme you should be paid what you are due under this. Some companies have a discretionary scheme for which you may or may not qualify. If you are not entitled to anything under a company scheme, your employer should still pay you statutory sick pay if you are eligible. Your employer will have a procedure you should follow if you need time off (eg ring in before a certain time of day). Any more than one week of illness usually requires a doctor’s note.

It is illegal by law for employers not to allow workers on sick leave to accrue holiday time or pay during their absence from work. Ine June 2009, the House of Lords ruled on Stringer v HMRC. Their decision allows staff who are denied holiday time and pay after being off work due to sickness to claim for an unauthorised deduction of wages under the Employment Rights Act 1996.

The current rate is £75.40 per week. SSP doesn't start until the fourth day that you're off sick, so you might not get paid anything for the first three days.

If you have been injured in an accident at work, you may be able to make a claim for compensation. You must make the claim within three years of the accident.

By law, your employer must be insured to cover any compensation claim. A certificate with the name of their insurance company should be made accessible to any employees. You will need to seek guidance from a trained solicitor if you wish to make a compensation claim.

The aim of compensation is to reimburse you financially for any loss of earnings you have incurred since the accident. Going down the route of suing your employer can be costly and stressful, and there are also court costs and fees to think about. However some solicitors now take cases on with a ‘no win no fee’ basis.

UKLA Direct is a trading name of TLA Direct Limited, a company registered in England and Wales (Company Number 06643412) whose registered office is Pegasus House, 463A Glossop Road, Sheffield, S10 2QD. TLA Direct is regulated by the Ministry of Justice in respect of regulated claims management activities. It's registration is recorded on the website www.claimsregulation.gov.uk CRM14556. In the event that you instruct a UKLA solicitor following introduction through this service, the solicitor may pay a fee, dependant on the type of work, to TLA Direct for marketing and administration services. This fee may either be a fixed amount, a percentage of up to 15% of the fees billed by the solicitor or nothing. In no circumstances will this fee be added to your quote/bill. Your solicitor will advise you of any such fee in their letter of instruction.