What should I do if I suffer an accident at work?

Posted on May 27, 2021
accident at work person on the floor in pain

If you are unfortunate to suffer an accident at work, you may be entitled to bring a personal injury claim. Kimberly Bradfield, Solicitor at Jefferies, specialises in personal injury and clinical negligence. Here she explains what to do if you have suffered an injury at work and how to seek legal assistance.

Your employer has a duty of care to provide you with a safe place of work. If this duty is breached and you suffer injuries as a consequence, you may be entitled to compensation. A breach of duty commonly includes, but is not limited to, a lack of adequate training, faulty machinery or inadequate equipment.

What should I do if I suffer an injury at work?

Seek medical assistance

If you have suffered an accident at work, the priority in most cases is to seek medical attention. This may be with the first aider at your workplace initially. It is important that you also attend your GP or Hospital to ensure you receive the required treatment, but also to make sure your injuries are documented.

Record the incident

It is vital that you should ensure the accident is accurately recorded in the accident book at work. If possible, you should try and complete this yourself as this can form crucial evidence in a personal injury claim. If you are unable to complete this personally, you should be asked to review and sign the accident form to confirm that the contents is correct.

Take photographs

It is always helpful to take relevant photographs which can then be passed onto your Solicitor in due course. This may be of the accident site, the faulty machine or your injuries. Photographs help to give the Solicitor and the Defendant a better understanding of the nature of the accident.

Make note of any witnesses

You should try to make a note of any witnesses at the scene. It would also be helpful to take a brief statement from them as soon as possible in regard to the accident circumstances, what they saw and what they heard. It could well be that whilst some colleagues did not see the accident, they may have been aware of the fault or may have even reported it prior to the accident. If so, this is vital to the claim and a brief statement from them would be extremely helpful.

Check CCTV

Check whether there is CCTV that covers the accident. If so, you should make a written request that this CCTV is preserved. Most CCTV systems automatically overwrite the date after a certain number of days and once destroyed, it is unable to be viewed.

Contact the team at Jefferies

If you have had an accident at work and wish to seek legal advice, contact our specialist team today. Call us on 01702 443472 or fill out a contact form here.

Working from home?

If you suffer an accident whilst working from home, your employer may be liable depending on the type of accident and the safety measures they implemented. Find out more here.

The contents of this article are for the purposes of general awareness only.  They do not purport to constitute legal or professional advice.  The law may have changed since this article was published.  Readers should not act on the basis of the information included and should take appropriate professional advice upon their own particular circumstances. 

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