Accidents at Work Scotland – Your Rights

Accidents at Work – Personal injury lawyers Scotland

Personal Injury Claim

If you have recently experienced an accident at work, you will know it is a serious occurrence and it is important to understand the avenues open to you in order to claim compensation you may be entitled to and remain financially stable.

It is a basic principle in the UK that your employer has a legal duty to keep you safe at work. This includes providing a safe working environment, appropriate safety equipment, adequate training and instruction as well as a safe method to carry out the tasks required for your role.

Much of the rights of employees and the relevant safety standards are laid out by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Failure to conform to this is taken very seriously and may lead to your employer being held liable for those who suffer because of their failure to meet the required standards.

It is worth noting that what the appropriate level of safety measures is may vary depending on the nature of the business and your role. Working on a construction site demands more safety regulations and measures than in a shop and may also demand a greater level of care and responsibility from your employer but also potentially you the employee (so long as adequate training is provided).

There are various health and safety regulations (such as the “Handling Operations Regulations 1992” or “Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998”) for various tasks you may have to perform to ensure that nothing unsafe or unnecessarily strenuous is demanded of you at the expense of Health and Safety (these are merely a few examples). There is a large range of provision, and if necessary, it may be worth seeking advice on your specific circumstances to see what may be relevant for your case.

Workplace accidents

If you suffer a workplace injury it is critical that you take steps to report the incident properly (possibly to a manager or other relevant person). Depending on the severity of the accident your employer may be obliged to report it to the Health and Safety Executive under RIDDOR (Reporting on Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (2013). It would be prudent to take steps to understand and evidence the extent of your injury; this could involve any relevant step from taking photographs to seeing a doctor.

This may make a potential claim (See below) more likely to succeed. Furthermore, though it is the employer’s responsibility to take reasonable precaution for your safety, if you notice a safety risk bringing it to your employers’ attention before an accident occurs could help demonstrate they were at fault in not resolving the risk.

If you believe you suffered an injury due to an accident at work and your employer is to blame you may wish to consider pursuing a Personal Injury Claim. It need not necessarily be that they caused the accident directly; it could be along the lines of failing to provide the relevant safety equipment reasonably necessary to prevent injury in your line of work.

This could be viewed as negligent and if your employer is deemed to be at fault, you would be entitled to compensation. Financial compensation normally amounts to the value of your loss due to the injury and typically accounts for things such as lost earnings, severity of the accident and any other relevant effects the injury may have had on your life. It very much turns on the facts surrounding your accident.

Advice should be sought from a personal injury lawyer quickly because there is a time limit on pursuing such a claim. This is normally three years and although this can sometimes be amended the court would likely only do it in exceptional circumstances.

You should also be aware that pursuing a claim can get expensive and should you lose you may need to pay the legal fees of your employer as well as your own. There are options to explore for finance such as some solicitors may take on claims on a no win no fee basis.

It would be impossible to comment on the likelihood of success without knowing the situation however as mentioned before collecting and having to hand as much evidence as possible is essential.

The fuller the picture the better; what caused the accident? Who is to blame? Was a safety procedure not followed? How serious is the injury (at the time of accident and later on)? Where did it happen? What has the accident cost you? These are just some examples of things to consider, the list is by no means exhaustive and there are several factors could change depending on what happened.

An immediate concern for those who suffer an injury as a result of an accident and are unable to work may be the loss of income suffered as a result.

Firstly, your contract of employment may provide for contractual sick pay and the circumstance in which it is given. This can vary depending on the employer and potentially your position within a company, so it is a worth examining closely as this option if it is included would likely be more favourable than Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).

Statutory Sick Pay is a base minimum entitlement paid to you by your employer so long as you meet the relevant criteria and are not ineligible due to your circumstance. Under SSP you get £94.25 per week for a maximum of 28 weeks.

To qualify you must have commenced your employment, conform to the sick pay policy of your employer and you must be sick for four full days in a row or more. It is inconsequential if you are a part time or full-time employee though in either case you must earn at least £118 (before tax) per week. It is worth noting if you have two employers both may be due you SSP, even if the accident leading to the illness/injury was caused by only one of them.

If you are not eligible for SSP, it is worth considering if you could be entitled to other programmes such as Universal Credit.

The Personal Injury Claims Process

When you make a claim with Jones Whyte, our team of work injury compensation specialists will support you every step of the way, providing advice and making sure you know what to expect. To begin with, one of our work injury lawyers will take your statement. This will help establish exactly what happened, whether it was a single incident or a pattern of negligence. We will then thoroughly investigate the incident. This can include gathering evidence from your side, such as:

• Medical reports.

• Witness statements.

• Evidence of earnings lost.

It may also involve looking at workplace policies and training, to see if these adequately manage the risk of injury. Finally, the other side is informed of the claim, and the appropriate amount of compensation is calculated. Very few claims go to court. However, if court action is necessary, our work injury compensation lawyers are tough and experienced litigators.

Your Right to Make A Claim

You may be concerned about making a personal injury claim against your employer, believing it could harm your career prospects. Jones Whyte injury lawyers, based in Glasgow, are here to reassure you and to ensure the claim process is as smooth as possible.

Our team of professional, specialist injury-at-work solicitors have your best interests at heart and will guide you through every step of the process. We’ve helped hundreds of clients with our expert knowledge.

No Win No Fee

We offer a ‘no win no fee service’. This means that you do not have to cover any outlays the we incur in relation to the working progress of your case if your solicitor is unable to secure compensation for you. If you are however awarded damages, the legal fees are mostly covered by a percentage of your compensation.

Each claim is different and therefore determining how much compensation due, will be dependant on each individual circumstances. Generally, factors that affect the amount of compensation are the extent of your workplace injuries, the cost you have incurred as a result of the accident as well the value of the losses occurring from your injuries caused by your workplace accident.

The amount of personal injury compensation you will receive depends on the negotiations between your solicitor and the insurance companies. In circumstances where there are court proceedings, the court will exercise its discretion when establishing damages for the Pursuer.

It’s Easy to Get in Touch

If you’d like some advice about starting your personal injury claim, its easy to get in touch. Simply call us on 0800 292 2041.

For clear, informed legal advice and assistance regarding work-related injuries get in touch with our dedicated team of personal injury solicitors . Call 0141 375 1222 or email