What To Do If You Had an Accident at Work

If you have been injured at work following an accident that was caused by your employer, you might be able to claim for any suffering by making a personal injury claim. If that is something you wish to do, there are some steps you could take after your accident which could improve your chances of being compensated. In this guide, we’ll look into what you can do if you’ve had an accident at work.

At the end of the guide, we explain why it is important to seek the right legal advice and how our accident-at-work solicitors provide a No Win, No Fee service if you decide to work with us.

If you have any questions about what you should do following an accident at work, you can:

• Call our legal advisors on 0333 241 2519.
• Connect to our live chat service right now.

In the next seven sections, we suggest some important steps that could improve your chances of winning an accident at work claim. Crucially, we could still help you to claim even if you’ve not managed to gather all of the evidence we suggest so please feel free to get in touch.

1 – Seek Medical Assistance for Your Injuries

You should visit A&E or your GP following an accident at work even if you think you’re not too badly injured. A medical professional, for instance, might spot something like a concussion at work or a hairline fracture that you have not noticed.

As well as having your injuries properly diagnosed (rather than relying on first aid), your injuries will be documented in your medical records. Normally, these will explain the injuries you’ve sustained and how you were injured. This can be crucial evidence in an accident at work claim.

2 – Tell Your Employer About the Accident

You should let your employer know about your accident as soon as you can. Emailing them will mean there is evidence that you reported the incident. Further evidence such as accident report forms and Health and Safety Executive investigation reports can be used as additional evidence.

Reporting your accident will enable your employer to consider making changes to stop similar incidents in the future. Additionally, your copy of the accident report form will confirm the date, time and location of the incident meaning your employer (or their insurers) will not be able to deny that the accident happened.

3 – Speak to Any Potential Witnesses

If you’re able to do so, it’s always a good idea to speak with anyone who saw your accident and ask them for their contact details. That’s because if your version of events is contested by your employer, witness statements could be requested to help prove what happened.

Trying to track down witnesses at a later date can be a challenge. Therefore, your solicitor’s job will be far easier if you’ve already collected contact details for any witnesses.

4 – Take Pictures of the Accident Scene

It won’t always be possible to take photos at the accident scene – especially if you have been seriously injured at work.  However, if it is safe and possible to do so, you should try to capture pictures of:

• Damaged or faulty equipment.
• Missing safety devices (or personal protective equipment that is unsuitable or damaged).
• Damaged flooring.
• Missing warning signs and markings.
• Any other defects that might have caused your accident.

If your workplace uses CCTV cameras, you could also request copies of any relevant footage of your accident. It’s normally best to do this swiftly as recordings might only be kept for a matter of weeks.

5 – Make a Written Record of What Happened

When you claim workplace accident compensation against your employer, you will probably, at some point, need to provide a personal statement.

It can be very hard to recall all of the events that led to your accident, especially if you’re writing your statement months after the incident occurred. Therefore, at your earliest opportunity, you should write down as much as you can about the accident while the details are still fresh in your mind.

You should try to record information about what task you were doing and any instructions you’d been given about the job. If you have anything in writing like a job spec, risk assessment or method statement, you should keep a copy.

Additionally, it is worth writing down what happened immediately after your accident. For instance, what did your employer do to support you (if anything) with your injuries?

The more information you have on paper, the easier it will be to explain the accident to your solicitor when required.

6 – Keep Details About Your Treatment

To ensure that you are properly compensated after you had an accident at work, your solicitor must fully understand how you have suffered. As such, you should keep records about:

• The types of injuries you sustained.
• The time it has taken for your injuries to heal – ideally, you should take photographs of any visible injuries as you are recovering.
• Any activities that have been affected by your injuries: hobbies, family duties, work etc.
• The pain you’ve endured and days when it was worse than normal.
• Any surgery, treatment and medication you’ve needed to help you recover.
• The impact your injuries have had on your mental health i.e. days when you’ve felt emotional distress or anxious.

Any compensation you receive will be largely for how you have suffered because of your injuries. Therefore, keeping such records could help to ensure that you receive an appropriate settlement if your claim is successful.

7 – Keep Financial Records

In addition to your pain and suffering, you could receive compensation to cover any financial losses or expenses linked to your injuries. For instance, you could be entitled to claim back the cost of:

• Fuel and parking costs linked to medical appointments.
• Prescription and over-the-counter medications.
• Adapting your home to help you cope with more serious injuries.
• Physiotherapy and other methods of rehabilitation.
• Replacing personal items damaged in your accident.

Any loss of earnings caused by your injuries could also be claimed back. Therefore, you could collect 3 months of wage slips from before your accident (to show previous earnings) and any wage slips that you’ve had since the accident.

Finally, it may be possible to put a value on the time a friend, family member or partner has spent caring for you while you were injured. So, keep records about the number of hours of care and support you have received.

Bank statements, receipts and other financial records will be needed to prove any costs you wish to claim back.

Should I Use a Solicitor to Claim After an Accident at Work?

As demonstrated, supporting an accident at work claim typically requires substantial information. If any part of your submission is disputed by your employer’s insurers, the claims process may become increasingly complex.

In such cases, consulting a specialist accident-at-work solicitor can alleviate your concerns and simplify the process by:

• Collecting evidence to help prove your case.
• Ensuring that your claim is filed correctly and on time.
• Managing all communications with your employer and their insurers.
• Fighting your corner if any objections are raised regarding any part of your claim.
• Negotiating as fair a settlement as possible if the claim is successful.
• Keeping you up to date throughout the claims process.

What’s more, all accident-at-work claims accepted by solicitors on our panel are managed on a No Win, No Fee basis.

This means that you’ll be sent a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) to sign. Crucially, your solicitor will not require any upfront payment and will only be paid if you receive a settlement.

Should that happen, a percentage of your compensation will be deducted to cover your solicitor’s success fee. For your protection, the maximum success fee percentage allowed when using a CFA is 25 per cent but yours will be listed in your No Win, No Fee contract.

Contacting Us If You’ve Had an Accident at Work

If you’ve had an accident at work in the last three years and wish to know more about your options and claiming compensation, you can:

• Contact a legal advisor on 0333 241 2519.
• Connect to our online chat service which is open 24 hours a day.

We offer a completely free initial consultation to anyone who’s considering claiming after an accident at work. In the call, your case will be assessed, any evidence will be reviewed and your options will be set out.