Hand Injury at Work Claim – A Guide to Claiming Compensation

If you injure your hand whilst working, you could be left in considerable pain that prevents you from working or carrying on with your normal activities. However, as your employer has a duty to try and keep you safe, hand injury at work compensation may be claimed if your accident was caused by their negligence. In this guide, we’ll answer some of the most common questions on workplace hand injury claims and how the process works.

In addition to the information in this guide, we offer a free consultation where you can discuss your options if your hand was injured at work. You’ll receive free legal advice from a specialist advisor and they’ll also answer any questions you might have. If your claim is suitable, one of our accident-at-work solicitors could offer to help you make a personal injury claim. If that happens, they’ll manage the claim on a No Win, No Fee basis from start to finish.

Want to find out if you have a valid hand injury compensation claim? If so, you can:

• Phone 0333 241 2519 to speak to us.
• Chat with a legal advisor on our live chat service.

You’ll find out more about when hand injury claims are possible throughout this guide and you can always give us a call if there’s anything else you’d like to know.

Can I Claim Compensation for a Hand Injury at Work?

When evaluating workplace hand injury claims, the first thing that must be proven is that your employer owed you a duty of care. This is quite straightforward as all employers have a legal obligation to try and protect the well-being of all staff. This duty comes from the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

Therefore, employers must take reasonable and practical steps to try and prevent you from suffering a hand injury at work. For example, they could:

• Ensure you receive adequate health and safety training.
• Make sure any equipment is in a good state of repair and fit for purpose.
• Conduct workplace risk assessments regularly.
• Provide you with personal protective equipment (PPE) such as safety gloves where needed.

The full eligibility criteria that will generally need to be proven if you’re to win a hand injury at work claim are:

• Your employer owed you a duty of care at the time you were injured.
• You had an accident in the last three years that was caused by your employer’s negligence.
• As a direct result of that accident, you sustained a hand injury.

We can assess whether your case meets the eligibility criteria for hand injury claims if you call us and request a free initial consultation.

Types of Hand Injuries at Work We Can Help With

There are quite a variety of different hand injuries that can occur in the workplace that might result in a personal injury claim. Some of the most common examples include:

• Broken hand at work.
• Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS).
• Hand or finger amputations.
• Crush injuries.
• Carpal tunnel syndrome.
• Vibration white finger.
• Sprains, strains and other soft tissue injuries.
• Tendonitis.
• Scalds or burns.
• Repetitive strain injuries.

Without a doubt, some workplace hand injuries are more serious than others and any compensation payments will reflect this. For instance, if you make a successful claim for a minor broken hand at work, you’ll typically claim more compensation than someone who has tendonitis but has fully recovered.

As well as your initial injury, any settlement you are paid will take into account any long-term suffering. For example, a hand, wrist or finger injury could result in impaired grip, osteoarthritis or ongoing pain.

What Types of Negligence Can Lead to a Hand Injury at Work Claim?

Here are a few scenarios where workplace hand injuries can be linked to employer negligence:

• You sustained a broken hand at work after putting your hand out to break your fall because you slipped on a leak from a freezer that your employer knew about but had failed to repair.
• Even though the stop button had been depressed, a cutting machine carried on operating while you were unblocking it and your hand was amputated in an industrial accident. It was found that the stop button failed because the machine had not been maintained properly.
• Whilst working in a factory, your hand, wrist and arm were crushed by falling stock because racking had been allowed to be overloaded.
• Your hand was severely burnt while working in a kitchen because a thermostat was set too high by the kitchen supervisor.

This is just a small sample of the types of hand injuries that can occur in the workplace. If you’d like to check if your accident might allow you to start a hand injury compensation claim, please call today.

What Should I Do If I Sustain a Hand Injury at Work?

If you are involved in an accident at work and injure your hand, some of the steps you’ll need to take include:

• Report the accident to your employer as soon as you’re able to.
• Ensure that the accident is logged in the company’s reporting system or accident book.
• Get your injuries assessed at a hospital or by your GP as some injuries cannot be diagnosed properly without an x-ray.

Importantly, some workplace hand injuries must be reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). If they investigate your accident, you should answer any of their questions and provide as much information as possible.

What Evidence Can Be Used for a Hand Injury Compensation Claim?

If you decide to take legal action and claim for work-related hand injury compensation, evidence will need to be supplied to help prove your case. The types of evidence that could help you to present as strong a case as possible include:

• Pictures of any visible injuries and photos of the accident scene.
• Copies of your x-rays and medical records.
• CCTV footage if your accident was in view of a camera.
• Your copy of the accident report form.
• Details of anyone who saw your accident (in case witness statements are needed at a later date).

As part of your free initial consultation, we can review any evidence you’ve got already. Should your claim proceed, your solicitor may offer to collect any further evidence if required.

How Long Do I Have to Claim Hand Injury Compensation?

The  Limitation Act 1980 sets a 3-year time limit for personal injury claims. Therefore, if your hand is injured in a workplace accident, the time limit generally begins on the date the accident occurred. However, if you suffer a repetitive strain injury or another type of injury that takes a while to develop, your limitation period begins from the date your injury was diagnosed.

It’s often a good idea to begin an injury at work claim at your earliest opportunity. That’s because there is work to be done before the claim can be filed and if your claim is filed too late, it could become statute-barred.

How Much Compensation for Hand Injury at Work?

Compensation payouts for hand injury at work claims are based on the severity of your suffering and how you’ve suffered financially. General damages cover pain, suffering and loss of amenity.

When valuing the general damages element of any claim for a hand injury, solicitors may use medical reports from an independent specialist and copies of your medical records to help understand how you’ve been affected. This evidence might then be used in conjunction with the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to determine how much compensation for a hand injury at work you could be entitled to.

The table below contains some examples of hand injury compensation amounts but please note that the compensation brackets listed are not guaranteed.

• Up to £4,750 compensation for a simple broken hand at work or other minor injuries expected to recover fully within a few months.
• £5,720 – £13,280 for moderate hand injuries, including penetrating wounds, crush injuries, and deep cuts, with potential for permanent disability at the higher end of the range.
• £14,450 – £29,000 compensation for less severe hand injuries characterised by serious crushing and diminished function.
• £29,000 – £61,910 compensation for serious hand injuries reducing hand function to about 50% resulting in limited usability, disfigurement, or a claw-like appearance.
• £55,820 – £84,570 for serious injuries to both hands that significantly impair functionality.
• £61,910 – £90,750 compensation is advised for cases involving amputation of the index, middle, or ring fingers, significantly reducing hand usability.
• £96,160 – £109,650 for extremely severe hand injuries, including total or effective loss of one hand due to crushing and subsequent amputation, or when most of the palm and all fingers are amputated.
• £140,660 – £201,490 compensation is recommended for the complete loss of both hands.

On top of your injuries, your settlement could also include special damages. These cover any out-of-pocket expenses linked to your hand injury. For instance, broken hand at work compensation could also include:

• Rehabilitation and medical costs.
• Care and support costs.
• Travel expenses.
• The cost of physical aids to help with long-term hand injuries.
• Lost earnings – this could include future losses for more serious injuries.

If you’d like to know how much compensation for hand injury at work you could receive, please call our legal advisors today.

Can Psychological Suffering Be Claimed For?

If a hand injury prevents you from working or enjoying your normal social or family activities, you could suffer from distress or depression. More serious hand injuries, such as amputations, can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder, sleep problems and flashbacks.

Importantly, any type of psychological injury that can be proven by a diagnosis can be factored into your compensation payout if your claim is successful.

Can I Claim Hand Injury Compensation if I’m Not a Full-Time Employee?

As explained earlier, employers have a duty to try and keep the workplace as safe as possible by removing as many hazards as they can. This duty is not just for full-time employees though. That means that if you work for a company as a consultant, on a zero-hours contract, as a subcontractor or while you’re self-employed, they will have the same duty of care towards your well-being.

As such, if your accident was caused by someone else’s negligence and you sustained hand injuries in the workplace as a result, you could still be entitled to begin a claim.

Will I Need a Solicitor to Claim Compensation for a Hand Injury?

You don’t need to instruct a solicitor to make a hand injury at work claim. However, doing so could make the claims process much easier for you. That’s because claims will usually be handled by insurance companies who may ask complex legal or medical questions during the claims process. If you have a specialist solicitor on your side, you won’t need to answer those questions alone.

If you work with one of our accident-at-work solicitors, some of the services they may provide include:

• Finding and reviewing evidence needed to support your claim.
• Filing the claim with your employer correctly and on time.
• Using their legal training to try and counter any objections raised by your employer’s insurers.
• Sending you regular updates about any progress in your case.
• Fighting hard to secure the maximum amount of compensation possible rather than accepting the first offer put to them.

As our solicitors use a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) to provide a No Win, No Fee service, you:

• Won’t need to pay for their work upfront.
• Won’t pay them for their work if the claim is lost.
• Will have a percentage of any compensation you’re awarded deducted as a success fee.

To help ensure that you keep the majority of any hand injury compensation payout, success fee percentages are capped by law.

To see if you could make a hand injury compensation claim with one of our No Win, No Fee solicitors, please call today.

Do Workplace Hand Injury Claims Go to Court?

It is very rare, in our experience, for accident at work claims to end up in court. Generally, employers, their insurers and solicitors will try to settle the claim amicably to save money and avoid time-consuming court hearings.

However, if your solicitor cannot agree on a fair settlement or if your employer cannot prove why they weren’t liable for your hand injury, a court hearing could be used as a last resort.

Contacting Us About a Hand Injury at Work Compensation Claim

We are here to help if you’re thinking about starting a hand injury at work claim. For free legal advice and to have your case assessed by a specialist, you can:

• Call our team on 0333 241 2519.
  
• Use our live chat service 24 hours a day.

Remember, our solicitors offer a No Win, No Fee service for all hand injury at work claims that they agree to work on.