Workplace Accident Compensation
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Claiming for personal injuries suffered at work

Winston Solicitors are personal injury claims lawyers who deal with work accidents and will make sure that you receive 100% of your compensation. Win or lose there is no charge. Call us today for advice or complete our form opposite

If we represent you there are no middlemen, no loans and no other costs for you to pay. Your claim is completely risk free. If you would like to talk to a solicitor without obligation just complete the contact form and we will phone with free advice on how best to pursue your claim and how to protect your legal rights to compensation.

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Thousands of work accidents cause injuries in the workplace each year and many of them are preventable, if employers invested in proper health and safety training for their employees. In the UK we have a large number of laws to try and stop injuries from occurring in the work place.

We have summarised some of the regulations to give you examples of what is required of an employer. You may be surprised to see how much of an obligation an employer is under to ensure a safe place of work. It is not good enough to either say the workers are experienced so do not need to be told, or that we have rules, if the workers do not comply it is their fault not ours.
 

PAT and Electrical Testing

The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 make it obligatory for employers to have a sensible regime or program in place for the inspection and maintenance of electrical equipment in the workplace. This is to reduce the risk of electrical accidents or injuries. PAT testing is one way to comply with these regulations and more and more firms are adopting rigorous testing procedures. Periodic testing has also become mandatory with installations requiring testing at least once every 5 years.

Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992
requires training on how to lift. It is not necessarily the weight of the item, it might be its size or shape. It might be where it is stored at present, or where it is going to stored. Incidents often occur because an employee has stretched for an item, when a ladder or stool should have been provided. They have tried to lift a washing machine on their own, when it was a two person job. They have tried to carry a filing cabinet down stairs without a stair trolley.

Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992
requiring steel toe capped shoes for gardeners or hospital porters. Eye goggles for wood or metal workers. Protective gloves for workers with chemicals. Whilst these examples are all obvious, we have brought recent claims for injured people for just such incidents. Employers should also guard against vibration white finger injury by adopting the use of anti-vibration gloves and other aids.
 

Noise at Work Regulations 1989
requiring ear plugs or ear defenders to be worn in certain environments due to repetitive noise or sudden loud noise. There have been many claims for noise induced deafness, from claimants who worked in very noisy factories in the 1960s and 1970s.

Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996
places an obligation on an employer to provide a safe place to work on a construction site for all workers including self employed and visitors. It sets out how and where to use ladders and scaffolding. The use of guard-rails and toe boards. Protection from falling objects. Fire safety and emergency routines. The wearing of head protection in accordance with the Construction (Head Protection) Regulations 1989.

Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1988
states an employer shall not carry on any work which is liable to expose any employees to any substance hazardous to health unless he has made a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks created by that work to the health of those employees and of the steps that need to be taken to meet the requirements of these Regulations. Employers are not only required to risk assess, provide safety equipment and methods of work, they are also required to take all reasonable steps to ensure that it is properly used or applied as the case may be.

The two most important things an employer must do is a regular risk assessment, and to ensure that the rules are they are actually adhered to. It is no good having a machine guard, and a policy that says all workers must use the machine guard, if in practice no one uses them. The onus is on the employer to take all reasonable steps to ensure a safe system of work which reduces the risk of work accidents.

Courts often look at the way an employer structures its business. If workers are paid on piece work, they are potentially encouraged to take shortcuts to speed up their production. Whilst the employer might be happy, the worker is at a greater risk of injury. Piece working environments must be very carefully monitored, to be deemed safe work environments.
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If we represent you we guarantee:

You receive 100% of your compensation

We work on a No win No fee basis - win or lose there are no fees

You deal with regulated solicitors from the moment you call

Your claim is completely risk free.

We can help you with a cycle accident compensation claim. Our firm has the following legal accreditations:

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Road Accidents

If you have suffered road crash injuries we can help you with our no nonsense claims service. more info

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Accidents in the workplace

If you are one of the thousands of people injured at work each year you should consider making a claim.

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Whiplash injuries

Our specialists team can help you claim compensation and rehabilitate from a whiplash related injury. more info

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Trip slip or fall accidents

If you have fallen on the street, in a shop or other public place and suffered personal injury you may be able to claim compensation. more info

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Useful legal links

Health & Safety Executive

Public Sector legal information

DWP site on accidents at work

Chartered Society of Physiotherapists