Have you had an accident while you were at work? Did it seriously impact your health or your ability to earn? Has an industrial accident changed your life? Making a work accident claim could help you secure the financial resources you need during your recovery.
Having an accident in the workplace can leave you with health concerns that you do not know how to deal with. If you feel you do not know where to turn in the event of a workplace accident, then seeking legal advice could be your best course of action.
Forewarned is forearmed. If you understand the process of making a work accident claim in Northern Ireland, then you are better equipped if it happens to you.
What is A Work Accident Claim?
When you are injured in the workplace through negligence or a breach in the duty of care your employer has towards you, then you may make a claim for compensation for your injuries. Your employer has a statutory duty towards you while you are in the workplace. This duty, broadly speaking, is to protect you from any harm the tasks they hire you to complete might cause.
Can You Make a Workplace Accident Claim?
To make a claim for compensation after an accident at work in NI, you must make the claim within three years of the date of your accident taking place. If you meet this criteria, then you must also prove that your employer broke their statutory duty towards you. This breach of their duty to care for you while on their premises or conducting work-related activities must have resulted in an accident.
What is a Statutory Duty of Care?
The Statutory Duty of Care is part of your employer’s responsibilities towards you while you are working for them. Your employer has a duty to ensure your health and safety while you conduct work related activities. Your employer must take all possible reasonable actions to protect your safety. An example is making machinery safe, implementing risk assessments, and ensuring that you have the correct safety gear for the job.
Failing to protect you from harm while you are performing tasks on your employer’s behalf is a breach of this duty. If you make a claim for compensation after a work accident in Belfast or the surrounding areas then you must prove that your employer breached this duty.
Types of Workplace Accident
There are many different kinds of workplace accident. If you experience any of the following, then you should seek legal advice:
- Slips, trips, and falls which could have been avoided
- Falling from heights and injuring yourself, for example by falling from scaffolding.
- Lack of protective equipment can cause injuries, disease, or worse.
- Failure to implement appropriate safety measures, particularly in regard to machinery and safe operation.
- Lack of training – those expected to operate heavy equipment without appropriate training cannot be blamed should something go wrong.
- Old or ineffective equipment such as blunt tools
- Contact with toxic or hazardous chemicals
- Lifting and carrying incorrectly
- Fleet or vehicular incidents
What To do if You are Injured at Work?
If you encounter an accident at work and you live in Northern Ireland, then there are steps you should take after your accident to legally protect your interests.
First, seek medical help and ensure your safety. Next, report the accident to the appropriate managers. Make sure you fill in an accident report form. Afterwards, begin the process of evidence gathering to back up your claim.
Finally, reach out to Lacey Solicitors. Our law firm can offer expert legal advice which could help you achieve the maximum compensation amount.
