Serious workplace injuries, illnesses, and hazardous incidents must be reported to the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) or your local authority’s health and safety department. They are required to provide the following information:
- death
- serious injuries, such as arm or rib fractures
- dangerous occurrences such as scaffold collapses and gas overdoses
- any other injury that renders an employee unable of doing their regular responsibilities for a period of more than three days
- disease
While your business is responsible for reporting, it is prudent to verify that it has been done.
Occupational health and safety
Your company must conduct a risk assessment and implement appropriate safeguards to protect the health and safety of employees and visitors. This includes calculating the necessary number of first responders and the kind of first aid equipment and facilities.
Although there is no legal need for first responders to receive overtime pay, some employers do. Additionally, employees must use reasonable care when it comes to their own health and safety.
- Obligations of employees in terms of health and safety
- Employers’ health and safety responsibilities
Accidents are being kept track of.
Any workplace injury, regardless of its severity, should be recorded in your employer’s accident book. Except for the tiniest of companies, all employers are obliged to keep a record of accidents. It is mostly for the benefit of employees, since it provides a useful record of what happened in the event that you need time off work or need to submit a claim in the future. However, recording events enables your business to determine what went wrong and take preventative measures to avoid similar mistakes.
Leave of absence
Generally, if you need time off work due to an Accidents, you will be entitled to just Statutory Sick Pay. Your employer may have a policy that provides more compensation for time off due to accidents, or they may choose to pay extra depending on the nature of the incident.
Making a claim for personal injury
If you have been injured on the job and feel your employer is to fault, you may be entitled to submit a claim for compensation. Any claim must be submitted within three years of the Accidents at work date, and you nearly always will need the help of a lawyer. If you are a member of a trade union, you may be entitled to use its legal services. Alternatively, you may want to speak with a personal injury lawyer.
Your employer is obliged by law to be protected in the case of a successful claim and should display a certificate identifying their insurance provider prominently in their place of business. If they do not, they are required to give you with the information you want.
If you’re considering suing your employer, bear in mind that the purpose of legal damages is to restore you to the position you would have been in had the accident not happened – it is not about getting ‘free’ money. Additionally, there are judicial and legal costs to consider.
Our personal injury solicitors London have the experience and ability to deal with all types of compensation claims such as road traffic accidents, accidents at work, trips & slips and occupiers liability. So don’t delay call today and find out if you can make a claim
