If you have been injured while working in a factory, this could cause you not only to experience pain, but you may have expereinced financial losses due to being unable to work or paying for medical treatments. In this guide, we explore when and how factory accident claims could be made.
Key Takeaways In Factory Accident Claims
- Your employer owes you a duty of care. If they breach this duty and you are harmed, this is negligence.
- If you can prove that negligence occurred, you may be able to make an accident at work claim
- You can claim on someone else’s behalf for a serious injury or a fatal injury
- Your compensation can depend on things like evidence and whether you were partially to blame
- A No Win No Fee solicitor could help you make your accident at work claim
Read on to learn more about claiming for a workplace injury in a factory, or get in touch with a team to talk to one of our helpful advisors by:
- Calling us on 0800 073 8801
- Contacting us online
- Using the live chat feature
Select A Section
- Who Can Make Factory Accident Claims?
- The Main Causes Of Factory Accidents
- Serious Factory Accident Claims
- What To Do If You’ve Been Injured In A Factory Accident
- How Much Compensation Could I Get For A Factory Accident?
- Make A No Win No Fee Factory Accident Claims
- Learn More
Who Can Make Factory Accident Claims?
To make a factory accident compensation claim, you need to be able to prove that negligence occurred. In workplace injury law, negligence happens when you get injured because your employer breached their duty of care.
But what is a duty of care? Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1973 (HASAWA), all employees are owed a duty of care by their employer. This means that they need to keep them safe by taking all reasonably practicable steps to remove or mitigate risks.
Who Is Responsible For Safety In Factories?
If you work in a factory, there are a number of people who are responsible for the safety of you and your colleagues. This can include foremen, duty managers, and supervisors. However, it is ultimately your employer’s responsibility to keep everyone as safe as reasonably practicable.
If you’d like to learn more about making factory accident claims, or to learn whether or not you could be eligible for compensation, contact our team today.
The Main Causes Of Factory Accidents
There are many ways that a factory accident could happen. However, as we’ve already mentioned, an accident isn’t enough to form the basis of a valid accident at work claim. Some examples of how negligence could occur in a factory include:
- Defective machinery: You tell your employer that a piece of machinery is broken or defective and that it’s unsafe to use. Instead of having it repaired or taking it off the floor, your employer tells you to keep using it. This causes it to malfunction and injure you, resulting in a severe head injury.
- Lack of personal protective equipment (PPE): In some cases, you may need personal protective equipment, like protective eye glasses, gloves, or steel-toed boots. If your employer refuses to provide PPE, and this causes you to suffer a severe eye injury or foot injury, you could potentially make a claim.
- Inadequate or lack of training: Employers are responsible for ensuring their employees receive any training they need to do their job safely. If your employer asked you to use factory machinery despite knowing they have not trained you on how to operate it, this may cause you to suffer a variety of injuries, such as a broken arm.
If you can’t see the cause of your injuries on this list, don’t worry; these are only a few of the ways that an injury can occur in a factory setting. Get in touch with our team today and start your free consultation to learn more.
Serious Factory Accident Claims
Because of the nature of factory accidents, serious injuries can be common. These can range from amputations and severe head injuries to lacerations and fractures, and may render the claimant unable to pursue their own compensation claim.
In this case, a litigation friend may able to claim on their behalf. The role of a litigation friend is to work with the claimant’s solicitor, and make decisions in the claimant’s best interest.
Claiming For A Fatal Injury
In some cases, a factory accident can even be fatal. If you have lost a loved one as a result of negligence in the workplace, you may be able to make a fatal accident claim, either on their behalf or as a dependent.
To learn more about claiming for a fatal accident at work, get in touch with our team today. Or, keep reading to learn more about factory accident claims.
What To Do If You’ve Been Injured In A Factory Accident
Some of the steps you could take after a factory accident include:
- Seeking medical advice: This helps to make sure that you get the treatment you need to recover, and it can also be helpful later on in the claims process.
- Reporting the accident: Workplaces with ten or more employees are required by law to have an accident book on site. Recording your accident here, or asking a trusted colleague to do so, means there’s a permanent record of what happened.
- Seeking legal advice: We always recommend speaking to a legal expert before starting the claims process. Our solicitors are experts in accident at work claims, and can provide a free consultation when you get in touch.
- Gathering evidence: This can include photographs of injuries, medical reports, and the contact details of witnesses, and can help support your claim down the line.
Our team of friendly advisors are here to help. If you’d like to learn more about factory accident claims, get in touch today.
How Much Compensation Could I Get For A Factory Accident?
So, how much compensation could you get for a successful factory accident claim? This can be a difficult question to answer, because every claim is unique. All successful claimants will receive general damages, which is compensation that addresses the pain and suffering you went through because of your injuries.
This head of compensation also covers loss of amenity. For example, if you played rugby as a hobby outside of work but lost your leg in the accident, this would affect your ability to enjoy life as you had before.
When this head of compensation is calculated, professionals might refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). The JCG provides guideline compensation brackets for different injuries and illnesses, as you can see in the table below.
Please be aware that these are only guideline amounts, and they aren’t guaranteed. The first figure in this table isn’t taken from the JCG.
| Injury | Compensation Bracket | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Severe Injuries With Special Damages | Up to £1,000,000+ | Compensation like this will combine several severe workplace injuries and significant financial losses, ranging from lost wages to the cost of professional nursing care and home adjustments. |
| Very Severe Brain Damage | £344,150 to £493,000 | While there may be some response to basic commands, the claimant shows little to no response to the surrounding environment, has little if any language function, and requires constant nursing care. |
| Less Severe Brain Damage | £18,700 to £52,550 | Despite having issues with things like memory, concentration and the ability to work, there is a good recovery and can return to work and socialise. |
| Total or Effective Loss of One Hand | £117,360 to £133,810 | This applies to severe crush injuries or injuries that lead to surgical amputation of the hand. |
| Severe Back Injuries (iii) | £47,320 to £85,100 | Disc lesions and disc fractures both fall under this bracket, as do soft tissue injuries that cause continuing disability despite treatment. |
| Total Loss of One Eye | £66,920 to £80,210 | Cosmetic effect, psychiatric effect, and the age of the claimant can all affect the compensation awarded in this bracket. |
| Serious Foot Injuries | £30,500 to £47,840 | These injuries will cause continuing pain, a risk of arthritis, and the need for prolonged treatment. |
| Serious Shoulder Injuries | £15,580 to £23,430 | Shoulder dislocation and damage to the lower part of the brachial plexus that causes neck and shoulder pain. |
| Traumatic Digestive Injuries (iii) | £8,060 to £15,370 | Industrial laceration and penetrating stab wounds both fall under this category. |
| Chest Injuries (f) | £2,680 to £6,500 | Collapsed lungs caused by serious injuries, leading to a full recovery. |
Can I Claim Special Damages?
Special damages cover the financial impacts of your injuries. For example, some injuries may affect your ability to work, resulting in significant lost earnings. In some cases, you could claim any current or future lost earnings back under special damages.
This head of compensation could also help you cover the cost of:
- Childcare
- Private medical treatments
- Mobility aids
- Home adjustments
- Travel
- Prosthetics
You will need to prove these costs with evidence such as payslips and bank statements to be able to receive special damages.
For more information on compensation in factory accident claims, talk to one of our advisors today by following the details at the top of the page.
Make A No Win No Fee Factory Accident Claims
We understand that the accident at work claims process can seem daunting, but you don’t have to go through it alone. Our solicitors have over thirty years of combined experience and are experts in factory accident claims.
Working with a solicitor comes with many benefits, including help with:
- Decoding legal jargon
- Filing your claim within the time limit
- Negotiating a settlement that covers all of your losses
- Going to court, if this is necessary
- Communicating with the defendant
Our solicitors all work under the terms of a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), meaning you can access their expert services without paying for their work:
- Upfront
- As the claim continues
- At all if the claim fails
Should you make a successful claim with one of our specialist No Win No Fee solicitors, they will take a small percentage of your compensation as their success fee. This percentage is subject to a legal cap, ensuring that you keep the larger share of your compensation.
Get In Touch
If you’re ready to start the factory accident claims process with one of our expert accident at work solicitors, get in touch by:
- Calling us on 0800 073 8801
- Contacting us online
- Using the live chat feature
Learn More
For more helpful accident at work guides:
- Take a look at some frequently asked questions surrounding manual handling claims
- Find out how to claim if you were injured by a colleague at work
- Learn how to claim for a rotator cuff injury at work
Or, to get further help:
- Find out how to claim statutory sick pay (SSP) from GOV.UK
- Get help with first aid from the NHS
- General health and safety advice for businesses from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
Thank you for reading our guide on factory accident claims.
