I Tripped On A Raised Carpet Or Lino At Work – Can I Claim?

By Jo Anderson. Last Updated 21st August 2023. If you tripped on a raised carpet at work and sustained injuries due to your employer breaching their duty of care, you may be eligible to claim compensation. Every employer must take reasonably practicable steps to ensure their employees’ safety.

In this guide, we will discuss how hazardous flooring could cause slip, trip and fall accidents and when you could be eligible to claim for your injuries.

Tripped on a raised carpet at work compensation claims guide

Tripped on a raised carpet at work compensation claims guide

Our advisors can offer you free legal advice about making a workplace injury claim. Moreover, if our team find that you may be eligible to claim compensation, they could place you in correspondence with one of our skilled personal injury solicitors. Therefore, you should get in contact today to discuss your case.

You can:

  • Call us on 0800 073 8801
  • Contact us in writing via our website
  • Speak to an advisor using the live chat feature below

Alternatively, continue reading to learn more about making a slip or trip claim at work.

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Employers’ Duty Of Care To Prevent Slips And Trips

Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, employers owe their employees a duty of care. This duty of care means employers must take reasonably practicable steps to protect the health and safety of employees. If an employer breaches their duty of care, it could place you at risk of being injured in an accident at work.

You may wonder if you can claim compensation if you tripped on a raised carpet at work or slipped on lino. In order to meet the eligibility criteria to make a claim, the following must be true:

  1. Your employer owed you a duty of care at the time and place of the accident.
  2. Your employer breached this duty of care.
  3. As a result of this breach, you had a trip and fall accident and sustained injuries.

Please get in touch with our advisors to discuss your claim. If you have a valid case, you could be connected with a solicitor.

Reasonable Steps Employers Could Take To Prevent Trips And Slips

Employers must conduct risk assessments to identify possible hazards. This responsibility is outlined in The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. Once an employer identifies a hazard, they should remove it or minimise the risk it poses as far as is reasonably possible within an appropriate time period.

Below are more examples of the duties an employer must carry out to keep their employees safe:

  • An employer must provide proper training to employees.
  • They must carry out maintenance and repairs in an acceptable time frame.
  • They should provide appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) where a risk assessment has deemed this necessary.

How Could You Have Tripped On A Raised Carpet At Work?

If your employer breached the duty of care they owed you, you might have tripped on a raised carpet at work. For example, if an employee reported a raised carpet to your employer who then did not carry out repairs in an acceptable time frame or provide any signage to mark the hazard, resulting in an employee tripping and injuring themselves, the injured employee could be eligible to claim.

However, it is important to note that as an employee, you also have a duty to adhere to any training provided and behave reasonably to prevent injuries in the workplace. For example, if you tripped on a raised carpet at work because you were running or not taking proper care, then you may not be able to claim.

Please contact our advisors to learn more. They will be happy to offer you free legal advice.

If You Tripped On A Raised Carpet At Work, What Injuries Could You Suffer?

If you tripped on a raised carpet at work, you might have experienced a workplace injury. These types of accidents could result in minor injuries, like cuts and grazes or a more serious injury, which may have a long-term effect on your quality of life, such as a severe head injury.

Examples of injuries caused by a slip or trip accident could include:

How Often Do People Trip And Fall At Work?

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) gathers useful accident at work figures, with the goal of improving the safety of workplaces. The statistics show that slip, trip, or fall at work accidents were the most common cause of non-fatal injuries in the workplace in 2020/21. The following figures are taken from employer reports of injuries in the workplace made in accordance with The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR).

There were:

  • 51,211 non-fatal injuries to employees in 2020/21
  • 16,698 non-fatal injuries caused by slips, trips or falls on the same level

It is important to note that these figures do not reflect the number of claims made, as not all slips and trips that are reported under RIDDOR may be caused by negligence.

How To Claim If Injured After Tripping On A Raised Carpet At Work

If you’re eligible to make a personal injury claim following a slip or trip on a carpet, whether at work or in a public place, you should collect sufficient evidence to support your case. Some examples may include:

  • A copy of your medical records could help with proving the type of injury you suffered and the treatment you received for it.
  • Any video footage that captured you tripping over a raised carpet, such as from CCTV.
  • The contact details of any eyewitnesses to your accident so a legal professional can collect a statement from them at a later date.
  • Photographs of the visible injuries you suffered and the accident scene.

If you choose to work with a solicitor on your claim, they could assist you with gathering the relevant evidence you need. They could also help ensure that your case is filed within the correct limitation period and guide you through the claiming process.

To see if you could be eligible to work with one of our solicitors for your personal injury claim, you can contact one of our advisors today.

What Could I Claim If I Tripped Or Slipped Over Lino At Work?

Getting injured at work could impact your quality of life. You may suffer from painful and debilitating injuries. Moreover, you may be unable to work for a period, which can lead to a loss of income.

If your trip or slip accident at work claim is successful, there are two potential heads of claim you could receive:

  • General damages – compensating for the physical or mental harm your injuries caused.
  • Special damages – compensating for certain financial losses your injuries caused. For example, the cost of travelling to a hospital appointment could be included in a special damages claim. It is important to note that you must keep evidence of any monetary losses, such as payslips, bank records or receipts.

How Much Can You Claim If You Tripped On A Raised Carpet At Work?

You may be wondering how much compensation could be awarded for different injuries if you’ve tripped on a raised carpet at work. The table below provides a guide to various injuries of differing severity. We used Judicial College guidelines (JCG), updated in April 2022, to provide the compensation brackets.

Accident at work solicitors and other legal professionals can use the JCG to assist them in valuing payouts. The table does not include special damages, however.

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Injury Severity Notes on the Injury Compensation Amounts
Injury Resulting from Brain Damage Moderate (c)(i) The person will have a moderate to severe intellectual deficit, affected senses and a significant risk of epilepsy. £150,110 to £219,070
Pelvis or Hip Injury Severe (a)(i) The person will suffer an extensive fracture which could lead to the dislocation of a low back joint and a bladder rupture. They will have substantial residual disabilities. £78,400 to £130,930
Pelvis or Hip Injury Severe (a)(ii) An injury which is a little less severe than the above category but which has a specific or distinguishing feature which lifts it above lower brackets. £61,910 to £78,400
Neck Injury Severe (a)(ii) An injury which involves serious bone fractures or damage to discs in the cervical spine. This will lead to disabilities of considerable severity. £65,740 to £130,930
Neck Injury Severe (a)(iii) A neck injury which causes dislocations or fractures. There could also be severe soft tissue damage. The injury will lead to a permanent significant disability. £45,470 to £55,990
Knee Injury Severe (a)(i) The injury will be of a serious nature, where the joint has been disrupted and there is a lengthy period of treatment. £69,730 to £96,210
Wrist Injury Significant Permanent Disability (c) The person will retain some useful movement. £24,500 to £39,170
Back Injury Moderate (b)(i) This bracket could cover lots of different kinds of back injuries such as crush or compression fractures of the lumbar vertebrae. £27,760 to £38,780
Back Injury Moderate (b)(ii) An injury causing disturbance of ligaments and muscles in the back leading to backache. £12,510 to £27,760
Ankle Injury Moderate (c) The injury will lead to a less serious disability, such as difficulty walking or standing for long periods of time. £13,740 to £26,590

The compensation brackets are a guide. Therefore, if your claim succeeds, the compensation you receive may vary. Call us to discuss how much compensation you could be awarded in a successful claim.

Contact Us If You Tripped On A Raised Carpet At Work

Please get in touch with Accident Claims UK today to speak to an advisor about making a claim. If they can see that you could be eligible to make an accident at work claim, they may put you in contact with one of our knowledgeable personal injury solicitors.

Additionally, you could be offered to enter into a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) (a type of No Win No Fee agreement) with a solicitor. This will generally mean:

  • You won’t pay any upfront or ongoing fees for a solicitor’s services.
  • You won’t pay for a solicitor’s services should your claim be unsuccessful.
  • In the event your claim is successful, a No Win No Fee solicitor will take a small percentage of the compensation. The law caps this ‘success fee’.

Please get in touch with us today if you have tripped on a raised carpet at work as a result of employer negligence.

You can:

    • Call us on 0800 073 8801
    • Contact us in writing via our website
    • Speak to an advisor using the live chat feature below

Related Guides

Please take a look at more of the accident at work guides from our website:

Also, take a look at these external resources for further information:

Please get in touch with us using the contact details above if you have tripped on a raised carpet at work. An advisor could tell you if you’re eligible to claim.