How To Claim For Injuries Caused By Poor Lighting In The Workplace
Poor lighting in the workplace claims can be brought if it can be demonstrated that this directly caused your accident and injuries. By law, employers have a responsibility under health and safety regulations to ensure that your workplace is adequately lit, thereby contributing towards a safe working environment. Poor lighting can cause various injuries, from slip, trip and falls to more severe life-changing injuries such as machinery accidents or even collisions with objects.
Additionally, poor lighting in the workplace can cause injuries so severe that they render you unable to work; leading to a disrupted routine and a loss of earnings. During a time where you should prioritise your health, making a claim can seem daunting. However, poor lighting in the workplace claims can help you seek compensation for both your injuries, and any out-of-pocket expenses incurred as a result. With support from the expert accident at work solicitors on our panel, you can rest assured that you’d receive personalised advice and professionalism throughout the claim.
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For an obligation-free case consultation, please get in touch with our advisors today. You can reach us by:
- Calling our advisors on 020 3870 4868
- Contacting us online
- Speaking to an advisor using our live chat
Frequently Asked Questions
- Examples Of Poor Lighting In The Workplace Claims
- Can I Make A Claim For An Accident Caused By Poor Lighting In The Workplace?
- What Should I Do If Poor Lighting Caused An Accident?
- How Much Compensation Can I Claim For An Inadequate Lighting Accident?
- What Will I Need To Bring A Claim For Poor Lighting Injuries?
- How Can UK Law Help With Poor Lighting In The Workplace Claims?
- Learn More
Examples Of Poor Lighting In The Workplace Claims
Examples of poor lighting in the workplace claims include slips, trips and falls due to insufficient lighting or uneven surfaces and even injuries from operating machinery in poor visibility conditions.
Additionally, poor lighting accidents can occur if:
- You work in a warehouse where there was insufficient lighting. As a result, your arm becomes crushed and trapped in machinery that you are working on. This later necessitates an amputation.
- Due to poor lighting, you don’t notice trailing wires as you are walking in the office. This causes you to slip, trip and fall, resulting in a broken leg.
- When working in the warehouse yard, you slip on a staircase that is dimly lit; you sustain a severe head injury causing months out of work.
These examples are by no means exhaustive, so if you’d like to discuss the circumstances of your own claim, please get in touch with an advisor today.
Can I Make A Claim For An Accident Caused By Poor Lighting In The Workplace?
You could make a claim for an accident caused by poor lighting in the workplace provided it can be shown that your injuries occurred as a result of your employer’s negligent actions. In essence, to be eligible to bring a claim, we must show:
- You were owed a duty of care
- This duty was breached
- You sustained injuries as a result of this breach
Under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, all employees are owed a legal responsibility from their employer, that all reasonable steps will be taken to uphold their safety.
This can include providing adequate lighting, appropriate personal protective equipment and performing regular risk assessments.
If your employer provides poor lighting, which later causes an accident resulting in injuries, you could seek compensation. For a free case consultation and to further discuss poor lighting in the workplace claims, contact our advisory team today.
What Should I Do If Poor Lighting Caused An Accident?
After an accident caused by poor lighting in the workplace, the first thing you should do is seek medical attention. Injuries can seem minor at first, but getting a professional medical examination can determine the extent. Furthermore, medical records can help value and support a claim.
Additionally, you must ensure that the accident has been reported; reporting the accident to your employer should create an official record, and it is a legal requirement for employers to ensure that accidents at work are reported.
Make sure that your employer or yourself records the incident in the workplace accident book. Ensure that the date, nature of the accident and the outcome is all noted down. Ask a colleague to help if you’re unable to.
To learn more about what you can do after an inadequate lighting accident, please get in touch with our advisors today.
How Much Compensation Can I Claim For An Inadequate Lighting Accident?
How much compensation you can claim for an inadequate lighting accident will be dependent on the type of injury you sustained, the impact your injuries have had on your daily life and whether you incurred any financial losses.
Compensation can be claimed under two heads of loss, these are:
- General damages: compensation for the physical and psychiatric injuries, and any loss of amenity
- Special damages: financial compensation for incurred losses, which we discuss in more detail below.
When solicitors are valuing your claim, they can consider the strength of your evidence, and make reference to frameworks such as the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This is a document containing brackets of compensation for different injuries.
We have used some figures from this document to highlight suggestive payouts in our table; please be aware, the top entry has not been taken from the JCG, and the table is a guideline only.
| Injury | Severity | Compensation |
|---|---|---|
| Various Severe Injuries + Special Damages such as lost income, costs of care and home modifications | Very Severe | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Brain/Head | Very Severe | £344,150 - £493,000 |
| Paralysis | Paraplegia | £267,340 - £346,890 |
| Back | Severe (i) | £111,150 - £196,450 |
| Arm Amputation | Loss of One Arm (i) - lost at the shoulder | Not Less Than £167,380 |
| Leg Amputation | Below-Knee Amputation of One Leg | £119,570 to £162,290 |
| Arm | Injuries Resulting in Permanent and Substantial Disablement | £47,810 - £73,050 |
| Elbow | A Severely Disabling Injury | £47,810 - £66,920 |
| Skeletal Injuries | Fractures of Jaws (i) | £37,210 - £55,570 |
| Scarring to the Body | A Number of Noticeable Laceration Scars or One Single Disfiguring Scar | £9,560 - £27,740 |
Can Poor Lighting In The Workplace Claims Cover Special Damages?
Yes, inadequate lighting claims can also cover special damages. As we mentioned above, this is compensation for the financial losses caused by your accident. This can include:
- Loss of earnings, current or future, including pension contributions or bonuses
- Medical expenses including counselling, therapy or ongoing prescriptions
- Professional care costs or gratuitous care payments if your family members have taken time off work to provide care
- Home or vehicle modifications if your injuries have restricted mobility
Keep a hold of any receipts, invoices or bank statements which demonstrate these financial losses as these documents can act as evidence.
For a more accurate estimate of how much compensation you could receive, please get in touch with our advisory team today. As part of the poor lighting in the workplace claims consultation, they can provide a free estimate.
What Will I Need To Bring A Claim For Poor Lighting Injuries?
To bring a claim for injuries sustained as a result of poor lighting in the workplace, you will need evidence. This can be documents which prove how your employer was negligent, and can include:
- A copy of your workplace accident book, which should outline details of the incident
- Medical records, such as your GP record, any treatments you’ve received or findings of X-rays or scans
- CCTV footage if the accident was caught on camera
- Contact details of colleagues who might have witnessed the accident so a solicitor (if you instruct one) can later take a witness statement
Not only will you require documentary evidence, but when claiming, you must also ensure it is started within the time limits. Under the Limitation Act 1980, claimants will generally have 3 years from the date of the accident to start their claim.
To learn more about what evidence would be useful, or about whether your claim would be within the time limits, get in touch with one of our advisors today.
How Can UK Law Help With Poor Lighting In The Workplace Claims?
At UK Law, our panel of expert solicitors have decades of experience with workplace accident claims. They work on a No Win No Fee basis, which can be a beneficial way of bringing a claim. This type of claim uses a contract called a Conditional Fee Agreement, which means claimants would have no upfront solicitors’ fee payments for one of our panel to begin work on their case.
Additionally, there would be no ongoing fees towards their solicitor’s work during the progression of their case, nor anything to pay in solicitors’ fees if their claim were to fail. Instead, if their claim was successful, then a small fee would be deducted from their compensation.
This success fee is capped in line with legislation to ensure that you receive the bulk of your compensation. Not only this, but some of the services offered by our panel include:
- Regular updates about your claim’s progress
- Help with gathering evidence
- Providing an estimate of how much compensation you could receive in a successful claim
- Negotiating a settlement that reflects the full extent of your injuries
- Ensure that you have any medical or rehabilitative support you need to help you recover
Contact Our Advisors
To learn more about poor lighting in the workplace claims, get in touch with us today:
- Call us on 020 3870 4868
- Contact us online
- Speak with an advisor using our live chat
Learn More
For more information on accident at work claims, please see:
- How to claim for a broken foot at work
- Chemical burn accident at work claims
- How to claim for a self employed accident at work
External Resources
- Information for employers providing a safe working environment from the Health and Safety Executive
- How to apply for Statutory Sick Pay
- Guidance for managing sick leave and a return to work
Thank you for reading our guide about poor lighting in the workplace claims.
