How To Claim For Injuries Caused By Poor Lighting In The Workplace
Your employer must mitigate certain risks, such as poor lighting in the workplace, to keep you safe. If they fail to do so, and this causes you to sustain harm in an accident at work, you could be eligible to claim personal injury compensation.
Could I Claim If Poor Lighting In The Workplace Caused An Accident?
This guide discusses when you could make an accident at work claim, including the duty of care that your employer legally owes you. We also explore examples of how poor lighting could cause you to suffer an injury.
To claim work injury compensation, you need to prove you meet the eligibility criteria. So, we outline how evidence could be used to support your work accident claim. Also, we provide examples of evidence you should consider gathering.
If you’re looking to make a workplace accident claim, you’re probably wondering what you could be awarded if successful. Because of this, we look at how legal professionals assign claims a value. Additionally, we discuss the different heads that could comprise your settlement if you are successful.
Lastly, our panel of solicitors work under a particular kind of No Win No Fee agreement. This guide outlines the benefits of instructing one of them in this way should you have a valid case.
To discuss your case’s eligibility and find out if you could gain assistance from one of the solicitors on our panel, contact our team of advisors today. You can get in touch with one of our advisors now by:
- Calling us on 020 3870 4868
- Filling in our contact form
- Talking to us directly using live chat on our website
Select A Section
- How To Claim For Injuries Caused By Poor Lighting In The Workplace
- Why Poor Lighting In the Workplace Causes Accidents
- How To Prove Your Employer’s Liability
- What Could You Claim For Injuries Caused By Poor Lighting In The Workplace?
- Why Choose UK Law To Help With Your Workplace Accident Claim?
- Further Guidance On Claiming For Injuries Caused By Poor Lighting In The Workplace
How To Claim For Injuries Caused By Poor Lighting In The Workplace
If you want to make an accident at work claim, you can only proceed if you meet key eligibility criteria. In a personal injury claim, you must be able to show:
- Your employer owed you a duty of care
- Your employer breached the duty they owed you
- You suffered an injury due to your employer’s breach
The duty of care employers owe can be found in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA). The HASAWA outlines that employers must take reasonable steps to ensure the safety and welfare of their employees.
Furthermore, Regulation 8 of The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 states that suitable and sufficient lighting must be present in all workplaces. Therefore, if poor lighting causes a workplace accident in which you sustain harm, you might be able to claim personal injury compensation. This is because your employer breached the duty of care they owe under HASAWA.
How Long After An Accident Could You Claim?
You must adhere to the Limitation Act 1980 time limits to further your case’s eligibility. This act outlines that you generally have three years from the accident date to begin your personal injury claim.
However, some situations provide exceptions to the general rule. If someone is injured whilst under 18 or lacking the mental capacity to act alone, the time limits will work differently.
Our advisors have more information about these exceptions. So, contact them today if you suffered an accident due to poor lighting in the workplace and have questions about making a claim.
Why Poor Lighting In the Workplace Causes Accidents
A variety of accidents could be caused by poor lighting in the workplace. This section provides examples of how this might occur and the injuries you could suffer.
- While operating machinery, you could suffer a hand injury due to poor visibility. After receiving medical attention, it could be found that the damage included a broken bone fracture.
- You could experience a trip and fall down some stairs due to poor lighting. This could cause you to endure a broken wrist injury as you break your landing.
- As you’re completing a manual handling task, you could miss a hazard on the floor due to the poor lighting. This could lead to you falling over and suffering a ankle injury.
Poor lighting could cause numerous accidents, many of which we haven’t discussed. Therefore, contact our advisors now to discover whether your circumstances entitle you to claim personal injury compensation.
How To Prove Your Employer’s Liability
To successfully claim personal injury compensation due to an accident at work, you must be able to show that you suffered an injury due to your employer breaching their duty of care. Evidence can help prove this.
The following are examples of evidence you may want to provide to support your personal injury claim, if you’ve been involved in an accident due to poor lighting in the workplace:
- Medical records that show the injuries you suffered
- CCTV footage of the incident taking place
- Witness contact details
- Injury photographs and those of the accident site
- A diary showing your symptoms and treatments
Our dedicated panel of solicitors offer help gathering evidence as part of their service for eligible cases. Contact our advisors today to discuss the validity of your case and see if you can work with one of them.
What Could You Claim For Injuries Caused By Poor Lighting In The Workplace?
You will receive a settlement if you make a successful personal injury claim. Up to two heads of claim could comprise your settlement, one being general damages.
General damages aim to compensate for the mental suffering and physical injury you’ve endured due to the injuries. The severity of the harm you suffered can influence how much you’re awarded. For example, a more severe injury that will permanently affect your daily life could see you receive a higher settlement than for a minor injury that heals fully and in a short period of time.
To help legal professionals assign value to your injuries, they may use a document called the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). Furthermore, along with the JCG, medical evidence may be gathered as part of the valuation process.
We have used the JCG to collate the table below. This table provides guideline valuation brackets for different injuries but should only be used as a guide. This is because each case differs meaning they’re awarded varying amounts.
Compensation Table
| Injury | Severity | Compensation Guidelines | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Head | Moderate (i) | £150,110 to £219,070 | A degree of intellectual deficit that is moderate to severe. There is also no prospect of employment. |
| Less Severe | £15,320 to £43,060 | Here, a good recovery will be made. However, persisting problems like poor memory or concentration will remain. | |
| Hand | Total Or Effective Loss of Both Hands | £140,660 to £201,490 | Serious injury, leaving extensive damage and rendering both hands little more than useless. |
| Total Or Effective Loss of One Hand | £96,160 to £109,650 | A complete amputation of a hand, due to a crush injury. | |
| Knee | Severe (i) | £69,730 to £96,210 | Joint disruption, leading to osteoarthritis and considerable loss of function from a serious knee injury. |
| Severe (iii) | £26,190 to £43,460 | Injuries resulting in disability that is less severe. But, they could leave continuing pain and movement limitation. | |
| Shoulder | Severe | £19,200 to £48,030 | Brachial plexus damage that leads to significant disability. |
| Serious | £12,770 to £19,200 | Shoulder dislocation, causing neck and shoulder pain. This leads to a weakened grip and restricted shoulder movement. | |
| Wrist | Less Severe | £12,590 to £24,500 | Some permanent disability including stiffness and persisting pain. |
| Fracture or Soft Tissue Injury | £6,080 to £10,350 | Where a complete or near complete recovery is made in more than 12 months. |
What Could Be Claimed For As Special Damages?
Special damages could also be awarded if general damages have been. This head of claim compensates you for financial losses you’ve incurred because of the injuries, both in the past and future.
Special damages are considered in your settlement because, as well as suffering pain, you could have experienced financial loss due to your injuries. However, you need to be able to evidence these losses to be compensated for them.
If you’ve suffered an accident due to poor lighting in the workplace and make a personal injury claim, you could receive compensation for various financial losses, including:
- Any earnings you’ve lost through being unable to work
- The cost of home modifications you needed to make to improve your independence around your house
- Transportation costs you incurred if you were unable to drive
You can get in touch with one of our advisors now for a free valuation of your potential claim. They can provide an estimate of what you could be owed in personal injury compensation and explain how payouts are calculated in more detail.
Why Choose UK Law To Help With Your Workplace Accident Claim?
Our panel of solicitors have supported many people through the legal process, giving them a vast amount of experience. If you want this support and have an eligible case, you might be offered a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
A CFA is a certain type of No Win No Fee agreement that provides you with various benefits. You wouldn’t have to pay any fees for your solicitor’s service upfront or during the case. Your solicitor would also receive no fees for their service if your case loses.
If your case won, you would see a success fee deducted by your solicitor, from the figure you’re awarded. This fee would only be small and is legally capped.
Contact Us About Workplace Accident Claims
A call with one of our advisors can be arranged for a time that suits you, or you can talk to them online. Once a free consultation has been conducted, if eligible, you may be offered the services of one of our solicitors.
Get in touch with our advisors and discover the validity of your personal injury claim today by:
- Calling us on 020 3870 4868
- Filling in our contact form
- Talking to us directly using live chat on our website
Further Guidance On Claiming For Injuries Caused By Poor Lighting In The Workplace
If you would like to read more of our helpful guides, please look here:
- Have you hurt yourself at work and want to know if you can sue your employer? If so, read our helpful guide.
- Find out whether you could claim for a head injury at work with our helpful guide.
- Learn what the time limits for claiming accident at work compensation are.
For some external resources, please look here:
- Information about lighting at work from the Health and Safety Executive
- How to get medical help from the NHS
- A guide about statutory sick pay provided by Gov UK
Thank you for reading our guide on claiming personal injury compensation due to an accident caused by poor lighting in the workplace. If you have any other questions, please contact an advisor on the number above.
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