Forklift truck accidents are a significant concern in various industries, particularly in warehouses, manufacturing plants, and construction sites. These accidents can result in severe injuries, property damage, and even fatalities. Forklifts pose a significant risk of injury due to their size and weight.
Forklift truck accidents can have both significant long term physical and financial impacts on your life. If you have been injured in a forklift truck accident that wasn’t your fault or due to someone else’s negligence, then you may be entitled to make a claim for compensation. Our team of accident at work solicitors are highly experienced in this area of the law and can assist you in claiming the compensation you deserve for your workplace injuries.
Common causes of forklift truck accidents
Forklift accidents can lead to a variety of claims due to the nature of the operations involved. Here are some common types of accidents that often result in forklift accident claims:
Overturns: Forklifts can tip over, especially when carrying loads that exceed their capacity or when navigating uneven surfaces. These accidents can result in serious injuries to the fork lift truck operator and nearby workers.
Load drop accidents: Improperly secured or overloaded loads can fall from the forks, striking individuals or causing damage to property. This can occur during lifting, moving, or stacking.
Falls from forklifts: Forklift drivers or workers may fall from the elevated platforms of forklifts, leading to severe injuries. This often occurs when safety measures, such as harnesses, are not used.
Being struck by a forklift truck: Driver negligence, improper training and defects on trucks can lead to an employee being hit by a forklift truck. This type of accident can lead to a range of serious injuries.
Poor maintenance: Forklifts that are not regularly maintained may have mechanical failures, leading to accidents. Issues such as brake failure, steering problems for forklift operators, or malfunctioning lifting mechanisms can contribute to unsafe conditions.
Inadequate safety measures: Failure to implement proper safety protocols, such as clearly marked pedestrian pathways, adequate signage, or safety barriers, can lead to accidents involving forklifts.
Lack of proper training: Inadequate forklift training can lead to misuse of equipment and unsafe behaviours, such as not paying attention leading to employees being struck by a forklift truck.
If you have been injured on any type of accident involving a forklift, you may be able to make a personal injury claim against your employer.
Injuries caused by forklift truck accidents
Injuries caused by forklift truck accidents can range from minor to severe, often depending on the circumstances of the incident. Common injuries include fractures, crush injuries, head and brain trauma, spinal injuries, lacerations, and even fatalities in extreme cases. These accidents typically occur in workplaces such as warehouses, construction sites, and factories, where forklifts are frequently used to transport heavy loads.
Making a forklift truck accident claim
The workplace should be a safe environment where employees feel safe. Your employer has a duty of care under the ‘Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974′, to prevent injury at work and ensure all employees are safe from physical or mental harm in the workplace.
Additionally, the workplace (Health, Safety, and Welfare) regulations (1992) and ‘The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999‘ impose a duty on your employer to ensure that the work environment is always clean and maintained to a high safety standard. Employers should regularly carry out risk assessments and provide forklift operator training to maintain employee safety.
If an accident at work occurs, then your employer has a responsibility to report it to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in some circumstances.
Forklift truck accident claim process
During your initial consultation, our specialist solicitors will provide you with legal advice about forklift truck accident claims and will inform you about the relevant limitation rules.
Our personal injury lawyers will then ask you for details about the accident you experienced during your work activities and the initial injuries that were suffered as a result. This will help our injury lawyers to assess the likelihood of your claim being successful.
During these initial stages of your claim for compensation, it is vital that you gather the relevant evidence to support your claim. Relevant evidence may include CCTV footage of the incident, medical records, accident books where the accident was recorded, photographs of your injuries, and witness statements.
Your personal injury solicitor may also ask that you undergo an official medical examination in order to receive medical reports about the injuries that you have sustained. These medical reports will provide vital medical evidence of the nature and extent of your injuries. Even if you have received other medical care prior to starting your workplace accident claim, a more thorough medical assessment may still be needed to produce detailed, accurate, and reliable medical reports.
If we think that your forklift truck accident claim would be likely to succeed, we will offer a no win, no fee basis; if your claim is unsuccessful, you will not be required to pay any legal fees.
How much compensation could you receive?
The amount of forklift accident compensation awarded will aim to put the claimant in the position they were in before the accident that resulted in their injuries took place. The amount of compensation awarded will depend on the pain and suffering caused by the injury, as well as the severity.
Compensation in a forklift accident claim will be split into general damages and special damages.
General damages will compensate claimants for their pain, suffering and loss of amenity. It is difficult to estimate how much compensation you could be entitled to from the outset as the amount will depend on the severity of the injuries and the impact the injuries have had on the claimant’s daily life.
Special damages will also be awarded to compensate for any further financial loss that the claimant has suffered as a result of their original injury. This could include compensation for a loss of earnings due to the time spent off work, loss of future earnings if the claimant has been left unable to work, the cost of medical treatment, travel costs, and the cost of ongoing care if this is needed.
Time limits for making a forklift truck accident claim
Before starting your forklift truck accident claim for compensation, it is important to note that there are strict time limits on personal injury claims. The injured party will have 3 years from the date of the accident to commence proceedings for claiming compensation.
It must be noted, however, that there are some exceptions to this rule:
For example, if the claimant was under the age of 18 at the time of the incident, they have until their 21st birthday to make their claim.
In the meantime, provided that the claimant is still under the age of 18, a litigation friend such as a parent, guardian, or close family member could claim compensation on their behalf.
Another exception to the 3 year time limit occurs when the claimant does not have the mental capacity to begin their compensation claim.
Rather than being limited to making a claim within 3 years from the date of the incident, the claimant is entitled to begin their compensation claim at any moment in time once they regain the mental capacity to do so. Alternatively, a claim may be brought on their behalf.
How can Beacon Law assist?
Beacon Law are a law firm of specialist personal injury solicitors. We have helped many of our clients claim compensation for forklift truck accidents, enabling them to move on with their new way of life.
