If you have suffered an injury as a result of an accident at work, you may be entitled to make an office accident claim against your employer for their failure to uphold their duty of care in providing a safe working environment. Whilst an office may not appear to be a particularly hazardous working environment, office accident injury claims are a very common type of personal injury claim.

Even if you feel as though you were partially at fault for the accident at work, your employer is responsible for safety at work and has a duty of care to ensure that they provide a safe working environment.

If your injury was caused by a breach of this duty you will be eligible to claim for compensation. Whether you have suffered a minor injury or a more serious workplace injury, get in touch with an experienced personal injury solicitor today on 0330 1332 857 to discuss your potential injury at work claim.

Common types of office accident injury claims

Warehouses and construction sites are often considered the most dangerous working environments. There are, however, a number of accidents that can happen within the office, causing injury to office workers and resulting in work compensation claims.

One of the most common types of injuries in an office environment are those caused by slips, trips and falls. If obstacles such as a wet floor, loose cables, or other trip hazards have not been highlighted as presenting a danger by your employer, you may be eligible to claim compensation for any injuries that you have suffered as a result of your fall. By failing to warn against any hazards in the office space, your employer failed to create a safe working environment for office workers and therefore failed to uphold their duty of care, making them liable for any injuries suffered.

Another type of injury that can be sustained at work is a repetitive strain injury. A repetitive strain injury does not occur immediately, but is instead sustained over a long period of time as a result of activity that is repeated whilst working in the office, such as through sitting and typing at a computer all day.

Although such repetitive work is inevitable when working in an office, an employer still has a duty of care to put measures in place to prevent any office workers from suffering a repetitive strain injury. Such measures may include providing ergonomic seating, adjustable equipment, and comfortable IT equipment. If your employer has failed to put any preventative measures in place, and you have suffered a repetitive strain injury as a result, you may be entitled to make a claim for an office injury.

Issues with electrical equipment in the office space are another cause of an accident at work. Faulty electrical equipment such as computers, printers, and telephones can cause electric shocks as well as other serious injuries. If your employer has failed to ensure that their electrical equipment is safe to use and you have suffered an injury as a result, you may be eligible to claim compensation.

Office workers may be injured in an accident if they are required to lift heavy items, such as files of paperwork. If they had not been provided with the appropriate training or equipment to prevent such injuries from occurring, they may be entitled to claim for accident at work compensation.

What should I do after my accident at work?

Following an accident at work, it is important that you begin by reporting the accident to your manager. It is also important to ensure that details of your accident are recorded in the accident report book at your workplace. It is a legal requirement to have a work accident book and reporting any accident in it will be vital evidence in your office injury claim for compensation. For certain types of accidents, your employer may need to report to the Health and Safety Executive and their insurance company.

Following the accident in your office workspace, we also recommend that you gather any relevant evidence. This can include photographs, or a sketch of the accident and equipment involved, as well as statements and the contact details of any witnesses to the incident.

You should also seek medical attention as soon after the office accident as possible; recording details of the accident and subsequent injuries suffered in official medical records will significantly strengthen your office accident claim for compensation.

It is recommended that you seek legal advice from a solicitor before agreeing to anything with your employer following the workplace accident as accepting an offer from your employer may prohibit you from making a claim against them for the accident.

What are the time limits for office accident injury claims?

There are strict time limits on a claim for an accident at work claim; you must begin any personal injury claims within three years of the date that you were injured at work, or within three years of the date that you became aware that your injury was due to an accident at work. Due to these strict time limits, we recommend that you collect the relevant evidence and begin your personal injury claim as soon after the workplace accident as possible.

It is worth noting that there are some exceptions to the three year time limit. For example, if the accident in the office has caused the claimant to suffer a brain injury and lose the mental capacity to begin a claim, rather than being limited to make 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.

What is the claims process?

Our experienced accident at work solicitors will support you during every stage of your journey when claiming compensation for an injury.

Your personal injury claim will begin with an initial, free consultation with a personal injury solicitor. Here, your solicitor will ask for details of the office accident, including the time, date, and circumstances of the accident, a description of the injuries sustained, the contact details of any witnesses to the accident, and details regarding whether there were any attempts of reporting an accident.

Provided you are happy to proceed with your claim, your personal injury solicitor will then provide you with some paperwork to fill out regarding your claim. After your paperwork has been signed and returned, we will contact your employer directly, notifying them of your office accident claim for compensation.

If your employer admits liability for your injuries, negotiations for an appropriate settlement fee can commence. If your employer denies their liability, court proceedings be be required at this point.

We will keep you updated throughout every step of your case.

How much compensation could I be awarded?

The amount of compensation awarded will depend on the type of injury suffered, and the level of pain, suffering and loss of amenity this has caused. A medical expert’s opinion of your injuries will normally be required to prove causation and this will also help when calculating an accurate compensation figure.

As well as claiming compensation for your accident causing you pain and suffering, you will also be entitled to claim compensation for financial losses arising from your injury. This may include loss of earnings due to having to take time off work (additional to any entitlement to statutory sick pay), the cost of medical care and medical treatment, and the cost of travelling to medical appointments. If you are suffering from a long term injury, the compensation sum that you could be awarded will be higher due to a greater loss of earnings arising from having to take more time off work.

It is important that you keep evidence of the financial costs incurred as a result of your injury. This could include receipts and invoices.

How much do personal injury claims cost?

At Beacon Law, we use a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) – a type of ‘no win, no fee’ agreement. This means that if your claim for compensation is unsuccessful, you will not be expected to pay any legal fees.

If you win your personal injury claim, an agreed percentage of the damages awarded will be taken as a success fee, which is limited to 25%. You may also be required to pay a small fee for legal expenses insurance if your case is successful. These fees will be discussed with you before you begin your claim.

If you are part of a trade union, you may not incur any costs when claiming compensation for an office accident, as your trade union may fund your claim instead.

How Beacon Law can assist you?

Beacon Law are registered Solicitors in England and Wales who are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The registered office for Beacon Law is located in Cheshire.

Whilst pursuing office accident injury claims, Beacon Law can be your source of support and will help you recover the sum of compensation that you deserve. We understand that the process of making a personal injury claim can be difficult, so will be there to guide you every step of the way.

We value each client that we have the pleasure of working with, listen carefully to our clients’ wishes, and aim to complete your claim in a timely manner so that you can receive the compensation that you deserve as soon as possible.

Your office accident injury claim at Beacon Law will be under on a no win no fee basis, which vastly minimises the risk of incurring legal costs.

Under this agreement, you will not be required to pay our fees if your case is unsuccessful. If your case is successful, we will deduct our success fee from your compensation on conclusion of your case, alongside any additional fees.

There will be no upfront payment needed, and you will not need to worry about the risk of being in a worse financial situation should your compensation claim not succeed. To find out about our no win, no fee claim funding and the success fee, have a look at the funding section on our website. 

If you are injured and are thinking of making an office accident injury claim, please contact a personal injury solicitor at Beacon Law on 0330 1332 857.