If you’re injured in an accident at work, the first thing you need to focus on is getting immediate medical attention and treating your injuries. While compensation may be the last thing on your mind at that time, there are certain things you should do in order to protect your rights. By not following the proper accident at work procedure you may risk losing out on any compensation that may be due to you.
Taking the steps listed in the following sections after an accident at work can help in a couple of ways:
- They could help your employer to stop similar accidents from occurring in the future.
- They could provide the evidence you need to support a work accident claim if you decide to take action.
The things you should do following an accident work are:
Seek Medical Attention
Unless your injuries are very minor you should not rely solely on first aid provided by a colleague if you’re injured at work. Instead, you should visit A&E, a minor injuries unit or a GP surgery for a professional assessment and treatment of your injuries.
Following treatment, you could ask for a copy of any medical notes or x-rays to help prove how serious your injuries were.
Inform Your Manager Or Supervisor About Your Accident At Work
Your manager or supervisor is responsible for all employees in the workplace under their watch at any given time. Informing them about your accident at work is crucial for two important reasons.
- Your supervisor is sure to have a list of resources at hand and will ensure that you get whatever help you need sooner rather than later.
- It establishes that an accident did happen at work which can be used as evidence if you are eligible to claim compensation.
Ideally, you should inform your supervisor or manager as soon as possible after the accident at work.
Create A Record Of The Accident At Work
Reporting the accident in the accident book should be your next priority. This creates a record of the events that led to the accident at work and supports your earlier statement to your supervisor.
In your report, you should include the following information:
- Your name and position in the company.
- Your contact details.
- Date and time of the accident.
- The date that the accident was reported.
- Where the accident happened.
- How the accident happened.
- Any injuries you sustained.
- Details of any treatment received.
- Details of witnesses to the accident and/or anybody else involved.
It is a legal requirement for your employer to keep a record of any injuries in an accident report book (or similar device). You may also be contractually obliged to report any accidents to your employer.
You are entitled to a copy of the report which will make it almost impossible for your employer to deny that the accident at work occurred.
Get Photographs Of The Accident Scene
If you are eligible to claim compensation for an accident at work you could lose your claim if you get a minor detail wrong or you do not remember something, however trivial. Getting photographs or video evidence of the scene of the accident is one way to avoid getting into this situation. The photographs or videos should show what caused the accident if possible.
Also, get photographs of your injuries immediately after the accident if you’re able to. These photographs will highlight the extent of your injuries before you received any treatment.
Secure Workplace CCTV Footage
If your workplace uses security cameras, you are entitled (legally) to ask for a copy of any footage of your accident. This type of evidence can make it much easier to prove what caused your injuries. Act as quickly as you can here because CCTV data is often deleted within a month or so.
Ask For Contact Details From Any Witnesses To The Accident At Work
If anybody else was present when your workplace accident occurred, or anybody else was injured, ask them for their contact details. If you proceed with a claim, they may be able to provide a statement of what they saw to help corroborate your version of events.
Speak To A Personal Injury Solicitor
If your accident at work was due to your employer’s negligence then you could be owed compensation. Never start a compensation claim or give up on your right to claim compensation without first getting legal advice. A personal injury solicitor who is experienced in this particular area of the law will be able to give you expert advice about your rights and the correct accident at work procedure to ensure that you get the maximum compensation due to you.
Personal injury solicitors also have access to legal libraries to research precedents and access to medical professionals who can give their expert testimony regarding your injuries. All of these go a long way towards supporting an accident at work claim.
Accident At Work Claims Time Limit
According to the Limitation Act 1980, any type of accident at work claim must be made within a 3-year time limit. In the majority of cases, the accident at work claim time limit will start from the date you were injured. However, it might also start from the date your injuries were diagnosed, for example where asbestosis is diagnosed years after exposure.
As there is quite a lot involved in a personal injury claim, we suggest that it’s best to begin the claims process as soon as you can. That should make it much easier to collect the evidence to support your claim.
Also, in cases where your employer accepts liability for your injuries, an early start to your claim could allow your solicitor to request an interim payment to cover the cost of private medical treatment or physiotherapy before the claim is settled in full.
Speak To Us About The Accident At Work Procedure
Hopefully, this guide on the accident at work procedure has helped. If you’ve decided to seek damages for your injuries, call us on 0800 6524 881 to find out more about your options.
If your claim is accepted by one of our specialist solicitors, they’ll represent you on a No Win No Fee basis so you will only have to pay legal fees if compensation is paid.
If you have any further questions about the accident at work procedure, please call or use live chat to speak with an advisor.
