Injury at Work: 5 Things to Do

You expect to be safe at work. After all, employers have a legal duty to keep you protected from harm.

But accidents do happen and when they do, you should know what to do to help you recover as quickly as possible.

Here’s what to do when you’ve suffered an injury at work.

Report your injury to your employer

As soon as you’ve been injured at work, make sure you tell someone about it. Tell your line manager what happened and see your workplace first aider, if possible. Workplace accidents can be serious so your employer needs to know what has happened and why.

You should also make sure your injury is recorded in your company accident book. If you can, ensure you get a copy of the report so you can make sure it was properly recorded and the details are factually correct.

Get medical attention

Even if you see your first aider as soon as you can after suffering the injury at work, you should also make sure you get medical attention from a healthcare professional as soon as possible. This could be at A&E or your GP. If you need to go to hospital immediately, it could help to take a colleague with – particularly if they saw what happened to you. They might be able to fill in any blanks in your memory for your medical team.

It’s important to make sure you’re properly checked out as you may have suffered an injury that doesn’t show itself for a certain period. Tell your doctor about the accident you suffered and every symptom you’ve experienced since, even if you feel it’s insignificant.

Focus on your recovery

When you’ve had an injury at work, you might feel that you need to return as soon as you can to minimise any repercussions. But it’s important to assess your injury and carefully evaluate the best course of action to help your recovery.

Speak to your doctors and agree on a recovery plan. This may require you to take some time off work, so keep your employer up to date with developments. You might want to check your employment contract to see what the terms surrounding sick pay are.

Gather your evidence

After an injury at work, it’s a good idea to make sure you have evidence of what happened. This can help if your employer disputes your version of events or if you decide to make an accident at work claim.

Take photos or video of the scene of your accident, request access to any CCTV footage of the accident happening, ask your colleagues to provide witness statements and record your symptoms in a diary. You can also keep hold of your receipts for any payments made towards your injury treatment and recovery. This can all go towards presenting a strong case if you decide to take legal action.

Take legal action

If your injury at work was your employer’s fault – through insufficient training, maintenance or other negligence – you could be able to make a claim for compensation.

You might feel anxious about taking legal action against your employer. Worrying about your relationship with them is understandable, but there are some things to take into consideration.

• You typically won’t claim directly against your employer

In most cases, you will claim against your employer’s insurer. This means that you won’t be directly impacting your company’s finances.

• You can’t be sacked for making a claim

It is illegal for companies to sack employees for making an injury at work claim. If they do, they open themselves up to unfair dismissal claims, which can lead to even more difficulties for them.

You may also give your employer the chance to address what went wrong by making an injury claim. They may not have been aware of the problem that led to your accident, so highlighting it can prompt them to eliminate it. This can help to prevent any of your colleagues suffering from the same injury you did in future.

If you do decide to make a claim for the compensation you’re entitled to for an injury at work, First4Lawyers can make the process as straightforward as possible.

Our No Win No Fee claims service means you won’t have to worry about funding the claim while you focus on your recovery. To find out more about how we can help you, just give us a call, request a call back or start your claim online.