_{If you need assistance with a claim, contact injurywatch.co.uk's free, confidential legal claim support helpdesk.}

See also work-related diseases

Call 0800 066 99 07 and get our personal injury team working for you straight away. The call is free, the advice is free and nothing will ever be deducted from your compensation.

Detailed coverage of common hazards and consequential injury are provided in our common risks pages:

• slip and trip hazards
• manual handling hazards
• machinery and plant hazards
• electrical hazards
• environmental hazards
• noise hazards
• fire hazards
• hazardous chemicals
• vibration hazards
• repetitive strain hazards and work related upper limb disorders
• violence and bullying in the workplace
• hazards involving protective equipment
• hazards of lone working

negligence, the law and your claim

Your employer has a duty of care to provide a safe working environment and if you are injured at work there may be grounds for a claim if your employer has been negligent in some way.

All employers are required by law to maintain an Employers' Liability Insurance policy to cover them against any liability for negligence that will enable them to meet the cost of compensation for their employees’ injuries or illnesses, whether they are caused on or off site. (Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969). If you are successful in proving negligence, your employer's insurer will meet the costs of your claim.

Negligence may result from badly maintained surfaces or unsafe machinery or risks your employer failed to act to prevent (say by providing safety equipment, cleaning up properly or insufficient signage). Claims for injuries at work often result from one-off incidents but it may be preferable to take a group action in some injury cases. Group actions are often appropriate for industrial disease cases which often afflict more than one employee. Examples might be "environmental" diseases such as those relating to the presence of asbestos in the workplace or noise, or "action" based diseases which result from working practices, such as repetitive strain injury among keyboard users (see work-related diseases).

Your claim may be detrimentally affected if you failed to follow your employer's instructions, didn't use safety equipment or failed to pay proper heed of warning signs, but if you have suffered an accident it always pays to take expert advice to discuss your claim. injurywatch.co.uk's claim support helpdesk is a good place to start to discuss the details of your claim.

applicable legislation

The broad landscape of health and safety at work is set by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA) which applies to all persons at work which including employers, employees and self employed people as well as other people (such as visitors and people in properties surrounding the workplace) who may be affected by work activities.

Under HSWA employers have an obligation to ensure so far as is reasonably practicable the health, safety and welfare of anyone who might be affected by their activities where reasonably practicable is defined as the balance between the risk and the time, money and inconvenience involved to reduce that risk.

HSWA is buttressed by what has come to be known as The Six Pack referring to six pieces of legislation that came into force - for the most part - on the 1st January 1993.

• Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations.
• Workplace Health Safety and Welfare Regulations.
• Display Screen Equipment Regulations.
• Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations
• Manual Handling Regulations
• Personal Protective Equipment Regulations

These regulations implement various European Directives on health and safety and also clarify how employers must comply with their duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

As well as laying down a comprehensive legal framework they also highlight areas and actions where an employer might be deemed to be negligent if an workplace accident or illness occurs.

requirements under law

Any employer of five or more people must prepare a written safety policy which details the employer's commitment to health and safety and precisely outlines who is responsible for implementing and reviewing safety issues within the organisation.

While it is possible to delegate day-to-day responsibilities it is not possible for the employer to delegate overall responsibility for health and safety and the employer, whether company or individual, remains legally responsible for the safety of staff.

Employers must:

• provide a safe place of employment
• evaluate possible risks for their work pracices and activities and take action to remove/control all identified risks
• consult with employees
• ensure the safety and correct maintenance of all plant and equipment
• ensure that substances are handled safely
• provide adequate information, instruction and supervision on health and safety matters
• ensure that employees are trained to be competent to undertake tasks safely
• provide specialist health surveillance for certain types of work
• actively monitor work practices and procedures

Employees also have some responsibilites:

• to cooperate with supervisors and managers on health and safety matters
• not to interfere with anything provided to safeguard their health and safety
• to take reasonable care for their own health and safety; and
• to report all health and safety concerns to an appropriate person

The main authority responsible for enforcing Health and Safety legislation iis the Health and Safety Executive (H.S.E.) - which employs Health and Safety Inspectors. In the case of serious breaches H.S.E. can institute legal proceedings which can, in the Crown Court, lead to up to two years imprisonment and an unlimited fine.

_{If you need assistance with a claim, contact injurywatch.co.uk's free, confidential legal claim support helpdesk.}