Statistics for Great Britain show that 123 workers were killed in work-related accidents, 565,000 workers sustained an injury at work, and 61,713 injuries to employees were reported under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases, and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) in 2021/2022.
Many of these injuries could have been avoided if the employers had followed health and safety legislation and put in place risk assessments and procedures to minimise the risk of an employee sustaining an injury at work.
Criminal and civil legislation exists to protect the health and safety of those in the workplace.
The Health & Safety Executive is Britain’s national regulator for health and safety in the workplace. It provides guidance on what employers should do to minimise the risk of injury and in serious cases, it will bring criminal proceedings against an employer for failing to do so.
As always, in the criminal Courts, the standard of proof to secure a conviction is ‘beyond reasonable doubt’.
The injured person or the family of someone who is fatally injured at work may be able to bring a claim for compensation in the civil Courts. In such cases, if there has been a successful prosecution in the criminal Courts, this evidence can be used in the civil claim where the standard of proof is lower i.e., the claim must be proved on the ‘balance of probabilities’ (more likely than not). However, there does not need to be a criminal prosecution for an injured worker to bring a civil claim against the employer for injuries sustained at work.
Example of an injury at work
In 2022 an employer and company director was prosecuted and pleaded guilty to a charge under Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. His employee lost both arms and suffered life-changing injuries in an accident that the HSE said:
“could so easily have been avoided by simply providing effective guarding to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery”.
He was fined £2,000, disqualified from being a company director for seven years, and ordered to pay full costs of £30,802.35. The Company pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The Company was fined £1,000. For further details of the case, see here.
Comment
Nelsons acted in a civil claim, for the employee whose life was changed forever that day, obtaining for him, the private treatment, prosthetics, and specially adapted accommodation that he required. In 2022 Nelsons settled his claim for a seven-figure sum which will ensure his future financial security.
How can Nelsons help
Dianne Collins is a Senior Associate in our expert Personal Injury team, which has been ranked in Tier One by the independently researched publication, The Legal 500 and Commended in The Times Best Law Firms 2023.
For more information on accidents at work, please contact Dianne or another member of the team in Derby, Leicester or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online enquiry form.
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