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I Am A New Employee Can I Make A Personal Injury Claim?

By Danielle Jordan. Last Updated 1st February 2023. If you have been injured after just starting a new job, whether during training or orientation, it is reasonable to wonder if you can claim compensation if I am a new employee? In the UK, any employee can make a personal injury claim for an accident at work if the company they work for or their employer has breached the duty of care that they owe them. This is the same whether you have worked for the business for many years, or if you are a new employee.

You can claim as a new employee as, in the eyes of the law, all employees should be treated in the same way and afforded the same level of consideration and care. From the moment you start your job, your employer has a duty of care to make sure that your workplace is kept free from hazards and is safe and secure to work on. This can extend to different things in different workplaces. Parts of this duty of care which, if not followed, could lead to a new employee accident, might include providing your with the right training and equipment to perform the tasks your job entails in a safe way. They should also have properly trained you in any relevant health and safety protocols.

I Had An Accident At Work What Are My Rights As A New Employee?

Whether you are a new employee, or have been with your employer for years, if you have had an accident at work, you could be entitled to claim compensation. Find our more information for new employees in our guide below. When you are ready, call our team on
0800 073 8804 to start your claim. Or, talk to us about your claim online.

A Guide To New Employee Accident Claims

All employers have to provide their employees, new or existing, with the correct health and safety training covering every aspect of their job.

This is can include instruction on how to safely use any equipment or machinery which you will use as part of your day-to-day job role.
Instruction in awareness of any general or specific safety protocols and the use of safety equipment. This could be instruction about how or when to wear things such as a high visibility jacket, or when to wear protective footwear.
An employer should also make sure you know how to turn machinery on and off in the right (safe) way, and how to shut it down or isolate it from the electricity in an emergency.

If your employer has failed to give you the right training as a new employee, and you have had a new employee accident at work, you can claim compensation if I am a new employee.

Accident At Work Statistics

Under The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR), there are certain incidents in the workplace that must be reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The graph below has been generated using statistics from these reports. As you can see, some of the most common causes of workplace injuries are displayed. The most common is a slip, trip or fall on the same level. This kind of accident can happen to young employees, but also to more seasoned employees.

How long you have been employed does not affect your ability to claim if you are injured due to negligence.

Workplace accident statistics graph

What Are Accidents At Work?

There are lots of different circumstances in which you can make a personal injury claim for an accident at work as a new employee. A new employee accident could happen in much the same way as any other type of accident at work. If an employee is injured during training and the accident was preventable, the employer could be liable for it.

Whilst they may seem innocuous, over half of all accidents in the workplace which do not lead to fatal injuries are caused by slips, trips, and falls and manual handling accidents. These should accident at work examples which are the easiest for any employer to prevent. Simply having the right accident at work procedure in place as well as the right training, and any equipment necessary should prevent these from happening. People who suffer from these types of injuries will typically have to take over seven days of sick/ injury leave to recover enough to go back to work.

Common injuries in the workplace will include:

Bone fractures and breaks (such as a wrist, leg, or hand)
Loss of hearing or sight, or impairment of those senses
Head injuries and traumatic brain injuries
Crush injuries (typically affecting the hands) caused by machinery
Dermatitis due to chemical exposure. Typically affecting the hands and arms
Lung conditions caused by exposure to substances such as asbestos, or other materials
Work-related cancers or other diseases.

Can I Make A Claim As A New Employee?

The first thing you should do before worrying about whether you can “claim compensation if I am a new employee“, is that your employers accident at work procedure for reporting and insurance provision should be the same for you as it is for any other employee at the company. You should also know that your entitlement to claim compensation after an accident is also the same as any other employees. Whilst this can be a common concern for anyone making a claim against their emplouyer, you should also not worry about being dismissed after accident at work as there are legal protections to prevent this.

If you are injured in the workplace as a new employee, you should take the same steps as any other employee injured during workplace training or whilst carrying out their duties. The steps outlined below will help you to strengthen your personal injury claim.

The first thing that you should do is to get any medical attention you need. This ensures your health is taken care of. At the same time, having supporting medical evidence for your personal injury claim can help make the process smoother. At the same time, you should also follow your employer’s accident at work procedure and record your injury in their accident report book or log.

If there are any witnesses to your accident, ask for their names and contact details and, if you can, take photos of your accident and injury. If the witness is a fellow employee, they should not worry about being dismissed after an accident at work where they acted as a witness.

A witness can also be someone who has seen similar circumstances to those leading to your accident happen at another time. Having this supplementary evidence, such as a witness statement, helps your personal injury solicitor to build a solid case showing your employers liability and the extent of your injuries.

Your employer should neither treat you differently (in a negative way) nor can they dismiss you for being involved in a workplace accident. We should also note that most employers would not think of dismissing someone.

Remember, whilst your personal injury lawyer will be making the claim against the company, it is their insurance provider who will settle your claim.

Employee Claims – What Are The Time Limits?

As previously discussed, your employer owes a duty of care to take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of their employees. This is set under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA). It is only when they fail to adhere to the legislation, and you suffer injuries as a direct result of this negligence that you could become eligible to claim compensation. However, in addition to being able to prove that employer negligence caused your injuries, employee claims must be started within the time limit.

Typically, this is set as three years from the accident under the Limitation Act 1980.

In addition, the time limit is suspended when the claimant is unable to start the claim themselves. If this is the case, a litigation friend could be appointed to act on behalf of the injured party. A litigation friend could start a claim at any point while the time limit is suspended.

Injured parties that cannot start their own claims include:

Children under 18. The time limit is no longer suspended once they reach their 18^th This gives them three years from that date to start a claim if one hasn’t been started already.
Adults lacking the mental capacity to manage their own claim. In this case, the time limit is suspended indefinitely, unless they regain capacity. Should that occur, then they have three years from the date that capacity has been regained to claim if a litigation friend hasn’t already done so.

Call our advisors to discuss claims at work. If your claim seems like it could be successful, they could help you get started on it right away.

Employee Injury Claims Calculator

When making a claim, legal professionals will calculate how much your injuries could be worth. They will do so by consulting medical evidence regarding your injuries, as well as the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). The JCG is a legal publication that contains a description of a variety of injuries. Alongside each entry is a range of monetary values.

These figures are based on past injuries in cases that have been handled. The amount you receive will have been calculated as appropriate for your level of physical pain and the psychological impact caused by your injuries. The amount is known as general damages.

We have included some example entries in the table below.

Edit
Injury	Description	Amount
Back	(a)(i) Severe – cases of the most severe nature with the spinal cord being damaged, etc	£91,090 to £160,980
Post-traumatic stress disorder	(b) Moderately severe	£23,150 to £59,860
Sight	(e) Total loss of sight in 1 eye	£49,270 to £54,830
Face	(b) Scarring that is very severe with a severe psychological reaction	£17,960 to £48,420
Wrist	(b) The injury will result in permanent and significant disability	£24,500 to £39,170
Hand	(h) Moderate – penetrating wounds, crush injuries	£5,720 to £13,280
Head/brain	(e) Minor – minimal brain damage, if any	£2,210 to £12,770
Shoulder	(e) Clavicle fracture	£5,150 to £12,240
Chest	(g) Rib fractures, soft tissue injuries	Up to £3,950
Neck	(c)(iii) – Full recovery within 3 months	Up to £2,450

Edit

Injury Description Amount

Back (a)(i) Severe – cases of the most severe nature with the spinal cord being damaged, etc £91,090 to £160,980

Post-traumatic stress disorder (b) Moderately severe £23,150 to £59,860

Sight (e) Total loss of sight in 1 eye £49,270 to £54,830

Face (b) Scarring that is very severe with a severe psychological reaction £17,960 to £48,420

Wrist (b) The injury will result in permanent and significant disability £24,500 to £39,170

Hand (h) Moderate – penetrating wounds, crush injuries £5,720 to £13,280

Head/brain (e) Minor – minimal brain damage, if any £2,210 to £12,770

Shoulder (e) Clavicle fracture £5,150 to £12,240

Chest (g) Rib fractures, soft tissue injuries Up to £3,950

Neck (c)(iii) – Full recovery within 3 months Up to £2,450

You may also be eligible to receive special damages. This is a sum that’s calculated to reimburse you for costs and losses that can be directly attributed to your injuries. Examples include:

Damage to property – so that any property that was damaged in the accident can be repaired or replaced.
Loss of earnings – if you have had to take unpaid time off work due to your injuries.
Medical expenses – prescription costs, etc.

Get in touch if you want more information on what can be included in a special damages payment.

No Win No Fee Claims As A New Employee

No Win No Fee new employee claims can be made without any additional financial burden being put on you at what may already be a very stressful time financially.

No Win, no fee means exactly what it says. You will not have to make any payments to your solicitor unless, and until your claim has been successfully concluded and you have a settlement. Your Conditional Fee Agreement (the technical name for this type of contract) will set out what work your personal injury solicitor will do for you and what services they provide. It will also set out when and how they will be compensated, as well as what their total fee will be.

Using a CFA (or Conditional Fee Agreement) can enable claimants without access to sufficient funds to be able to make a claim, and it means you will never have a surprise bill as all costs and charges will clearly be set out.

Contact Us And Start Your Claim Today

Contact our friendly team today and start your claim. You can call us on the number at the top of this page, or use the contact form (also on this page). You can also request a call back by sending and email to our team at info@legalexpert.co.uk.

However you get in touch, start your claim for an accident at work as a new employee today.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Can The Risk Of A New Employee Being In An Accident Be Reduced?

When compared to other, older workers, some younger employees may need special consideration when being employed for the first time, or in an unfamiliar environment or field. The risks to young people could vary from role to role.

For example, in an office environment, younger employees may be less likely to be aware of the risks involved because of a lack of work experience. In some, more specialised roles, there may be hazardous chemicals or other surroundings that require specific training and safety equipment.

According to the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), a young person’s risk assessment (or anyone else new to the job) can help reduce their risk of injury. So can making sure they have all the relevant information they require.

Can Young Employees Still Make A Claim?

Yes. If their injuries were caused by their employer breaching their duty of care, then the young person could make a claim. To give an example, the young employee may not have been provided with safety equipment for a task that required it.

The provision of this safety equipment is the responsibility of the employer. So, by not doing so, this could be a breach of the duty of care as stated in the Health and Safety At Work etc. Act 1974. This would be known as negligence and could be grounds for a claim.

Helpful Resources

Below, you can find a list of guides which may tell you more about accident at work claims:

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Meet The Team

Patrick Mallon

Patrick is a Grade A solicitor having qualified in 2005. He's an an expert in accident at work and public liability claims and is currently our head of the EL/PL department. Get in touch today for free to see how we can help you.

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