Accident at Work: Your Rights, Reporting and Compensation

It is the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all their employees. That includes safe plant and systems of work and a safe working environment.

Every employer must take reasonable steps to investigate the circumstances of every accident of which notice is given to them, and if there appear to be any discrepancies between what the investigation finds and the notice given, they must record the circumstances found.

An employer with 10 or more people normally employed at the same premises must keep a means, in a book or by electronic means, for employees to record the particulars of any accident causing personal injury, and must keep every record for at least 3 years from the date of its entry.

RIDDOR is the law that requires employers, and other people in control of work premises, to report and keep records of work-related deaths, certain serious injuries, diagnosed cases of certain industrial diseases and certain dangerous occurrences.

A RIDDOR report is required only when the accident is work-related and it results in an injury of a type which is reportable.

When deciding if an accident is work-related, the key issues are whether it was related to the way the work was organised, carried out or supervised, any machinery, plant, substances or equipment used for work, or the condition of the site or premises. If none of these factors are relevant, it is likely that a report will not be required.

HSE says all fractures except those to fingers, thumbs and toes are reportable when diagnosed or confirmed by a doctor, including when they are specified on a GP fit note. Self-diagnosed suspected fractures are not reportable, but an injury is still reportable if a doctor considers it is likely that there is a fracture. Our Fit Notes guide explains what a fit note is.

An employer must also keep a record of any other occupational accident that leaves a worker away from work or incapacitated for more than three consecutive days, not counting the day of the accident. It does not have to report over-three-day injuries unless the incapacitation goes on to exceed seven days. If the employer keeps an accident book, the record made in it is enough.

In general, reports are not required for deaths and injuries that result from the following.

• ✗No: Medical or dental treatment, or an examination carried out by, or under the supervision of, a doctor or registered dentist
• ✗No: The duties carried out by a member of the armed forces while on duty
• ✗No: Road traffic accidents, unless the accident involved loading or unloading a vehicle, work alongside the road, the escape of a substance being conveyed by the vehicle, or a train

To report online, go to the HSE RIDDOR website and complete the appropriate online report form. The form is submitted directly to the RIDDOR database and you receive a copy for your records.

Employers must get Employers' Liability insurance as soon as they become an employer, to cover them for at least £5 million, from an authorised insurer. It will help pay compensation if an employee is injured or becomes ill because of the work they do for the employer.

An employer does not need this insurance if they only employ a family member, or someone based outside England, Scotland and Wales. An employer can be fined £2,500 every day they are not properly insured.

The time limit applies to any action for damages for negligence, nuisance or breach of duty where the damages claimed consist of or include damages in respect of personal injuries. That covers a duty arising from a contract, from a statute or independently of either.

An action must not be brought after three years from the date on which the cause of action accrued, or the date of knowledge of the person injured if that is later.

Your date of knowledge is the date on which you first had knowledge that the injury was significant, that it was attributable in whole or in part to the act or omission alleged to be negligence, nuisance or breach of duty, and the identity of the defendant. Knowing that the act or omission did or did not, as a matter of law, involve negligence, nuisance or breach of duty is irrelevant.

If the person injured dies before the three years expire, the period for the claim that survives for the estate is three years from the date of death or the personal representative's date of knowledge, whichever is later.

If the person was under a disability when the right of action accrued, the action may be brought before the end of the limitation period from the date they ceased to be under a disability or died, whichever first occurred. For a personal injury action that period is three years. A person is treated as under a disability while they are an infant or lack capacity to conduct legal proceedings.

If it appears to the court that it would be equitable to allow an action to proceed, having regard to how far the time limit prejudices the claimant and how far a decision would prejudice the defendant, the court may direct that the time limit shall not apply to the action.

The Pre-Action Protocol for Personal Injury Claims sets out conduct that the court would normally expect prospective parties to follow before proceedings. It is primarily designed for personal injury claims which are likely to be allocated to the fast track.

It is not intended to apply to claims which proceed under the low value protocol for employers' liability and public liability claims, the clinical disputes protocol, the disease and illness protocol, or the road traffic accident protocols.

The Protocol recommends that a defendant be given three months to investigate and respond before proceedings are issued. That may not always be possible, particularly where a claimant only consults a legal representative close to the end of any relevant limitation period.

Where either party fails to comply with the Protocol, the court may impose sanctions. A party without a legal representative should still, in so far as reasonably possible, fully comply with it.

Our Legal Aid guide explains who can get help with legal costs.

You might get Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit if you became ill or are disabled because of an accident or disease at work or on an approved employment training scheme or course. You may be able to claim if you were employed or on an approved scheme when the accident happened, and it happened in England, Scotland or Wales. You cannot claim if you were self-employed.

A medical advisor assesses the level of your disability on a scale of 1 to 100%. Normally you must be assessed as 14% disabled or more to get the benefit. All amounts are a guide only.

You need to fill in and post a claim form. For accidents caused by work it is form BI100A. You can ask the Barnsley IIDB Centre to send you a form, and your claim will be assessed using the information in your claim form or at a face to face medical assessment.

You can call the Barnsley IIDB Centre on 0800 121 8379, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

You can still get this benefit if you are claiming contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, New Style Jobseeker's Allowance or State Pension. It will affect income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Pension Credit, Housing Benefit and Universal Credit if you or your partner are claiming them.

You can challenge a decision about your claim. This is called asking for mandatory reconsideration. Our Sick Pay guide covers Statutory Sick Pay.

In Scotland an action of damages where the damages claimed consist of or include damages in respect of personal injuries must be commenced within 3 years after the date on which the injuries were sustained, or, for a continuing act or omission, the later of that date or the date it ceased. If later, the 3 years run from the date you became, or would reasonably have become, aware that the injuries were sufficiently serious, were attributable in whole or in part to an act or omission, and that the defender was a person to whose act or omission they were attributable or the employer or principal of such a person.

In Northern Ireland an action for damages for negligence, nuisance or breach of duty where the damages consist of or include damages in respect of personal injuries may not be brought after three years from the date on which the cause of action accrued, or the date of knowledge of the person injured if later.

You may be able to claim Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit in Northern Ireland if you were employed, or on an approved employment training scheme or course, when the accident happened and the accident happened in the UK. You cannot claim if you were self-employed, and normally you must be assessed as 14 per cent disabled or more.