It doesn’t matter where you work, all employers have a responsibility to keep you safe while you’re at work. This is their duty of care and it’s a legal requirement.
What Are the Average Injury at Work Compensation Values?
The compensation you’ll receive for accidents at work depend on the severity of your injury. A minor foot injury that you’ll recover from is worth £5,000 – £11,730. Permanent eye damage can entitle you to up to £200,000.
Even so, accidents still do happen. If you’ve been unfortunate enough to find yourself on the receiving end of an accident at work, you might be eligible for compensation.
This guide will explore when you can make a personal injury claim, typical accident at work compensation examples and the steps you need to take to make a claim.
- – Do i get paid if i get injured at work?
- – What is the personal injury claims time limit?
- – What is the personal injury claim settlement process?
- – I had an accident at work what are my rights – get the details
We update all our guides regularly. If you are researching Personal Injury and Personal Injury Compensation Claims and we haven’t got an exact guide that helps you, keep coming back as we update daily.
When Can I Make a Claim for Compensation?
Just having an accident at your place of work isn’t enough to guarantee compensation. The law is very strict on this – there are certain criteria which the accident must meet before it is likely to be a successful claim.
The three main questions you need to ask are:
1 – Does It Count as a Work-Related Accident?
According to the Health and Safety Executive, an accident is “a separate, identifiable, unintended incident which causes physical injury”. This means that if you weren’t injured, you won’t get a payout – it would be classed as a near miss and not an accident.
So, let’s assume you were injured. The accident has to also be something that happened while you were carrying out your work duties.
For example:
- The accident occurred as a direct result of work being carried out.
- The accident was related to any machinery, equipment or substance being used to carry out work duties.
- The accident was a result of the condition of the site or premises being worked in.
2 – Was a Third Party at Fault?
To be a successful claim, the accident can’t be your fault. This could mean it was a mistake by someone else you’re working with or a safety oversight on your employer’s part that could be classed as negligence.
For example, imagine you were injured at work after falling off a ladder. If the ladder was knocked by a colleague and this is what caused you to fall, it’s the fault of somebody else – the accident was out of your control.
If you fell because you were distracted on your phone or weren’t wearing the correct footwear provided to you, this is unlikely to be deemed the fault of somebody else and, you’re unlikely to get any compensation.
3 – Was Your Employer Liable?
If you were injured as a result of your employer not taking necessary steps to prevent incidents from happening, they are at fault. For example, an employer expecting staff to work with machinery in poor repair or without proper training would be classed as negligence.
On average 20% of people who get injured at work make a compensation claim.
581,000 Workers sustained a non-fatal injury according to self-reports from the Labour Force Survey in 2018/19 (LFS)
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Common Workplace Accidents and Injuries
The HSE collects all kinds of data about workplace accidents and injuries. From this, we can get a clear picture of what accidents are most common at work. The most common injuries at work are a result of:
- Slips, trips or falls
- Handling, lifting or carrying
- Struck by moving or falling objects
- Falls from height
- Workplace violence
Regardless of the type of injury, there are some common themes in the cause of workplace injuries – dangerous working practices, inadequate protective equipment, preventable spillages or trip hazards, poorly maintained equipment and poor safety procedures.
Typical Compensation Examples
There are legal guidelines in England and Wales that set out how much compensation should be paid out in general damages for certain types of workplace injuries.
Below is a small selection of compensation examples from the Judicial College Guidelines – the guidelines legal professionals will use as a benchmark for damages to claim. The full guidelines are far more extensive, going into lots of detail about other types of injury. Note that the amount of compensation also depends on the severity of the injury.
| Type of Injury | Severity | Description | Amount |
| Back Injury | Minor | Strains, sprains or soft tissue injuries. | £300 – £9,000 |
| Back Injury | Severe | Severe injury to spine, possibly causing paralysis | £30,000 – £130,000 |
| Eye Injury | Minor | Temporary vision problems, no lasting effects. | £1650 – £6,700 |
| Eye Injury | Severe | Loss of sight, near or total blindness. | £80,500 – £200,000 |
| Facial Injury | Minor | Light scarring, simple fractures e.g. broken nose. | £1,300 – £2,700 |
| Facial Injury | Severe | Lasting facial disfigurement or severe scarring. | £13,700 – £75,000 |
| Foot Injury | Minor | Common foot injury, not permanent. Will recover. | £5,000 – £11,730 |
| Foot Injury | Severe | Severe injury to one or both feet, or amputation. | £35,000 – £153,000 |
| Hand Injury | Minor | Fracture to finger or thumb, cuts or soft tissue damage. | £360 – £4,500 |
| Hand Injury | Severe | Severe hand injures, crush or digit amputation. | £3,000 – £150,000 |
| Head Injury | Minor | No brain damage, recovery within a few weeks | £1,800 – £10,890 |
| Head Injury | Severe | Serious brain damage, full-time care needed. | £215,000 – £307,000 |
How Much Compensation Will I Receive?
Remember that the table above is just a guide. The real extent of what you will receive in compensation depends on the extent of your injuries, the treatment you need and the effect your injuries have on your daily life.
The above numbers also only include general damages. You may also be able to claim special damages that cover extra expenses your injury has led to, such as lost earnings from work and costs of care, medical treatments or physiotherapy needed after the accident.
How Do I Make a Personal Injury Compensation Claim?
The safest way to ensure you give yourself the best chance of receiving compensation after an accident at work is to seek legal advice. Many personal injury solicitors work on ‘no win, no fee terms’ – if your claim isn’t successful, you don’t pay their fees.
Can I Lose My Job for Making a Personal Injury Compensation Claim?
In short, no. By law, you can’t legally be dismissed for making a claim against your employer. Besides, this is the kind of thing employers have insurance for – your employer will not be the one forking out for workplace injury claims. If you feel you’ve been unfairly dismissed after making a claim following an accident at work, seek legal advice as soon as possible.
The following chart will give you an idea of the many injuries covered by personal injury compensation and the range of compensation available. Each claim will be treated on a case-by-case basis generally within the range of compensation.
| Injuries resulting in death | Range of compensation |
| Initial full awareness | £10,000 to £18,980 |
| Followed by unconsciousness | £8,370 to £8,500 |
| Immediate unconsciousness/death after six weeks | £3,000 to £3,500 |
| Immediate unconsciousness/death within one week | £1,090 to £2,230 |
| Mental anguish prior to death | £3720 |
| Injuries involving paralysis | Range of compensation |
| Tetraplegia | £258,740 to £322,060 |
| Paraplegia | £174,620 to £226,610 |
| Short durations | £39,330 |
| Brain and head injury | Range of compensation |
| Very severe brain damage | £224,800 to £322,060 |
| Moderately severe brain damage | £174,620 to £224,800 |
| Moderate brain damage | £34,330 to £174,620 |
| Less severe brain damage | £12,210 to £34,330 |
| Minor brain/head injury | £1,760 to £10,180 |
| Epilepsy | £8,480 to £119,650 |
| Psychiatric and psychological damage | Range of compensation |
| Psychiatric damage generally | £1,220 to £92,240 |
| Post-traumatic stress disorder | £6,520 to £80,250 |
| Injuries affecting the senses | Range of compensation |
| Injuries affecting sight | £1,760 to £322,060 |
| Deafness/Tinnitus | £5,590 to £112,100 |
| Impairment of taste and smell | £15,300 to £31,220 |
| Injuries to internal organs | Range of compensation |
| Chest injuries | Up to £119,650 |
| Lung disease | £1,760 to £108,370 |
| Asbestos-related disease | £12,020 to £100,350 |
| Asthma | Up to £52,390 |
| Reproductive system: Male | £5,280 to in excess of £122,640 |
| Reproductive system: Female | £2,700 to £135,030 |
| Digestive system | £730 to £49,350 |
| Kidney | £24,530 to £167,690 |
| Bowels | £10,040 to £146,840 |
| Ladder | £18,660 to £146,840 |
| Spleen | £3,470 to £20,950 |
| Hernia | £2,710 to £19,260 |
| Orthopaedic injuries | Range of compensation |
| Neck injuries | Up to £118,240 |
| Back injuries | Up to £128,320 |
| Shoulder injuries | £4,110 to £38,280 |
| Injuries to the pelvis/hips | £3,150 to £104,370 |
| Amputation of arms | £76,650 to £239,140 |
| Other arm injuries | £5,280 to £104,370 |
| Injuries to elbow | Up to £43,710 |
| Wrist injuries | £2,810 to £47,720 |
| Hand injuries | Up to £160,600 |
| Vibration white finger/hand-arm vibration syndrome | £2,390 to £30,630 |
| Work-related upper limb disorders | £1,760 to £18,440 |
| Leg injuries | £7,270 to £224,800 |
| Knee injuries | Up to £76,690 |
| Ankle injuries | Up to £55,560 |
| Achilles tendon | £5,800 to £30,630 |
| Foot injuries | Up to £160,600 |
| Toe injuries | Up to £44,710 |
| Chronic pain | Range of compensation |
| Chronic pain disorder | £16,800 to £66,970 |
| Facial injuries | Range of compensation |
| Skeletal injuries | £870 to £29,290 |
| Facial disfigurement | £1,360 to £77,580 |
| Scarring to other parts of the body | Range of compensation |
| Varying degrees of scarring | £6,240 to in excess of £83,550 |
| Damage to hair | Range of compensation |
| Varying degrees of damage | £3,150 to £8,780 |
| Dermatitis and other skin conditions | Range of compensation |
| Varying degrees of damage | £1,360 to £15,300 |
| Minor injuries | Range of compensation |
| Complete recovery within seven days to 3 months | Up to £1,950 |
Quick Personal Injury FAQs
RIDDOR stands for the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations. This 2013 legislation requires that you report workplace incidents. A report should be made no later than ten days after the occurrence.
Reports are made to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). They should be made by a responsible person such as a supervisor, manager or business owner. Not all incidents need to be reported, though a majority do. You should file a RIDDOR report online.
Even if you’ve claimed compensation and taken your employer to court, they are not legally allowed to dismiss you after an injury. If you can prove that your dismissal is a direct result of your injury, you could be entitled to further compensation to rectify the way you’ve been treated.
Any accidents in the workplace need to be properly recorded. That’s the case whether they happened to you, another member of staff or a customer. Your place of work should have an accident book that they maintain.
Make sure that any accident is recorded in the accident book. The document should be signed by those involved, to show that it’s an accurate record.
It’s always a good idea to report an injury outside of work. Even if you have no intention of claiming any money, reporting an incident means that any oversights won’t go unnoticed for long. Reporting incidents provides those responsible with a chance to set things right, whether they need to make some repairs or change the processes they have in place.
If you’ve been injured on someone else’s property, report the injury to them. Explain what happened so that they can fix any health and safety problems. They should fill in an accident report form that you will also need to sign.
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How Can Money Savings Advice Help You With Making a Personal Injury Compensation Claim?
Here at Money Savings Advice, we have partnered with some of the UK’s leading Personal Injury Claims management companies. They have already helped thousands of people claim compensation for injuries they have incurred, and they can do the same for you.
Choosing an independent claims management company means they won’t proceed with a claim unless they are sure it is in your best interests. They are also regulated by the FCA, which gives you an additional layer of protection.
If you would like to speak to one of these claim management companies who can help you make a compensation claim, then click on the below and answer the very simple questions.
Laura Broad
Laura is a professional content writer and learning designer, passionate about empowering people through straightforward, jargon-free content. When she's not reading or writing about all things personal finance, you can find her in the gym, barbell in hand.
