Did you suffer a burn injury at work because your employer breached their duty of care? This guide will explain the laws that set out the duty of care employers have to protect you from harm in the workplace and whether you could be eligible to start a burn injury claim for compensation if your employer failed to adhere to this duty.
Can I Claim For A Burn Injury At Work?
Burn injuries can be sustained in various types of accidents, examples of which we will provide later in our guide. We will also look at the compensation payout that could be awarded to address the impact of a burn if you make a successful workplace accident claim.
Finally, we discuss the advantages to instructing a solicitor and accessing their services in a No Win No Fee capacity.
For more information about your potential accident at work claim, please contact an advisor. If you are eligible to make a work injury claim, they could connect you with a personal injury solicitor from our panel.
To learn more:
- Call on 0113 460 1216
- Find out more about making a claim online
- Use the live chat feature below.
Browse Our Guide
- When Am I Eligible To Claim For A Burn Injury At Work?
- How Can A Burn Injury At Work Occur?
- Potential Burn Injury Compensation
- What Evidence Could Help Me Claim For A Burn Injury At Work?
- Claim Burn Injury Compensation Using No Win No Fee Solicitors
- Learn More About Claiming For A Burn At Work
When Am I Eligible To Claim For A Burn Injury At Work?
Certain eligibility criteria apply to making a personal injury claim for a workplace injury. It rests upon showing three main points:
- That your employer owed you a duty of care during the time and at the location of the accident.
- They breached that duty.
- You suffered injuries as a result of the breach.
These three points lay the basis of negligence in claims for a personal injury. It must be proven that negligence occurred for you to have valid grounds to seek compensation.
In addition to this, you must start legal proceedings within the personal injury claims time limit. This is usually 3 years from the date of the accident. There can be exceptions to this though, so please contact our team for more guidance.
How Can A Burn Injury At Work Occur?
The duty of care employers owe is outlined in Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA). This legislation requires employers to ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable for them to do so, the health, safety and welfare of their employees at work.
To uphold this duty, some of the steps they could take include maintaining machinery to ensure it is safe for use, providing adequate training and any necessary personal protective equipment (PPE).
Below, we explore some examples of how a burn injury at work could be caused by an employer breaching their duty of care:
- A lack of warning signs to notify employees of a hot surface that an employer was aware of could lead to an employee sustaining a burn injury to their arm.
- An employer may fail to provide the PPE necessary, such as gloves, to employees working with hazardous substances. As a result, they sustain a chemical burn on their hands.
- Machinery may overheat due to a defect in the cooling system due to an employer failing to carry out regular maintenance. As a result, an employee sustains severe burns to different parts of their body, including their face.
To discuss your specific case and find out whether you’re eligible to make a workplace accident claim for a burn injury, call an advisor on the number above.
Potential Burn Injury Compensation
There are two heads of loss that can form a personal injury settlement. If your claim succeeds, you will receive general damages, the first head of loss which compensates for the pain and suffering caused by your injuries, both mental and physical.
To calculate this portion of your settlement, legal professionals can refer to a document called the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This publication contains a list of different injuries with corresponding guideline award brackets. We have included an excerpt below. However, please only use this as a guide because the value of each claim is worked out on a case-by-case basis.
Award Brackets
| Injury | Severity | Notes | Award Bracket |
|---|---|---|---|
| Facial Disfigurement | (a) Very Severe | Cases which impact relatively young claimants (usually teens to early 30s), and leave a very disfiguring cosmetic effect and severe psychological reaction. | £29,780 to £97,330 |
| (b) Less Severe | Where disfigurement is still substantial and has created a significant psychological reaction. | £17,960 to £48,420 | |
| (c) Significant | This bracket includes cases where plastic surgery reduces the worst effects but leaves some cosmetic disability and a psychological reaction that has become more minor despite being considerable prior to treatment. | £9,110 to £30,090 | |
| (d) Less Significant | One scar or several very small scars. | £3,950 to £13,740 | |
| Scarring to Other Parts of the Body | Serious | Cases where significant burns cover 40% (or more) of the body. | Likely to exceed £104,830 |
| Several Visible Scars or One Disfiguring Scar | Affecting the arms, legs, hands, back or chest. | £7,830 to £22,730 | |
| One Visible Scar Or Lots Of Superficial Scars | Affecting the legs, arms or hands with a minor cosmetic deficit. | £2,370 to £7,830 |
Claiming Special Damages As Part Of A Burn Claim Payout
The second head of loss that could also make up your overall settlement following a successful claim is special damages. This compensates for the financial losses caused by your injuries. Evidence is needed to prove these expenses.
Below, we have provided examples of the losses that could be reimbursed and the evidence you could provide to prove the expense:
- Payslips showing a loss of earnings incurred because you were left unable to work.
- Prescriptions or receipts to show any medical expenses.
- Receipts or bus tickets showing travel expenses, such as for transport to and from hospital appointments.
To find out how much your potential burn injury at work claim could be worth, call an advisor on the number above.
What Evidence Could Help Me Claim For A Burn Injury At Work?
Evidence can help you put forward a stronger case as it can help prove that an employer breached their duty of care, and that you sustained a burn injury at work because of this breach. As such, you might find it beneficial to gather:
- A diary of symptoms, treatment and an indication of your physical and/or mental state.
- Copies of medical evidence, such as X-rays and proof of prescriptions needed.
- Photographs of your burns.
- Witness contact details.
- Copies of the accident log book entry. Workplaces with ten or more employees must have an accident log book and it should include your name, the date and time, and other relevant details about the incident.
Gathering evidence to support your claim is a service the personal injury solicitors from our panel can help with. If you would like to learn more about the ways in which they could assist you, and whether you’re eligible to have them represent your case, please get in touch.
Claim Burn Injury Compensation Using No Win No Fee Solicitors
If our advisors find that your claim is eligible, they could connect you with a solicitor from our panel to represent you on a No Win No Fee basis. Whilst there are different types of these contracts, they offer a Conditional Fee Agreement, the terms of which typically mean:
- No costs for the solicitor’s services at the beginning of your claim, as it progresses, or if it fails.
- After a winning claim, your solicitor will take a success fee from your compensation as a percentage. However, this is subject to a cap as per the law.
To have your case assessed for free, and find out whether a solicitor from our panel could represent your burn injury at work claim on a No Win No Fee basis, contact an advisor. To do so, you can:
- Call on 0113 460 1216
- Find out more about making a claim online
- Use the live chat facility below.
Learn More About Claiming For A Burn At Work
For more of our guides:
- Find out what you should do if you have had a workplace accident and sustained an injury.
- Learn about the steps an employer should take to prevent an accident in the workplace.
- Read our helpful guide about claiming compensation after a manual handling accident in the workplace.
For more external resources:
- Health and Safety Executive (HSE) – Scalding and burns
- NHS – Burns
- GOV.UK – Statutory sick pay
Thank you for reading our helpful guide on when you could claim for a burn injury at work. If you have any other questions, please contact an advisor using the number above.
Writer Jeff Wallow
Editor Meg McConnell