This guide explains who could claim for an arm injury in construction work. We will explain the various parties that may owe you a duty of care while working on a construction site, and when you may be eligible to make an arm injury claim after being involved in a construction site accident.
Following this, we discuss what evidence is essential to prove a personal injury claim. Then, we provide examples of different construction site accidents that could cause an employee to suffer an arm injury. We also provide examples of how compensation is calculated for a personal injury claim.
Towards the end of this guide, you can learn about the benefits of working with a personal injury solicitor on our panel on a No Win No Fee basis.
If you have any questions regarding the construction injury claims process, you can contact a member of our advisory team. They can also offer you free advice for your particular case.
Contact us today with any questions you may have.
Jump To A Section
- Eligibility Criteria When Making A Claim For An Arm Injury In Construction Work
- How Do You Claim For An Arm Injury In Construction Work?
- How Could You Suffer An Arm Injury When Working On A Construction Site?
- Construction Claims – Examples Of Potential Compensation
- Claim Arm Injury At Work Compensation On A No Win No Fee Basis
- Read More About Claiming Construction Accident Compensation
Eligibility Criteria When Making A Claim For An Arm Injury In Construction Work
Various parties may owe you a duty of care when working on a construction site. For example, you are owed a duty of care by your employer under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Per their duty of care, they must take steps that are considered reasonable and practicable to help ensure your safety and prevent you from coming to harm.
You may also be owed a duty of care by a main contractor or site manager if your employer does not perform these duties themself. Additionally, the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 outlines how these parties can improve safety overall within the construction industry.
To be able to make an accident at work claim, you will need to prove:
- You were owed a duty of care.
- This duty of care was breached.
- You have suffered an injury as a result of this breach.
It’s important to note that who you would make your claim against would depend on who owed you a duty of care at the time of the accident that injured you.
Get in touch with us to confirm whether you may be eligible to claim for an arm injury in construction.
How Do You Claim For An Arm Injury In Construction Work?
Evidence is essential when making a claim for an arm injury in construction. The evidence you gather will need to prove the severity of your arm injury and who was liable for it.
Some examples an evidence that could help you with claiming arm injury compensation include:
- CCTV footage of the accident.
- A personal symptoms and treatment diary.
- Copies of the notes and reports from the medical care you received for your injury. For example, a copy of an X-ray scan image and your medical records.
- Photographs taken at the accident site and of your injury.
- Contact information from eyewitnesses. This is so that a statement can be taken from them at a later date.
- A copy of the report in the workplace accident book where your accident has been recorded.
As part of their services, the solicitors on our panel can help their clients with gathering evidence. To see if you could be eligible to make an arm injury claim with their help, you can contact one of our advisors.
How Could You Suffer An Arm Injury When Working On A Construction Site?
There are various types of accidents that could occur on a construction site. Some examples of accidents that may lead to arm injuries include:
- Using faulty work equipment. You were asked to operate a known fault forklift. Due to the forklift being faulty, you lose control of the vehicle and crash, causing you to suffer a broken arm.
- Lack of training. Despite knowing that you had received inadequate training on how to use a woodchipper, you were still required to use it. Due to this lack of training, you suffer a serious arm injury that leads to an amputation being required.
- Falling from a height. Some scaffolding had not been properly constructed. Due to this, you fell from a height when part of the scaffolding gave way. This causes you to suffer multiple severe injuries, including an arm injury and a serious head injury.
These are just a few examples. To see whether you may be able to claim arm injury compensation, you can contact our advisors.
Construction Claims – Examples Of Potential Compensation
If you successfully claim compensation, your final settlement could consist of two heads of loss.
General damages, the first head of loss, offers compensation for the psychiatric and physical effects of the arm injury you sustained. Claimants always receive a general damages payout if they make a successful compensation claim.
These factors are just some that are taken into consideration for this head of loss:
- How severe the initial injury is.
- How long the recovery period is.
- Whether the quality of life has changed.
You might be asked to have an independent medical assessment as part of the personal injury claims process. The medical reports made from this assessment and other medical evidence can be used alongside the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) by those valuing your claim for general damages. The JCG is a publication that offers different guideline compensation brackets for all kinds of psychiatric and physical injuries.
Compensation Table
We have provided a compensation table with information taken out of the JCG (except the first row). The table shows different types of arm injuries you could sustain from a construction site accident.
Please bear in mind that the accompanying guideline compensation figures can not be guaranteed since the circumstances of all arm injury compensation claims are entirely unique.
| Injury | Severity | Guideline compensation figures | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| More than one serious injury with special damages | Serious | Up to £500,000+ | Compensation for sustaining more than one serious injury with their financial losses, like travel expenses, lost earnings and medical costs. |
| Amputation of arms | Loss of both arms (a) | £240,790 to £300,000 | Where the person has full awareness and is now in a state of considerable helplessness. |
| Loss of one arm (b) (i) | Not less than £137,160 | Loss of one arm at the shoulder. | |
| Loss of one arm (b) (ii) | £109,650 to £130,930 | Loss of one arm between the elbow and shoulder. | |
| Loss of one arm (b) (iii) | £96,160 to £109,650 | Loss of one arm below the elbow. | |
| Arm | Severe (a) | £96,160 to £130,930 | A serious brachial plexus injury is an example of the type of serious injury that would warrant this award. |
| Permanent and substantial disablement (b) | £39,170 to £59,860 | Where there is functional or cosmetic significant residual disability from serious fractures of the forearms. | |
| Less severe (c) | £19,200 to £39,170 | A substantial recovery is expected or has been made despite there being significant disabilities. | |
| Simple fracture (d) | £6,610 to £19,200 | Of the forearm. |
Can Financial Losses Make Up Part Of My Arm Injury Compensation Payout?
Special damages, the second head of loss, offers compensation for the past and future financial losses your arm injury has caused you to experience. Special damages are only awarded in certain cases.
Some examples of the financial losses that could be reimbursed under this head of loss include:
- Loss of earnings if you are unable to work because of your injury.
- Medical costs, such as paying for prescriptions.
- The cost of home and car adaptations to accommodate your injury.
It is essential that you keep hold of any payslips, bank statements, invoices, and receipts that prove your injury’s financial losses in order to claim them under special damages.
If you contact us, we can give you more information regarding how much compensation could be awarded for a successful claim for an arm injury in construction.
Claim Arm Injury At Work Compensation On A No Win No Fee Basis
Our panel of personal injury solicitors represent their clients on a No Win No Fee basis. Specifically, they offer their services through a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
A CFA is a type of No Win No Fee agreement. With this agreement in place, you do not have to pay anything for your solicitor’s work before and throughout the claims process. Furthermore, if your claim does not win, you still do not have to pay anything for the services they have provided.
Instead, if you have a successful arm injury claim, your solicitor can deduct a success fee. Success fees are a percentage of your compensation. Legally, there is a cap on the maximum percentage that can be taken by your solicitor as this fee. So, you are guaranteed to receive the majority of the compensation.
Contact us today if you have suffered an arm injury from a construction accident. If our advisors deem that you have a valid personal injury claim, they could connect you with one of the No Win No Fee solicitors on our panel. They can also help answer any questions you may have about claiming compensation for your injuries and offer you free advice.
Read More About Claiming Construction Accident Compensation
Here are our guides relating to accident at work claims:
- Learn about how to report an accident at work and where to report your accident to.
- Read our building site compensation claims guide.
- Find out how long you have to claim for an accident at work.
Here are some possible useful external resources:
- Gov.UK – learn about employment rights as a worker.
- NHS – advice on what to do if you have a broken arm or wrist.
- Health and Safety Executive (HSE) – guidance for health and safety in the construction industry.
If you are still unsure whether you could make a claim for an arm injury in construction, you can contact our advisors.