I was not provided with adequate safety gloves while working with chemicals and suffered burn injury as a result. What is the procedure for making a compensation claim for burning a hand work?
The procedure for making a compensation claim for burning a hand at work is similar to any compensation claim for a personal injury. Firstly you must seek professional medical attention, when accidents occur health should always be a priority. Furthermore if you fail to visit your GP or doctor, or there is an unjustifiable delay between the accident and the date you sought medical care, it could be alleged by your employer’s insurance company that you adversely affected your own injury through a lack of care on your behalf.
Once you have received adequate medical care you will need to concentrate on building a substantial compensation claim for burning a hand at work, you need to demonstrate that your employer’s negligence caused the accident and subsequent injury to your hand. Employers are legally obliged to provide their staff with adequate safety equipment to do their job and if it is found that the gloves you were provided with were of poor quality or the wrong ones for that particular task, you may be entitled to make a compensation claim.
It is recommended that you keep a sample of the chemical which caused the accident and take photographs of your injury if possible, any CCTV footage of the incident should also be obtained. Contact details of any witnesses who saw the accident should be gathered as their testimonies may prove useful later on.
You are advised to record your injury in your employer’s ‘Accident Report Book’ and speak with a personal injury lawyer about your compensation claim. This is important as you may be approached by your employer’s insurance company with an early offer of compensation, all such offers should be referred to a personal injury lawyer to ensure you do not risk under compensation for your claim for burning a hand at work.