Electrocuted at Work Claim for Compensation
Despite the potential for a severe injury, an electrocution or electric shock accident at work does not necessarily entitle you to make an electrocuted at work claim for compensation. In order to claim compensation for being electrocuted at work, it has to be proven that there was a breach in the duty of care owed to you which resulted in an injury or loss.
What this effectively means is that is you or a loved one have suffered an electrocuted at work injury, you are entitled to make a claim for electrocuted at work compensation provided that you were not totally at fault for your injury. This article aims to provide general advice about claiming compensation for being electrocuted at work, but is no substitute for the professional advice of an experienced lawyer.
Prioritise Your Health after being Electrocuted at Work
Prior to claiming compensation for being electrocuted at work, your health should be your foremost priority. In the most severe electric shock accidents at work, an ambulance would have been summoned and you would have been taken to hospital; burn victims would also automatically go to hospital after having First Aid applied at the site. However many people will just continue as normal after being electrocuted at work, with no consideration for the effects that the electrical current has had on their internal organs.
This can be a particularly dangerous approach to take, as the muscles of the heart contract when an electrocuted at work injury is sustained, and this can lead to severe health problems later in life if not identified at an early stage. Therefore, even if you believe that you have received no significant injury from an electric shock accident at work, it is in your best interests to seek an examination and be referred for an ECG by your family doctor.
Not only will this identify any problems which exist, but a permanent record will be made in your medical notes of your electrocuted at work injury and how it was sustained. These notes will be used to support an electrocuted at work claim for compensation, so it is vital that you seek medical attention immediately in order that it cannot be counter-claimed you sustained your electrocution injury elsewhere or exacerbated your injury by your own lack of care.
Establishing Entitlement to Make an Electrocuted at Work Claim
The key to making a successful electrocuted at work claim for compensation is establishing that your electrocuted at work injury was attributable to negligence. The person(s) who was negligent does not have to directly be your employer but, as he is ultimately responsible for all health and safety in the workplace, it would be your employer against whom a claim for being electrocuted at work would be made.
Negligence can manifest in the lack of completing a suitable risk assessment before assigning you a task to perform, the failure to provide adequate training or personal protective equipment or by not monitoring your performance to ensure you were executing your assignment in the safest possible fashion. In some cases, negligence can be due to an employer´s lack of care to provide adequately maintained machinery or for failing to have work equipment serviced to an acceptable standard.
Unlike many other health and safety hazards in the workplace, an employer does not need to have previous knowledge of a hazard to be liable for an electrocuted at work compensation claim. It is his responsibility to provide you with a safe environment for you to work in and, when you have sustained an electrocuted at work injury for which you were not to blame, a lack of knowledge does not release an employer of his obligation for your health and safety.
How Much Compensation for being Electrocuted at Work?
How much compensation for being injured at work you may be entitled to is going to depend on the extent and severity of your injury in relation to your age, sex and general state of health before your electric shock accident at work occurred. Long term health issues due to organ damage or permanent scar injuries will also be taken into account along with the effect that the electrocuted at work injury has made to your quality of life.
In a claim for compensation for being electrocuted at work when the victim has sustained a fatal injury, his or her descendants will be entitled to claim for their loss, emotional trauma and loss of income as well as receiving electrocuted at work compensation for the pain and suffering the victim experienced prior to their death. Any financial costs which have been incurred due a loss or injury can also be recovered in a claim for electrocuted at work compensation, so that a victim – or his family – is in a no worse financial situation than if the electric shock accident at work had never happened.
An electrocuted at work claim for compensation can also include an additional element for emotional damages when it can be proven that the electric shock accident at work has resulted in a psychological injury. This injury can be related to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a loss of confidence to work at height or anxiety and depression. Provided that the psychological injury can be quantified by a qualified medical expert, it can be included in a claim for electrocuted at work injury.
Issues with Electrocuted at Work Compensation Claims
One of the most common issues with electrocuted at work compensation claims are to do with contributory negligence. This is when you may have been partly responsible for your electric shock accident at work due to your own lack of care, or may have made your injury worse by failing to seek immediate medical attention. Although neither disqualifies you from claiming compensation for being electrocuted at work, how much compensation you receive may be adjusted to reflect your personal lack of care.
Other issues regarding electrocuted at work compensation claims are often around employment statuses and a reluctance to make a claim for electrocuted at work injury because of your future employment prospects. If you are self-employed or a short-contract worker, you are still owed a duty of care by the proprietor of the business and entitled to make an electrocuted at work injury claim. Employees have even stronger rights and no employer can legally penalise you on your return from injury because you have made a claim for electrocuted at work compensation against them.
Perhaps the biggest issue with an electrocuted at work compensation claim is the intervention of your employer´s Employer Liability insurance company who may make an offer of early settlement for your electrocuted at work claim. These offers – although welcome if you are concerned about your short-term finances – rarely represent your full entitlement to electrocuted at work injury compensation and, if you inadvertently accept such an offer, and it proves to be insufficient to pay for health care and support your family, you cannot go back and ask the insurance company for more.
Free Advice on Compensation for being Electrocuted at Work
Consequently it is in your best interests to discuss your claim for electrocuted at work compensation with a personal injury lawyer at the earliest possible opportunity – and for this reason we have established a free legal advice telephone service on 0800 044 3256.
Our service will enable you to speak directly with an experienced lawyer, discuss the circumstances surrounding your electric shock accident at work and establish that you have an electrocuted at work claim for compensation which is worth your while to pursue.
If you have already been approached by your employer´s insurance company with an offer of electrocuted at work compensation, we will be able to advise you whether it represents a fair and adequate settlement of compensation and, if short term finances are indeed an issue for you, intercede on your behalf to arrange interim payments of electrocuted at work compensation until such time as a more appropriate settlement can be negotiated.
If now is not a convenient time to speak with us, please complete our “Callback Request” forms at either side of the page. A lawyer will call you back at the requested time to answer any questions you may have about claiming compensation for being electrocuted at work, without any obligation on you to proceed with an electrocuted at work claim for compensation and in complete confidentiality.
Additional articles about work injury compensation claims: office injury compensation claims.