I recently suffered a loss of an eye in an accident at work after a shard of plastic struck me despite the fact I was wearing goggles – can I seek compensation?
The fact that you were wearing goggles indicates that you had taken the required safety precautions and provided that you were not liable in any way for your loss of an eye in an accident at work, you may be entitled to receive compensation. Your employer has a duty of care to fulfil to all their employees, who should not expect to sustain a loss of an eye injury at work. This involves providing safety gear which is suitable for the work at hand and ensuring that employees are trained suitably, and failure to comply with these measures could make you entitled to claim for losing an eye at work. In order to maximise the amount of compensation for losing an eye at work to which you may be entitled you are advised to consult a personal injury lawyer at the earliest opportunity to assess your claim.
If you suffered a loss of an eye in an accident at work, your lawyer will examine the circumstances surrounding your injury to determine liability and establish the amount of compensation to which you are entitled. It seems as though your employer had provided you with safety goggles in order to reduce the likelihood of a loss of an eye injury at work from occurring. However it also appears as though these goggles were not of a suitable quality, and if your employer has failed to supervise regular inspections of the safety equipment in order to reduce the possibility of an accident from occurring, you may be entitled to compensation for losing an eye at work. Your claim for losing an eye at work will then be possible if it can be proven that the negligence of your employer resulted in you sustaining an injury for which you are not entirely to blame.
However it is necessary to be wary of potential situations in which you are liable for your own loss of an eye in an accident at work. This may be the case if the goggles with which you were provided were of a suitable quality, but you neglected to wear them properly despite training and instructions and suffered a loss of an eye injury at work as a result. It is also possible that your claim for losing an eye at work could be affected if you had previously noticed a fault with the goggles with which you were provided, but neglected to report this. While claiming compensation for losing an eye at work is not always impossible when contributory negligence is a factor, the amount of compensation you could be entitled to can be reduced to reflect your own negligence.
To establish your eligibility for compensation for losing an eye at work, you are advised to consult a personal injury lawyer at the earliest opportunity. By discussing the details of your claim for losing an eye at work, your lawyer can advise on who is liable for your accident and injuries, the amount of compensation to which you may be entitled and whether your claim is worth pursuing further. To maximise the amount of compensation to which you may be entitled for your loss of an eye injury at work, you will require strong evidence which can take some time to gather. For this reason, you are advised to contact a personal injury lawyer at the earliest opportunity regarding your loss of an eye in an accident at work.