Accidents At Work

According to Wikipedia, an accident at work is a “work accident, workplace accident, occupational accident, or accident at work in the discrete occurrence in the course of work leading to physical or mental occupational injury.” In Ireland, it is fair to say that an accident at work is when an individual suffers an injury during his or her employment.

An accident at work typically can occur on building sites, in factories, in hotels, in workshops or kitchens.

An accident at work compensation claim is when an employee is injured in Ireland during their employment. If this accident was a result of the employer’s negligence and the employee suffered an injury, this person is entitled to pursue their employer for compensation for these injuries. A compensation claim involves a Solicitor submitting details of the claim with the Injuries Board and if needed, with the Courts in Ireland.

If this case is successful the individual will be awarded compensation for the pain and suffering that has been endured, together with compensation for any financial loss such as loss of earnings and medical bills.

Any employee who has been injured as a result of a workplace accident in Ireland can pursue a claim for compensation. For the claim to succeed it must however be proven on the balance of probabilities that the accident was caused as a result of the employer’s negligence, and that a genuine injury has been sustained by the individual pursuing the claim for compensation.

To successfully win a case in Ireland for compensation following a workplace accident it must be proven that:

• You were an employee of the employer,
• The accident took place as alleged,
• That the employer was negligent and that a genuine injury was suffered as a result of this negligence.

To prove that the accident happened, it would be very helpful to have completed an accident report form, and this can be used as evidence to prove that the accident took place as alleged.

Reference can also be made to medical notes and records to prove that an accident took place as alleged. A Solicitor will be able to request these records on a Claimant’s behalf under GDPR. These records can often be crucial in establishing that an accident did occur and can be particularly useful in cases where an accident report form was not completed.

If there were any witnesses to the accident, it would be prudent to obtain all contact details of these witnesses and check with them if they would be happy to provide a statement of what occurred.

If there is any CCTV footage of the accident, it is vitally important that this footage is preserved and not deleted. A lot of CCTV cameras run on a 7 or 14-day cycle, which means that all footage is automatically deleted and recorded over after 7 or 14 days. Once the footage is gone, it cannot be retrieved. This is one of the reasons why it is important to instruct a Solicitor immediately if you have suffered an accident at work in Ireland. A Solicitor will then send a letter of claim to the employer to advise that a claim for compensation is being pursued, but crucially a Solicitor can request that any CCTV footage be preserved under Section 12 of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003. This legislation can be viewed here
https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2003/act/46/section/12/enacted/en/html

This all depends on the individual employer. Most employers will hold a policy of insurance to cover such workplace accident claims, and any compensation awarded will be paid for by this policy of insurance. If a claim is pursued and is successful, any compensation will not be paid directly by the employer, it will be covered by the relevant insurance company.

Under Common law, employers have a duty towards their employees to provide a safe place of work. Under Irish statute, the main legislation governing accident work claims is the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005. The full act can be read here http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2005/act/10/ena…

The legislation goes into considerable detail to explain exactly how an employer has a duty of care to its employees. The legislation highlights various types of accident circumstances and details the exact law on this particular type of accident.

Under the 1957 Statute of Limitations, an individual who wishes to bring a claim following an accident at work has two years from the date of the accident by which to submit his or her claim with the Injuries Board. If the claim is not submitted with the Injuries Board within two years from the accident date, the claim is effectively dead.

However, it is not simply a matter of simply submitting a claim with the Injuries Board. To submit a claim with the Injuries Board, the Claimant must first have the following at his or her disposal:

• A medical report from a treating GP or Consultant outlining the injuries sustained.
• Full details of the accident circumstances with dates etc.
• The exact title of each Defendant(s) to the claim

All of the above can take some time to collect, and therefore we always advise that a person instructs a Solicitor without delay to avoid the claim becoming Statute Barred. Here is a link to the 1957 Statute of Limitations http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1957/act/6/enac…

Under Irish law, you can claim for general damages and special damages if you have been injured as a result of a workplace accident.

General damages are damages (or compensation) for all of the pain and suffering that you may have endured as a result of an accident at work. For example, if you suffer a fractured femur after falling from some scaffolding and your case is successful, you will be awarded compensation for an amount that is appropriate for an injury of this type. How much an individual is awarded depends upon the medical evidence to hand. When assessing compensation in Ireland for a workplace accident, the PIAB Book of Quantum will be referred to which sets out guidelines for the levels of compensation that may be awarded for the wide-ranging scope of injuries that may occur in Ireland due to workplace accidents. Here is a link to the Book of Quantum https://www.piab.ie/eng/forms-guidelines/Book-of-Q…

If you suffered an injury in the workplace in Ireland, if your employer was negligent and you suffered a genuine injury as a result of your employer’s negligence you are then entitled to pursue a compensation claim for this. No case is a certainty to win, however, a good Solicitor will always be able to advise on the merits of each accident at work compensation claim.

Good question! Almost every client that we assist following an accident at work will ask this question.

The answer all depends upon each employee. A decent employee will cover any wages that are lost as a result of a workplace injury, however, they are not obliged to.

There seems to be a myth in Ireland that if an individual is off work as a result of a workplace accident that they will be paid their wages in full. Sadly this is not the case, and there is nothing to prevent an employer from not paying wages.

We would always a client that any loss of earnings can be claimed back from the employer as part of a compensation claim for personal injury, and this money can be claimed as an item of special damages to be paid on top of any compensation for physical injury. In the short term, it will be difficult if wages are not paid, but the claim is successful this money will be claimed back in the long term.

The simple answer is no, as discussed above in detail. There is no obligation under Irish law for an employer to pay a workers wages if they are off work as a result of a workplace accident.

What many clients tell us is that if their boss had paid their wages, then there is a good chance that they would not have pursued a claim for compensation for the injuries.

In an ideal world, an accident report form will be completed after every workplace accident. But this is not always the case.

Accident report forms act as crucial evidence in claims for workplace injuries. They will usually state exactly what took place and how. We would always advise clients to try their best to ensure that an accident report form is completed. However, it is not always possible to do this.

If an accident report form is not completed this does not ruin a case as we can still consult with witnesses, to relevant medical records and CCTV footage to prove that the accident at work did occur as alleged.

No two accident at work compensation claims in Ireland are the same. Some claims will settle in a few months, others can take several years to settle. The following factors dictate how long a workplace accident compensation claim will take to settle in Ireland:

• The nature of the injuries sustained
• The attitude of the insurance company and its representatives
• Court delays
• Obtaining expert evidence from medics and engineers
• The level of co-operation received from an individual client
• The competence of a Solicitor dealing with the accident at work case

If you wish to pursue a claim for personal injury as a result of an accident at work in Ireland, a Solicitor will require the following information

• Your personal information such as name, address and date of birth.
• The date of the accident.
• The time of the accident.
• A detailed description of how the accident took place
• Details of why / how the defendant was to blame for the accident
• Details of the injuries suffered
• Details of all medical treatment received
• Details of any witnesses who may have seen the accident

If you have suffered an injury as a result of an accident at work in Ireland, your case must be submitted to the Injuries Board, without exception.

For a guide on this process, please click this link for further information https://personalinjurysolicitor.ie/piab-guide

Why should I instruct Rogers Solicitors Dubin for my accident at work compensation claim? SHOULD BE IN BOLD

Rogers Solicitors have a base in Dublin and assist clients from all corners of Ireland who have been injured as a result of accidents at work.

We specialise in solely in this one niche area of law and have gained a wealth of knowledge and experience over the years in this area of law.

Our work accident Solicitors are highly motivated to win your case should you require our help. We will explain the claims process in a manner that is easy to understand, and we hope to put you at ease from day one.

We hope that you have found our website to be useful. If you would like to discuss a claim following an accident at work, then please get in touch via this website and one of our Solicitors will call you back right away. We are normally able to tell you right away if you have a case.