Defective machinery and equipment injury claims

No matter what kind of work you do, your employer has a duty of care to keep you safe. Part of this involves making sure that any machinery or equipment you operate is maintained in good working order and is safe to use. If this doesn’t happen, and you suffer a machinery accident at work, then you may be able to claim defective equipment accident compensation. If you’ve suffered a machinery accident at work you have every right to be compensated for your physical injuries and for any expenses and associated losses. On this page we’ll explain exactly how that works, and how our empathetic and expert support can guide you through the process.

What are defective machinery and equipment claims?

As far as your employer is concerned, providing you with safe equipment at work isn’t just the right thing to so, it’s a legal responsibility. The law in question is The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (1998). This legislation states that your employer has to provide you with equipment which is in good working order, safe, and suitable for the job you are performing. This covers things such as tools, appliances and machinery.

This is also covered by legislation such as the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, and if you suffer a machinery accident at work because the equipment you use is broken, faulty or defective, or is not actually the right tool for the job, then your employer may well have been negligent.

Even if the correct equipment is provided, your employer has a legal duty to make sure that all equipment is regularly maintained and inspected.
If they fail in this duty of care in any way, and you suffer an injury as a result, then you may be able to make a defective machinery injury claim.

To summarise, the laws which cover the legal obligations your employer needs to meet are as follows:

• The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 – deals with the general duty of care to keep you, as an employee, safe at work.
• The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 – covers tools and equipment, and the fact that your employer has to ensure that all equipment such as tools and machinery is maintained in safe working condition. This applies whether they own the equipment in question or simply lease or hire it.
• The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 – deals with lifting equipment such as fork lift trucks, and states that all work with such equipment should be carefully planned, supervised and carried out safely.
• The Pressure Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016 – a guide to the maximum allowable pressure in the workplace and how equipment of this kind should be assembled and maintained.
• The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 – states that employees working in hazardous conditions or environments should be supplied with personal protective equipment to stop them being exposed to the risk of injury.

If your employer fails to meet these obligations in any way and that failure is directly responsible for an accident at work, then they are responsible for any injuries caused by that accident.

Common types of machinery and equipment accidents

Here at Truth Legal we have vast experience of providing expert advice and support to employees who have been let down by their employers and suffered a machinery accident at work. As faulty work equipment solicitors we’re ready to help with any kind of accident claim, but some types of accident tend to happen more frequently than others. The most common types of machinery accidents at work include the following:

• A crush injury caused by equipment which as faulty or unstable
• A crush or other type of injury caused by the fact that guard rails were not in place, or were broken
• An electrical shock caused by faulty wiring on machinery or equipment
• Scalds, burns or other injuries caused by personal protective equipment being faulty or inadequate
• A fall from height resulting from the fact that equipment such as scaffolding, a ladder or a raised platform was unstable, due to issues such as being poorly maintained or wrongly erected
• An injury caused by equipment or machinery having exposed sharp edges
• An injury which happened because the equipment being used was broken or hadn’t been properly maintained in line with the manufacturer’s specifications
• An injury which happened because you were using equipment without having been properly trained in doing so in a safe and controlled way
• An injury caused by the fact that equipment didn’t have the right safety features, such as warning labels, safety guards and emergency stops
• An injury caused over the longer term because equipment – even equipment as basic as a desk and chair – wasn’t ergonomically designed and correctly positioned
• An injury caused by equipment being used incorrectly, if it can be shown that the employer has either allowed or encouraged the incorrect use

These are just a few examples of possible equipment or machinery accidents at work. No matter what the circumstances are, if you think you have suffered an injury at work because of defective equipment, and that you employer was negligent in letting this happen, then contact us today and our faulty work equipment solicitors will assess whether you have a strong case for a claim. If you do, then we’ll provide the empathetic support and expert advice you need to pursue the compensation you are entitled to.

Proving Negligence in defective Machinery Injury Claims

The key to any successful faulty equipment claim involves proving two things:

• You suffered an injury because of faulty or defective equipment
• The equipment in question was faulty, defective or inadequate in some way because your employer had been negligent

If your employer fails to provide a safe working environment then they have behaved in a negligent manner, and have also broken the law. As faulty work equipment solicitors we will work closely with you to gather the evidence needed to prove that your employer has been negligent, and that the injury in question could have been avoided. An employer who denies responsibility may argue the following:

• That you used the machinery, tools or equipment in the wrong way, contrary to your training and standard practices
• That you used the machinery, tools or equipment for a task which they were not meant to be used for

If your employer responds to your compensation claim in this way, it’s vital that you contact our machinery accident claims solicitors as quickly as possible. We’ll work with you to establish that it was your employer, not you, who was negligent in terms of the equipment in question being faulty or defective. We’ll help you to gather the evidence needed to demonstrate the following:

• The injuries you’ve suffered would have been avoided if you’d been provided with the right equipment for the job in hand
• The injuries you’ve suffered would have been avoided if you’d been provided with adequate training in how to use the equipment, machinery or tools
• The injuries you’ve suffered would have been avoided if the machinery, equipment or tools you were working with at the time of the incident had been correctly maintained and serviced, as recommended by the manufacturer

It could be that your accident happened as a combination of factors such as those listed above. The complex nature of many faulty equipment claims, and issues such as the time limit on making a claim, underline the importance of talking to expert machinery accident claim solicitors such as the team at Truth Legal.

How much compensation can I claim for a defective equipment injury?

The short and honest answer to questions around machinery accident compensation amounts is that the compensation awarded if an employer has been negligent will depend on several elements of the claim:

• The degree to which your employer was at fault – in cases where negligence is proved the employer is usually 100% to blame, but sometimes the fault is shared. You can still successfully claim for compensation if you were partly to blame for an accident, for example, but the amount awarded will be reduced in line with your own negligence.
• The nature and seriousness of the injury you suffered, which could range from a temporary soft tissue injury to a life-changing amputation
• The impact which the injury has had on your life, and in particular whether it has stopped you earning a living or pursuing hobbies or your social and family life
• The cost you’ve had and will have to to pay in the future for any treatment, including the cost of travel to and from appointments
• Any modifications which you have to make to your home or your car as a result of your injuries
• Any compensation payable for the psychological impact of your injury, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or a fear of certain places or situations

To make a rough calculation of the amount of compensation likely to be awarded for the particular injury, your faulty work equipment solicitors can consult the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This publication sets out the range of compensation likely to be received if particular parts of the body are injured. The calculation will also be based on the severity of the injury, whether it will have a permanent impact and how long any recovery should take. Examples of the kind of amounts given include the following:

• A minor foot injury – up to £16,770
• A severe brain injury – from £344,150 to £493,000
• A moderate ankle injury from £16,770 to £32,450

Speaking generally, the more severe an injury is, the more compensation you are likely to receive, but other factors will be used to calculate the overall amount. In simple terms, the compensation awarded is divided into general damages and special damages.

General and Special Damages Explained

The type of injury suffered and how severe that injury is will only make up a part of any compensation claim following a machinery accident at work. General damages and special damages in defective machinery injury claims are defined as follows:

General damages

This is the amount based on the physical and psychological impact of the machinery accident at work. Our solicitors will take any impact on your ability to live your life as you did before the accident into account. This is known as ‘loss of amenity’. We will also consider the pain caused by the accident, and what the prognosis for future recovery is.

Special damages

In many ways, the special damages portion of any compensation awarded can be easier to predict in advance. That’s because it is calculated using the direct financial impact of any injury caused by faulty equipment. The losses and expenses that contribute to the overall compensation amount could include:

• Earnings which are lost because the injury stops you working as much or at all
• Any costs associated with prescriptions for ongoing treatment
• The cost of adjustments which the injury forces you to make to your living space or the vehicles you use
• The expense involved in purchasing any mobility aids you might need, such as crutches, mobility scooters and wheelchairs
• The cost of any extra childcare you might need to access as a result of your injuries

Over and above these specific examples, any expenses which can be directly linked to your injuries could be included as part of the special damages portion of your compensation.

Who is Responsible for Defective Equipment Injuries?

In the vast majority of cases your employer will be responsible for a machinery accident at work if they have been negligent. This is because the law states that they have a duty of care to ensure that the working environment as a whole is safe, and that the equipment, machinery and tools provided to employees are maintained in proper working condition. This duty includes carrying out routine maintenance and inspection of equipment in line with manufacturer’s recommendations, providing the training you need to operate any equipment safely, and equipping all employees with sufficient personal protective equipment. This applies even in those cases in which your employer has hired equipment from a third party, or contracted out maintenance of equipment.

In addition to maintaining the equipment, your employer should carry our regular risk assessments of your workplace and the equipment you use, as well as providing you with sufficient training to use any equipment safely. If your workplace has more than five employees, your employer also has a legal duty to produce a written health and safety policy.

There are some cases in which a third party might also be liable for the injuries you’ve suffered. In cases such as this the claim would be made under the Employer’s Liability (Defective Equipment) Act 1969. Under this Act, you can claim for compensation if you were injured at work due to defective equipment, and that equipment was supplied by your employer in order to enable you to carry out your work. If the defect can be blamed in part or entirely on a third party – such as the manufacturer of the equipment, or an outsourced maintenance provider – then the claim may be made against this party. It’s a grey area, since the question of whether any defect should have been picked up during regular inspection will come up, and in some cases it may be that your employer and the third party have both been negligent. The possible complexity of many faulty equipment claims is one of many reasons why you should consult our faulty work equipment solicitors if you think you might be entitled to compensation.

How Long Do I Have to Make a Defective Equipment Claim?

In general terms there is a time limit of three years from the date on which you were involved in a machinery accident at work. After this time you can no longer make a claim for compensation based on negligence. This time limit does come with some exceptions, which include:

• If you suffered a brain injury at the time of the accident, or something of a similar nature, which meant that you were ‘mentally incapacitated’ and unable to make a claim
• If you were under 18 at the time of the injury. If this is the case you will have three years from the time of your 18th birthday in which to make a claim.
• If you were working overseas at the time of the injury
• If the injury you sustained wasn’t found or diagnosed or attributed to the accident until much later, then you would have three years from the date you knew the injuries were caused by the accident.

Although the three year time limit is in place, we would always advise claimants, that is the person injured to get in touch as soon as they possibly can after any accident. Claims of this kind often rely on witness statements from fellow employees, and evidence like this is more useful when memories of an accident are still fresh. Speed things up by making a quick enquiry to us via our Contact Form, and we’ll let you know whether we think your employer has a case to answer.

How to make a defective equipment at work claim

Claiming for defective equipment accident compensation can seem fairly daunting, particularly when you’re busy simply living with the effects of the injuries and trying to put your life back together. The good news is that the team at Truth Legal are ready and waiting to guide you through the process in a supportive and empathetic manner. We keep things simple by breaking your compensation claim down into a step-by-step process:

1. Seek Medical Help – the first thing to do immediately following an accident at work is access medical attention. Your health and well-being is the top priority, so even if you think any injury is minor you should be examined by a medical professional as quickly as possible. As well as making sure you get the treatment you need, seeking medical advice will ensure that the nature and severity of any injury has been officially documented. This could then be presented as evidence when making any claim for compensation.

2. Report To Your Employer – having accessed medical attention you should report the accident to your employer. Your employer should have a protocol in place for reports of this kind; in many cases this will involve an accident book. You should make sure that the details of the accident set out in the accident book are completely accurate, and that any mistakes have been corrected before you sign the accident book. If no such reporting protocol is in place then you should email your employer with details of the accident in order to create a verifiable written record for future reference. Failing to report the accident immediately could complicate any compensation claim you make, leaving the door open for an employer to question the veracity of your account of what happened.

3. Gather Evidence – if our machinery accident claims solicitors think that you have a good case for compensation we’ll guide you through the process of collecting the evidence you need to support your claim. As well as the medical records and accident report mentioned above, we would recommend getting hold of the following:

• Statements from any work colleagues who witnessed the accident as it happened
• If at all possible you should take photographs of the scene of the accident, and in particular of the faulty equipment which led to the accident happening
• Your workplace may have a CCTV system in place. If so you should request any footage of the accident as it happened.
• Documentation detailing the training you may or may not have received with regard to the equipment in use at the time of the accident
• Wider health and safety documentation covering aspects of the workplace such as risk assessments, general safety concerns, equipment inspections and maintenance programmes
• Accident records or incident logs covering any previous accidents in your workplace – these might point to a culture of safety problems
• The maintenance records of the particular piece of machinery or equipment which you feel was faulty and caused your injuries
• Your own personal account in the form of a journal. This could set out the accident and its immediate aftermath, as well as the impact your injuries are having on your daily life and the nature of your recovery.

You should also keep careful accounts of any expenses you incur which can be directly traced to the accident and your injuries. This could include everything from direct medical bills to travel costs and earnings lost due to time off work.

You should retain any correspondence taking place between yourself and your employer after the accident in order to show it to your solicitors

If you don’t have all of this information and evidence, we can obtain what we need to complete the claim on your behalf, so don’t worry if you’re not sure what details to gather, or you didn’t collect evidence at the time.

4. Legal Advice – don’t wait until all of the evidence is gathered before seeking expert legal advice. The sooner you start working with experts like the no win no fee solicitors at Truth Legal, the stronger your case is likely to be. To begin with we’ll listen to the details of your case and advise as to whether you have a strong claim for negligence. If we genuinely feel, based on our experience, that your faulty workplace equipment claim is likely to succeed we’ll set about building the best possible case.

5. Negotiate – the vast majority of faulty equipment at work cases are settled out of court. This means that your employers’ insurance company, acting on behalf of your employer, accepts responsibility for your injuries. At this point we’ll use our experience in the field and the strength of the case we’ve built to negotiate a settlement which truly reflects the injuries you’ve sustained, the money it has cost you, the impact the accident has had on your life and any ongoing losses you are likely to have to deal with. We’ll be able to state with certainty whether any offer made by your employers’ insurers is fair, and therefore whether you should accept it. In the minority of cases in which an employer denies liability we’ll represent you in court, working to put forward the strongest possible case demonstrating negligence and the impact the accident has had on you now and in the future. We understand how devastating it can be to suffer injuries caused by the negligence of your employer, and we’ll do everything we can to help you get an admission of negligence and the compensation you deserve to help you put your life back together.

Defective equipment compensation claim FAQs

Can I claim if my injury was partly my fault?

It’s still possible to claim for compensation even if you were partly to blame for the injury. This is called ‘contributory negligence’. If it was decided that you were 25% to blame for an accident, then any compensation awarded would be reduced by 25%. As long as your employer is in some way to blame for the faulty equipment in question causing an accident you are entitled to make a claim.

How long does a defective equipment claim take?

There are several factors which could impact upon how long it takes to reach a final settlement on a defective machine injury claim. These include whether you provide your solicitors with all of the relevant evidence at the time of the claim being filed and, if not, how long it takes to gather the evidence needed. It will also be affected by things such as:

• How quickly your employer and your employers’ insurers respond to the claim
• How long it takes to obtain independent medical opinion on the injuries, and this can depend upon the nature and extent of the injuries suffered
• Whether you employer or their insurers admit liability

This last is the most important factor. If your employer denies liability then your solicitor will either have to present further evidence to make them change their mind, or else the case will be heard in court. If you work with the team at Truth Legal we’ll try to provide an estimate of how long the claim is likely to take throughout, and if it goes to court we’ll represent you. In some longer and more complex cases, you may be eligible for an interim payment to help you cope until the final settlement, with the amount being deducted when that final settlement is made.

If you want to discuss your situation in more depth, and find out whether it sounds like you have a strong case for compensation, then fill in our form to request a callback, and we’ll aim to be in touch the same day.

What if my employer denies responsibility?

If your employer denies responsibility then the case will be settled in court before a judge. We work on a no win no fee basis and only take on cases which we feel have an extremely strong case of success, so we’d be happy to represent you in court and fight for the compensation you deserve. Once a judge has made a decision on the amount of compensation you should receive, this should be paid to you within 21 days. If it isn’t, then we could start proceedings against your employer to ‘enforce’ the payment on your behalf, although this is unlikely to be necessary.

Can my employer sack me for making a faulty equipment compensation claim?

Your employer would likely be breaking the law if they sacked you for making a defective machine injury claim. If an employer forced you out of work after you made a claim you may be legally entitled, under the Employment Rights Act 1996, to make another claim, this time for a wrongful dismissal claim.

What must employees do if equipment is damaged?

As an employee, you should report any damaged or unsafe equipment immediately and stop working with it. Not only will this help to build a safer working environment, it will also create a record which demonstrates your personal commitment to working safely, something which might be useful if you ever have to make a claim for negligence on the part of your employer.

Can I make a claim if I’m using the machinery outside my workplace?

Yes, you can make a claim for faulty equipment compensation if you are working off-site using defective equipment provided by your employer. You might, for example, be a joiner using faulty equipment to carry out on-site repairs at a customer’s home address.

FAQ

‘No Win No Fee’ defective equipment injury claims

In most situations, Truth Legal can use a ‘No Win, No Fee’ agreement to fund your claim. This is a useful way to avoid the risk of paying legal fees if your case is unsuccessful, as, in all but very rare circumstances, you will not have to pay our fees if we do not recover compensation for you.

If we are successful, some money will be deducted from your compensation award to pay our fees in part. Most fees, however, are recovered from the party you are claiming from (or more commonly their insurers). This is the normal way in which ‘No Win No Fee’ Agreements operate.

Truth Legal always try to offer ‘No Win, No Fee’ Agreements wherever possible.

We will discuss funding with you in full before your claim begins. However, if you have any queries about our fees, please get in touch so that we can explain matters further.

Further reading

Read our extensive guide for more information on accidents at work claims.