Factory injury
compensation claims

If a factory injury has set you back, we'll help you move forward

Factory environments can be hazardous, with the ever present risk of injury from dangerous machinery or slips and falls.

If your life, or the life of a loved one, has been affected by a factory accident, we can help. If your injuries were caused by your employer or a co-worker, you may be entitled to claim compensation for medical costs, pain and suffering, and the ongoing impact on your life.

You can make a work accident compensation claim with the help and support of a personal injury solicitor.

You are not alone

According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), manufacturing is one of the most dangerous industries in the UK. 1,740 non-fatal workplace injuries (per 100,000) workers were reported in 2022/23. Only the agriculture and construction industries have a higher rate of work accident.

Although the total number of manufacturing injuries is trending down year-on-year, 46,000 workers still sustained non-fatal injuries in the manufacturing sector, averaged over the three-year period from 2020/21-2022/23.

The most common causes of factory accident injuries include:

• dangerous machinery
• lifting and carrying
• slips, trips and falls
• exposure to hazardous substances

Whatever the circumstances of your injury, we can help you make a work accident claim.

If you decide to make a factory accident injury claim, your work accident solicitor will take you through every step of the claims process. Your solicitor will be with you until you win your claim and get the compensation you deserve.

Factory Health and Safety

By law, your employer must ensure that your workplace is safe.

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 is one of many acts that set out the laws protecting workers' rights.

Anyone who has an accident as a result of the employer's failure to prevent the incident may be entitled to bring a personal injury claim against their employer.

Following health and safety regulations means that an employer must:

• Provide a safe working environment
• Provide safe equipment or machinery
• Ensure safe manual handling procedures
• Ensure workers receive adequate training and support

All employers are also legally required to hold employer's liability insurance. This insurance covers the cost of claims made by people injured in the workplace.

Reporting factory accidents to the HSE

In addition, the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) legislation states that injuries resulting from an accident at work must be reported.

Types of HSE-reportable incidents include:

• A list of specified injuries to workers
• Any injury which requires a hospital stay of more than 24 hours
• Injuries requiring employees to be absent, or unable to perform their normal work duties, for seven consecutive days
• All injuries to members of the public, or employees who are not on duty, that require hospital treatment and have arisen from an accident on work premises

Is my employer to blame?

All employers have a responsibility to protect their staff from harm.

In UK law, the legal principle of employers' liability means that you can still claim compensation even if your employer wasn't directly responsible for your injuries.

You also have a right to claim factory accident compensation if your injuries arose because your employer:

• failed to identify a risk
• failed to act to assess and resolve a risk
• failed to provide sufficient training
• failed to provide appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE)

You may also be entitled to claim if another employee or a visitor to the factory caused your injuries.

Factory operator negligence

If your employer has failed to abide by these rules, and you have been involved in a factory accident as a result, it is likely that they are liable for what has happened.

Can I claim for a factory accident if the cause wasn't reported?

If a health and safety issue was reported before an accident happened, and your employer failed to take appropriate action, it is very likely they are responsible for the accident.

You can still claim for an accident in a factory, even if the cause wasn't reported.

As part of their legal obligations, your employer must regularly assess the factory premises for risks. If they have failed to do so, or the risk assessment process was inadequate, they will still be liable for accidents on the factory floor.

What are the regulations?

If you work in a factory, you should be protected by specific health and safety regulations that are referred to as the ‘six pack'.

The six pack encompasses the following:

• The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations
• The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations
• Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992
• The Workplace Health, Safety and Welfare Regulations 1992
• The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998
• The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992

The six pack regulations are designed to prevent factory accidents from occurring. These regulations mean that you should be properly trained to perform all tasks, and that all equipment should be in good working order (as well as being subject to regular inspections).

Can I claim for poor-quality PPE or equipment?

The Personal Protective Equipment at Work (Amendment) Regulations 2022 came into force on 6 April 2022.

This legislation means that employers have an obligation to provide free Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to all workers, including workers who are self-employed or on a zero-hours contract.

Under the previous 1992 regulations, employers were only required to provide PPE to employees with a formal employment contract.

You should be provided with equipment that allows you to work safely, such as gloves, masks and footwear.

If you are injured whilst working in a factory and your employer failed to provide you with suitable PPE, you may be entitled to claim compensation - even if you are self-employed.

What to do if you have been injured in a factory accident

If you have been injured while working in a factory, it is likely that you have a right to make a factory accident compensation claim.

If you have any questions regarding your options or the work accident compensation process, call us today, or arrange a callback.

Am I entitled to make a factory injury claim?

If you've been injured or diagnosed with an illness in the last three years and it wasn't your fault, you will be able to claim compensation.

Find out online if you can claim with our injury claim calculator. Or you can call 0800 376 1001 to speak to a specialist advisor. Find out in minutes if you have a claim.

Can I claim if I feel I was partly responsible for my accident?

Determining who is to blame for an accident is not always black and white.

In our recent 2023 Work Injury Claimant Survey, 26.02% of injured workers believed they may have been partly (or wholly) responsible for their injuries.

You could still have a valid claim if you were partly to blame for your injury. If you were injured on the job by a co-worker's actions, you can still claim compensation from your employer, based on the principle of vicarious liability.

Read more:

Can I claim if I feel I was partly responsible for my accident?

How much compensation can I claim for a factory accident injury?

The amount of money you could claim for your injury will depend on:

• the seriousness of your injury, and
• any financial losses or costs you have incurred.

At the start of your claim, your solicitor will consider the many ways your injuries have affected your life. Your solicitor will take these considerations into account to calculate the correct compensation award.

General damages

General damages are awarded for pain, suffering and loss of amenity (PSLA).

Awards for general damages are set by the Judicial College and published in their guidelines for personal injury awards.

How is compensation calculated if I have multiple injuries?

Special damages

Special damages are for financial losses and expenses you have incurred because of your accident. In addition to paying for loss of earnings, including potential lost commission, bonuses or promotions, special damages can cover any care costs and medical procedures you need, such as emergency care, diagnostic imaging tests and surgical intervention.

Read more:

A complete list of recoverable losses in a personal injury claim

The psychological consequences of workplace injuries

Are you concerned about the mental and emotional impact of your injury? You are not alone.

Our 2023 Work Injury Claimant Survey shows how prevalent psychological injuries are in the workplace. 25.03% of claimants report suffering a psychological injury, 62.38% of which were related to a physical injury.

Factory accidents, often involving machinery, can result in PTSD or anxiety disorders due to the traumatic and sometimes life-threatening nature of these incidents.

You should not feel pressured to return to work before you are fully healed, including less obvious psychological injuries. A premature return could worsen your mental health, prolonging a full recovery.

Diagnosable psychiatric injuries, such as PTSD, are recognised in the guidelines for calculating compensation. The cost of treatment and support for these injuries should be included in your compensation award or settlement.

Our compensation calculator can estimate your compensation for psychological injuries. Or you can call us on 0800 376 1001 to speak to a specialist advisor.

How did your injury happen?

The compensation claims process will depend on where and how your factory accident injury occurred. Click the icons below for more information:

Work
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Injury FAQs

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How we can help you with your work accident claim

Your solicitor will fight for the best possible compensation settlement for you, and the highly-experienced panel of solicitors have an excellent track record of winning work accident claims.

• FREE
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Handled with the utmost professionalism... extremely kind, courteous and empathetic.

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Kevin Walker obtains £80,000 for a construction worker's catastrophic hand injury

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Author:
Gaynor Haliday, Legal researcher

About the author

Gaynor Haliday is an experienced legal researcher and published author. She has had numerous articles published in the press and is a legal industry commentator.