Richard Beaman
Posted:
16 Oct, 2011

The phrase "accidents at work" covers a wide variety of different types of accidents, and the cause of the accident can vary from unsafe work equipment, to negligence of a fellow employee, to an unsafe floor, to noisy working environment and inadequate protection for hearing and a number of other causes of action.

The general starting point for claims arising out of accidents at work is that legally an employer owes to an employee a duty of care, to take reasonable care that the employee is not injured while at work. There are a great variety of regulations made by various governments over the years which set out in considerable detail the precise duties that are owed by employers to employees.

I will concentrate in this article on claims arising out of defective work equipment. The regulations which are relevant to this area are the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, as amended by the Health and Safety [Miscellaneous Amendments] Regulations 2002.

The regulations set out various duties on employers in relation to work equipment, including, among others, the duty to ensure that work equipment is constructed as to be suitable for purpose, the duty to have regard to the working conditions and risks to health and safety of people working in the premises where the equipment is and any additional risk caused by use of the equipment and the duty to ensure that work equipment is maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair.

In addition to the statutory duties under the regulations there are also requirements for records to be kept in relation to maintenance of work equipment. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations require risk assessments to be completed regarding all aspects of work being carried out at a given premises and those risk assessments have to be re-done following any accident.

In addition to the statutory duties under the various regulations, there is also a claim in common law negligence against an employer who has failed to provide reasonably safe work equipment and exposed an employee to a foreseeable risk of injury as a result.

The area of accidents at work is very varied and the precise regulations which apply to any given case will very much depend upon the circumstances of the individual incident. If you are not sure whether you have a claim arising out of an accident at work, whether arising out of defective equipment or not, you should definitely consult a solicitor.