We've been featured in:
How Can I Claim Chemical Burn At Work Compensation?
Welcome to our guide on claiming chemical burn at work compensation. Experiencing a chemical burn at work can be a painful experience. In some instances, the injured person may experience permanent scarring. Therefore, a person who has suffered chemical burns may also suffer psychological trauma because of their appearance. Moreover, severe chemical burns can lead to a permanent disability that forces the injured person to leave their job.
Chemical burn at work
Workplaces should protect their employees from hazards, such as corrosive chemicals. Have you experienced a chemical burn in the workplace due to employer negligence? Then your employer may owe you compensation for your injuries.
Legal Expert can help you to claim compensation for chemical burns. We can connect you with a skilled personal injury lawyer. And we can offer free legal advice about claiming compensation for a workplace accident.
To see if you can begin your chemical burns accident claim, please call us on 0800 073 8804. Or you can use our claim online form today and we can get back to you.
Select A Section
- Introduction: What Is A Chemical Burn?
- How To Make A Valid Personal Injury Claim
- When Could I Claim Chemical Burn At Work Compensation?
- What Treatment Do Doctors Recommend?
- Potential Consequences Of Chemical Burns
- Where Could An Accident Take Place?
- Statistics For Personal Injury Claims At Work
- What Might Prevent Me From Claiming Chemical Burn At Work Compensation?
- The Initial Steps After Suffering Burns In The Workplace?
- How Much Could My Chemical Burn At Work Compensation Be?
- Defining General Damages And Special Damages
- How Could A No Win No Fee Solicitor Help Me?
- Use Legal Expert For Your Injury Claim
- Further Information On Claiming Chemical Burn At Work Compensation
Introduction: What Is A Chemical Burn?
Chemical burns are burn injuries that occur if we come into contact with hazardous chemicals. A person can suffer a chemical burn on the skin or other places that aren’t protected, such as the eyes, lungs or lips.
Contact with the following chemicals can create chemical burns:
- Ammonia
- Sulphuric acid
- Nitric acid
- Sodium hydroxide
A minor chemical burn can be uncomfortable and painful but will heal over time. However, a severe burn can have permanent scarring effects. Moreover, in the facial area particularly, it can lead to disfigurement. Likewise, if hazardous chemicals get into a person’s eyes, they can become blind. Or the chemicals can damage the person’s vision. Therefore, a chemical burn can be a life-changing injury.
If you have suffered a chemical burn from work due to employer negligence, it’s only right that you can claim compensation. This guide will explain how to claim chemical burn at work compensation. We will also look at how burn injuries can happen. And what chemical burn treatments doctors recommend. To see if you can begin your claim, please get in touch with Legal Expert today. Or continue reading this guide to learn more.
How To Make A Valid Personal Injury Claim
Employers owe their employees a duty of care, which means providing a safe and hygienic working environment. There is legislation to protect people in the workplace, such as the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, which states that employers are responsible for their worker’s health, safety and welfare when they are on their premises. Our guide to your rights after an accident at work has more information.
Moreover, there is specific legislation relating to chemicals at work. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 requires employers to conduct risk assessments and apply measures to avoid accidents relating to hazardous substances.
So, it could be seen as negligence for an employer not to carry out proper chemical burn work safety practices. By doing so, an employer could be putting their workers at risk.
Claiming Compensation For A Chemical Burn At Work
It’s important to note that you don’t need to use the services of a solicitor to claim. However, we believe that the support of a legal professional can make a difference. Your solicitor must be able to prove the following for your chemical burn at work compensation claim to be successful.
- First of all, your employer owed you a duty of care.
- Furthermore, your employer breached their duty of care, which caused an accident or incident.
- Finally, you experienced chemical burn scars or injuries as a direct result of the accident.
You may feel unsure about whether or not you qualify for compensation. You are welcome to call us and an advisor can assess your case. Then we can advise you on the best course of action to take.
When Could I Claim Chemical Burn At Work Compensation?
You might be owed compensation if your employer failed to reasonably protect you from chemical burns at work.
What chemical burn at work safety precautions should an employer take?
Employers should carry out regular risk assessments to identify hazards, such as those that can cause chemical burns at work. And employers should apply control measures to remove or minimise the risk a hazard poses to employees.
For example, an employer should ensure that containers are appropriate to avoid spillages that can cause chemical burns. Moreover, workplaces should check equipment regularly to ensure that chemicals do not leak and injure an employee.
Employers should also ensure that they provide workers who use chemicals with the correct PPE where necessary, including protective goggles and gloves. The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 requires employers to do so as a last resort.
Additionally, employers must record injuries at work, such as chemical burns.
Chemical Burn At Work Compensation
So, if your workplace unreasonably fails to protect you from chemical burns, you may be eligible to claim chemical burns at work compensation. To begin your claim, please get in touch with us today.
What Treatment Do Doctors Recommend?
A chemical burn can be a serious injury. If you or someone else experiences a chemical burn, you could do the following to help:
- Remove the chemical from the skin. But be careful not to spread the chemical, or this could burn more of the skin.
- Remove any clothing that has been contaminated with the chemicals. Cut away the clothing to prevent chemicals from spreading elsewhere onto the body.
- Rinse the skin with clean, cool water. Do not rub or wipe the chemicals.
- Call an ambulance and follow instructions from the telephone operator.
If you can, please wear disposable gloves while helping the casualty. The gloves can protect your hands from being burned.
Hospital Treatment For Chemical Burns
A patient who has experienced chemical burns may receive the following treatment in hospital:
- The medical practitioners may continue to clean the chemical substance off the burn until removed.
- The wound may be cleaned and dressed. The dressing may have to be changed regularly to prevent a chemical burn infection.
- If necessary, the patient will get a tetanus jab.
- And the patient may be given chemical burn pain relief.
If your compensation for chemical burns at work claim is successful, you could recover the cost of prescriptions and bandages.
Potential Consequences Of Chemical Burns
Chemical burn injuries vary in terms of severity. Let’s look at the consequences of experiencing a chemical burn below.
Consequences Of Minor Chemical Burn Injuries
Minor burns injure the top layer of the skin. The burns may need to be treated at the hospital. If the patient experiences second-degree burns, the patient may experience chemical burn blisters. As a result, the patient may experience minor scarring.
Consequences Of Severe Chemical Burn Injuries
Severe burns may need to be treated with a skin graft and other plastic surgery techniques. The patient can still be left with chemical burns scarring even with treatment.
What’s more, if a patient has chemical burns on their eyelids or in their eyes, they may lose their sight.
Unfortunately, chemical burns can also damage the muscles and cause nerve injuries. Therefore, the patient may lose feeling or movement in the affected area. The patient may experience ongoing mobility issues. Consequently, the injured person may have to leave their job or struggle to live independently.
If you find yourself in such a situation, and your injuries were caused by employer negligence, you may be able to recover the financial losses if you make a claim.
Where Could An Accident Take Place?
You could claim compensation for chemical burns at work if your employer caused them through negligence. The following types of incidents are examples of how chemical burns can happen because of an employer’s negligence.
- A leisure centre could fail to take proper precautions to ensure the chlorine they use to treat their pool water is safe. Therefore, the off-gas or byproducts of pool chlorine could cause burns.
- A lab technician may not have been provided with the right personal protective equipment (PPE) by their employer for working with hazardous chemicals. Subsequently, the technician may experience avoidable chemical burn injuries.
- A hairdresser could experience a chemical burn from bleach if they are not provided with gloves to protect their hands.
Statistics For Personal Injury Claims At Work
There are regulations to protect workers who may encounter hazardous chemicals at work. However, despite these regulations, people are burned at work each year.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is a government body that records injuries in the workplace as reported under The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR).
HSE statistics show how many employers reported reported non-fatal burns at work, as we demonstrate in the chart below. It’s important to note that not all of these burns will be chemical; they’ll include water and steam burns too. What’s more, these burns will only be those that can be reported, meaning they:
- Cover over 10% of the body; or
- Cause eye damage, respiratory system damage or damage to other vital organs; or
- Cause the sufferer to be absent for 7 consecutive days (including non-working days).
As you can see, employers must take special chemical burn work safety precautions to protect their workforce. Even in 2020/21, when much of the population was unable to access workplaces due to lockdown, there were 983 reported burn injuries.
What Might Prevent Me From Claiming Chemical Burn At Work Compensation?
If you wish to claim chemical burn at work compensation, what might prevent you from doing so? Firstly, you may believe that your burn injuries are not serious enough to warrant claiming compensation. However, for free legal advice on this, we recommend contacting Legal Expert. An advisor will assess whether or not you have legitimate grounds to claim compensation.
If there is not enough evidence to support your claim, this can prevent you from claiming compensation. The stronger the evidence you can provide your injury lawyer with, the better. You can collect the following evidence to support your compensation claim:
- Photographs of the injuries
- Photographs of the hazard that caused the injuries
- Any medical records where your injuries are diagnosed
- Contact details belonging to eyewitnesses who saw the accident (for statements)
- Information that proves any expenditure related to your injuries, such as taxi receipts to and from the hospital, or invoices for mobility equipment
If you allow Legal Expert to handle your case, our solicitors will also arrange for you to have an independent medical assessment. After your assessment, the doctor will create a medical report, which your lawyer can use to support your compensation claim.
The Initial Steps After Suffering Burns In The Workplace?
If you experience chemical burns after an accident at work, your safety comes first. Therefore, you should seek the appropriate medical treatment. However, you can also take steps to support your chemical burn at work compensation claim.
- Firstly, report the accident and ask the person responsible to accurately record the information in an accident log book.
- Secondly, you can gather evidence to support your claim, including photographing your injuries.
- What’s more, you should seek the appropriate medical treatment for your chemical burn injuries. Entries in your medical record can also be used when claiming compensation.
- And finally, you could get in touch with Legal Expert today to see if you can begin your accident at work compensation claim.
How Much Could My Chemical Burn At Work Compensation Be?
If you wish to claim chemical burns at work compensation, you may be interested to know how much compensation you could receive. You can use the table below to estimate how much compensation you may be paid in general damages.
General damages are compensation for the pain, suffering and loss of amenity caused by your injuries. Special damages compensation is not included in the table. However, it is compensation for the financial losses caused by the injuries.
| Type Of Harm Caused | Severity | Payout | About |
|---|---|---|---|
| Facial Disfigurement (Scarring) | Very Severe (a) | £27,940 to £91,350 | The psychological impact is severe and there’ll be a disfiguring cosmetic effect. |
| Facial Disfigurement (Scarring) | Less Severe (b) | £16,860 to £45,440 | A serious psychological impact and disfigurement will be substantial. |
| Facial Disfigurement (Scarring) | Significant (c) | £8,550 to £28,240 | Whilst some cosmetic disability may remain, the worst effects of the accident and injury have been (or will be) reduced through cosmetic surgery. There should not be a great psychological impact on the person and this may already have diminished. |
| Facial Disfigurement (Scarring) | Less Significant (d) | £3,710 to £12,900 | There may either be a single scar which can be covered up or camouflaged or there could be several very small scars. Overall, the person’s appearance should not be markedly affected. |
| Facial Disfigurement (Scarring) | Trivial (e) | £1,600 to £3,310 | Any effects of the scarring are only minor. |
| Scarring of Leg(s)/Arm(s)/Hand(s) | One Noticeable Scar or Several Superficial Scars | £2,220 to £7,350 | The person may be left with a single scar which is noticeable or several scars which are superficial. These may be on the legs, arms or hands. |
| Eye Injuries | Total Blindness | In the region of £252,180 | Total blindness in both eyes. |
| Eye Injuries | Loss of sight in one eye and reduced sight in other eye (i) | £90,100 to £168,730 | There is a serious risk of the other sight further deteriorating. |
| Eye Injuries | Loss of sight in one eye and reduced sight in other eye (ii) | £60,010 to £99,440 | Sight has been lost in one eye and sight in the other eye is reduced too. |
| Eye Injuries | Completes loss of sight in one eye (e) | £46,240 to £51,460 | Where the person has lost all sight in one eye. |
Legal Expert has based the amounts in the compensation table above on figures from the Judicial College Guidelines for personal injury compensation. (The guidelines are used by legal professionals when valuing claims.)
However, your compensation payout may be different, depending on your situation. To learn more about how much compensation you can claim, please call our advisors today.
Defining General Damages And Special Damages
What damages will you receive if your chemical burn at work compensation claim is successful? You would receive general damages, which compensate you for the physical and mental harm the accident caused. What’s more, you may be eligible to receive special damages.
Special damages are compensation to reimburse you for any expenses associated with your injuries. For example, you can claim these costs if you need to buy camouflaging make-up to reduce your chemical burns scarring. Here are some examples of special damages you could claim:
- Medical expenses
- Mobility equipment expenses if you suffer a disability as a result
- Car or home adaptation expenses where necessary
- Travel expenses (to and from the hospital, for example)
- Loss of income reimbursement
How Could A No Win No Fee Solicitor Help Me?
A No Win No Fee solicitor could help you claim chemical burn at work compensation. Because a No Win No Fee claim involves less financial risk when it comes to funding the services of a solicitor, you may find it the less stressful way to claim compensation.
How does a No Win No Fee claim work?
You will sign a conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), otherwise known as a No Win No Fee agreement. Under this, you will agree to pay a success fee if you are paid compensation. However, if your claim is unsuccessful, you will not have to pay your solicitor’s fees at all.
Before you begin your claim, your solicitor will assess how likely you are to win. So, you know that you should be likely to win your claim if your solicitor chooses to take on your claim. And, you don’t have to pay an upfront solicitor’s fee. Furthermore, the success fee will be lawfully capped if you win your claim. So, the majority of your compensation payout will go straight to you.
Why not read our online guide if you would like to learn more about making a No Win No Fee claim? Or get in contact with Legal Expert today to see if you can begin your claim.
Use Legal Expert For Your Injury Claim
Have you experienced chemical burn injuries in the workplace that were not your fault? Then you could consider claiming compensation for your injuries. Get in touch with us today using the information below.
- Call us on 0800 073 8804 to see if you can begin your accident at work claim
- Use our Live Support widget to speak with an advisor
- Or contact us via our website
And if you would like to know about the service we provide, you can read our online solicitor reviews here.
Further Information On Claiming Chemical Burn At Work Compensation
We hope this guide to claiming compensation for chemical burns caused by a workplace accident has been helpful. Please feel free to read these guides to learn more about claiming compensation.
Cosmetic Surgery No Win No Fee Personal Injury Claims – How to claim compensation after being injured by cosmetic surgery negligence.
Accident At Work Claim – How to claim compensation if you have been injured in an accident at work.
£5,750 Compensation For Hair Salon Bleach Burn Claim – A guide to claiming compensation for a chemical burn from hair dye.
An NHS guide to treating acid and chemical burns.
A guide to burns and scalds from the NHS.
Victim Support could help you if you were the target of an acid attack.
Thank you for reading our guide to claiming chemical burn at work compensation.
Written by Chelache
Edited by Victorine
Meet The Team
Our Top Legal Guides
