A Colleague Injured Me At Work, Can I Claim Compensation?

By Cat Way. Last Update 7th June 2024. This guide will concentrate on answering the question, “My colleague injured me at work; am I eligible to make a claim?” First, we will examine the eligibility requirements for an employee to make a personal injury claim following an accident at work.

To clarify when an employee could make a workplace injury claim against their employer for a colleague causing an accident, we will supply example scenarios. There is also information on gathering evidence to support your claim and how compensation is calculated for a work-related injury. To conclude this guide, we look at the benefits of instructing one of our accident at work solicitors on a No Win No Fee basis.

You can contact our advisors for free at any time of the day or night with any questions you may have.

• Call on 0800 073 8804
• Talk to us about your claim online
• Use the pop-up chat window in the corner

Select A Section

1. A Colleague Injured Me At Work, Can I Claim Compensation?
2. How Could A Colleague Injure You At Work?
3. What Happens If I Am Injured By A Work Colleague
4. How To Prove Your Employer Is Liable
5. What Could You Claim If A Colleague Injured You At Work?
6. Where Can I Get Help Claiming If A Colleague Injured Me At Work?
7. Discover More About Claiming If You Were Injured By A Colleague At Work

A Colleague Injured Me At Work, Can I Claim Compensation?

While at work, you are owed a duty of care by your employer under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Employers must take all reasonable and practicable steps to protect the health and safety of employees.

To uphold this duty, employers could ensure that they risk assess not only the workplace but also the tasks which need to be completed, provide personal protective equipment PPE to employees if needed to do the job safely, maintain the workplace and any equipment and provide training. If a colleague injured you because your employer did not uphold their duty of care, you could be eligible to seek personal injury compensation.

The personal injury claim eligibility criteria for an accident at work are as follows:

• Duty of care – Your employer owed a duty of care when you had an accident at work.
• Duty breach – They failed to adhere to health and safety legislation and therefore breached their duty.
• Injury sustained – The breach of duty caused an accident for which you were injured.

If your circumstances meet the accident at work claim criteria due to employer negligence, you could seek compensation.

Time Limits

In accordance with The Limitation Act 1980, you have 3 years from the date of your injury to begin the claim process. However, this is just the general time limit. The Act also allows for exceptions to this limitation period for certain circumstances.

If a colleague injured you at work and you want to know if you’re still within your permitted timeframe to begin a claim, get in touch with our advisors today.

How Could A Colleague Injure You At Work?

In this section, we’ve included some examples of how another colleague could injure you due to a breach of your employer’s duty of care. The scenarios below are just a handful of illustrative examples; the list is not exhaustive.

• Vehicle injuries – Some workplaces, such as warehouses, require certain vehicles, such as forklift trucks, as part of their daily operations. It is vital that those operating these vehicles have been trained accordingly. If you were injured because a colleague ran over your foot, causing fractured metatarsals due to not being trained, you could be eligible to claim.
• Manual handling tasks – An employee who has not been trained to load a shelf is asked by the employer to unload and stack boxes. The employee puts very heavy boxes at the top of the wracking. One of the boxes accidentally fell off, hitting an employee on the head and causing a brain injury.
• Defective Machinery – An employer failed to have the brakes on a company delivery van fixed. When an employee went out to unload the delivery, the employee driving the van could not brake in time. The van trapped the employee, who was left paralysed after the accident.

Reach out to our advisors today to find out more about what to do if you have an accident at work caused by a colleague.

What Happens If I Am Injured By A Work Colleague?

If you are injured at work due to your colleague, there are a number of steps that can be taken outside of the claims process. Some of these steps can be taken by you, but some would be your employer’s responsibility. These might include:

• Recording the accident in the accident book.
• Making a formal complaint through HR.
• Conducting an internal investigation regarding your colleague’s conduct.
• Depending on the results of this investigation, they could be disciplined, or dismissed.

It’s worth noting that if you make a claim, the compensation won’t come from the colleague that caused your injury. Instead, it will come from your employer’s insurance. By law, all employers must have Employers’ Liability Insurance to cover themselves for accidents like these.

Our team of advisors are here to help. If you’d like to learn more about the question, “What happens if I am injured by a work colleague?” get in touch with us today.

How To Prove Your Employer Is Liable

In order to make an accident at work claim after a colleague has injured you, you will need to supply evidence as to why you believe your employer is liable and what injuries you suffered as a result. We have included some examples of evidence in this section.

It’s important to remember that these are just general examples. Other forms of evidence may be available to you.

• Workplace accident book – Your employer should have one of these. They’re required to fill it out if one of their employees is injured at work. Details pertaining to the incident should be included, along with other useful information such as dates and times.
• Medical evidence – For example, your medical records. A hospital discharge letter can also be useful.
• CCTV footage – If you appear in the footage, you have the right to request it.
• Photographs – Take pictures of any visible injuries caused, as well as any hazards that contributed to the accident.
• Witness contact details – A statement can be taken at a later date.

Get in touch for more examples of evidence that can help support a claim in the wake of an accident caused by another employee.

What Could You Claim If A Colleague Injured You At Work?

If your accident-at-work claim is successful after a colleague injured you at work, your compensation settlement can include up to two Heads of Loss.

The first Head of Loss is general damages and compensates you for the injury along with the pain and suffering it has caused you and any loss of amenity. When calculating a value for this head, medical evidence, along with a publication called the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), is used. Within the JCG, which was last updated in 2022, there are compensation guideline brackets

We’ve included some extracts from the JCG in the table below. It’s advised you use these amounts only as a rough guide. Your own claim needs to be specifically addressed in order to be accurately assessed.

Special Damages In Workplace Injury Claims

You may suffer a financial impact as a result of the injuries you’ve sustained. If so, it could be that you are eligible to receive another amount. This second figure is known as special damages. This is when certain expenditures and losses can be returned to you if your injuries have caused them.

Examples can include:

• Loss of earnings.
• Medical expenses.
• Care at home.
• Adaptations to your property.
• Walking aids.

For a full valuation of your potential claim, get in touch with our advisors today.

Where Can I Get Help Claiming If A Colleague Injured Me At Work?

Making a claim for a workplace injury may seem intimidating. This is why it can be helpful to seek the services of a legal professional. As well as supplying you with expert guidance, all of our solicitors operate under a type of No Win No Fee arrangement. Specifically, it is known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).

This means that you aren’t required to pay anything upfront in order to gain access to their legal services. Should your claim succeed, our No Win No Fee solicitors take a percentage from your compensation. This percentage is capped by law. The amount, known as a success fee, is not taken if your claim fails.

Speak To An Expert Today

If a colleague has injured you at work and you wish to explore your claim options, get in touch with our advisors today. It’s free to do so. Our advisors could also be able to connect you with one of our No Win No Fee solicitors if your claim is deemed to be valid.

• Call on 0800 073 8804
• Talk to us about your claim online
• Use the pop-up chat window in the corner

Discover More About Claiming If A Colleague Injured You At Work

We have included some additional links below that will take you to resources you may also find of interest.

More from us: 

• Must you be an employee to claim for a workplace injury? – Find out by reading this guide.
• What to do if your workplace is denying responsibility for your accident – Another of our helpful articles.
• Back injury while pregnant at work – Read about claiming in this specific circumstance.

Information from other sources:

• Litigation friends – Sometimes, an injured person is not permitted or is unable to make their own claim. In these scenarios, another can be appointed to claim on their behalf. Read more about this from this Government source.
• Workplace Accident Book – Information from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
• Pre-Action Protocol For Personal Injury Claims – Information from the Government.

Thank you for reading our guide on claiming if a colleague injured you at work. If you have any questions on the accident at work claim process, please do not hesitate to contact us today.