No Helmet Was Provided At Work – Can I Claim For A Head Injury?
Did you suffer a workplace injury because no helmet was provided at work? Did your employer fail to provide you with sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) and did this make injuries from an accident more serious than they could have been? Inadequate provision of preventative safety wear may have directly worsened your injuries, or absence caused the injury to occur, if so, this guide offers help.
No helmet was provided at work injury claims guide
Accidents at work cannot always be avoidable even in the best-run businesses. But laws in the UK apply a duty of care on employers to portect their employees as much as is practicably possible.
We look at the evidence needed to support a claim for compensation based on negligence and how legal representation in the form of a No Win No Fee solicitor could help. If you would prefer to speak with our advisors for a free, no-obligation assessment of your claim right now, simply:
- Get in touch by calling our team on 0800 073 8804
- Contact us online and we can call you back
- Or access immediate free advice through our live support option, bottom right
Select A Section
- Why Is Personal Protective Equipment Important?
- Given Incorrect PPE?
- What Standards Does PPE Need To Meet?
- Head Injuries Caused By No Helmet Being Provided At Work
- No Helmet Was Provided At Work, What Can I Claim?
- No Helmet Was Provided At Work, Can I Claim Against My Employer?
Why Is Personal Protective Equipment Important?
Without the necessary safety helmet (or in instances where the employee failed to wear it) a head injury can be much worse, potentially leading to life-altering health problems. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is a very important way for employees to be safeguarded from hazards as they perform their job roles.
It is also a vital way for employers to demonstrate that they take employees’ health and wellbeing seriously and comply with the Health and Safety At Work etc Act 1974. With this in mind, PPE must be provided (where a risk assessment has deemed it appropriate) free of charge to employees at work.
A personal injury claim against an employer may not be valid if the company can prove they provided the appropriate safety helmets needed for that job. If they stressed to the employee the importance of wearing them in accordance with health and safety and the employee failed to wear them, then depending on the circumstances the employee may be responsible for their own injury.
People Injured At Work
The statistics below list the number of non-fatal head injuries reported under RIDDOR during 2020/21:
Given Incorrect PPE?
Obviously, PPE is only truly adequate if it is appropriate to the task. With this in mind, at the start of a claim for negligent health and safety standards at work, it’s important to ask three questions to give a claim a solid foundation:
- Who actually had the duty of care for your safety at the time and place of the accident and injuries?
- Did they permit a breach of that duty by providing inadequate, inappropriate or completely absent PPE?
- Did you suffer direct harm as a result?
Perhaps the safety helmet was too large or too small? Was it faulty or poorly maintained? Ascertain exactly how the PPE failed to protect you. With these key facts in place, you may be in a much better position to prove that negligent health and safety practices and a failure to provide PPE as outlined in law put you at an increased risk of harm. If you would like to discuss this in person, our team are happy to take your call.
No Helmet Was Provided At Work
Depending on the exact nature of your profession, requiring a worker to perform a task without a safety helmet could be negligence on the part of the employer. Falling debris, collision with blunt or sharp objects or injury from falling all become much greater risks without a helmet. It is fair to point out that only certain industries require employees to wear a safety helmet.
What Standards Does PPE Need To Meet?
PPE must comply with the Personal Protective Equipment Regulations 2002 which describes the acceptable standards that all PPE used must meet. The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 has also been recently updated on the 06th April 2022, The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 2022, looks to extend the PPE regulations to casual workers. Meaning workers that were not protected under this Act before are now.
Head Injuries Caused By No Helmet Being Provided At Work
What kind of injuries could be the consequence of a scenario where no helmet was provided at work? If you work in an environment such as construction or demolition, not wearing a helmet can put you at much greater risk of:
- Greater head injury
- Concussion
- Brain damage
- Facial injuries
- Minor cuts and abrasions to the head
- Skull fractures
- Severe head and traumatic brain injury (TBI)
- Coma and death.
No Helmet Was Provided At Work, What Can I Claim?
It can be possible to claim two types of damages in a personal injury claim against a negligent employer. General damages are amounts that are calculated by taking the results of an independent medical assessment of your injuries. The Judicial College Guidelines (16th edition, published in April 2022) excerpt below demonstrates what award brackets might be applied to varying degrees of head injury:
| Type of Head Injury | Severity and JC Guideline Award Bracket | Supporting Details |
|---|---|---|
| Injury Resulting From Brain Damage | (a) Very Serious Level – £282,010 to £403,990 | Basic motor skills remaining, no language and need for 24/7 professional care |
| Injury Resulting From Brain Damage | (b) Moderately Severe Level – £219,070 to £282,010
|
Profound disability with substantial reliance on others. Cognitive and sensory problems and markedly impaired intellect |
| Injury Resulting From Brain Damage | (c) Moderate (i) – £150,110 to £219,070 | Intellectual deficit with impact on sight and speech as well as significant risk of epilepsy |
| Injury Resulting From Brain Damage | (c) Moderate (ii) – £90,720 to £150,110 | Capacity for work afterwards is greatly reduced or removed completely |
| Injury Resulting From Brain Damage | (c) Moderate (iii) – £43,060 to £90,720
|
Impact on concentration and memory with reduced ability to work |
| Injury Resulting From Brain Damage | (d) Less Severe – £15,320 to £43,060 | Overall good recovery with only minor persisting issues with concentration, memory or mood |
| Injury Resulting From Brain Damage | (e) Minor Injury – £2,210 to £12,770
|
Minimal brain damages if any at all. |
| Epilepsy | (a) £102,000 to £150,110
|
Injuries that result in an established Grand Mal |
| Epilepsy | (b) £54,830 to £131,370 | Injuries that cause an established Petit Mal |
| Other Epileptic Conditions | (c) £10,640 to £26,290 | Epileptic episodes or a temporary resurgence of epilepsy |
Loss of amenity, pain and suffering are acknowledged in this way. A secondary head of damages called special damages takes evidence of financial harm as its basis for calculation. After a serious head injury at work, it’s possible to be presented with a wide array of expensive challenges. These often require immediate funds to deal with. For example, you may experience:
- A loss of earnings from missed work
- Expensive medical costs
- The need to pay for long-term procedures such as speech therapy
- Problems coping in your home that need expensive modifications to fix
- Difficulties returning to your original employment and need to retrain
A personal injury solicitor can help you track and calculate out-of-pocket costs. This can be done in a way that is realistic and as accurate as possible. With this in mind, speak to our team today to see how you can ensure your compensation claim includes everything. Also, a claim can only be made once and must be within the applicable time limit.
No Helmet Was Provided At Work, Can I Claim Against My Employer?
The perceived costs of legal representation may be discouraging you which is where a No Win No Fee agreement could help. Also referred to as Conditional Fee agreements, this is a contract made with a personal injury solicitor on the understanding that there is no charge to you unless your claim wins. A maximum 25% deduction from the payout is then due.
This means a claimant does not have to worry about upfront fees. In fact, if the personal injury claim loses, there are no fees needed to be paid to the No Win No Fee solicitor.
To learn more,
- Get in touch by calling our team on 0800 073 8804
- Contact us online
- Or access immediate free legal advice through our live support option
Head Injury Claim Resources
If no helmet was provided at work and it either permitted or worsened a head injury, the guides below offer further reading on similar claims for compensation:
- In conclusion, you can read about head injuries from the NHS
- How to select PPE advice from HSE
- Finally, more reading on preventing slips and trips
Below, you can find a list of guides which may tell you more about accident at work claims:
- Discover more answers to your queries on our accident at work FAQs page
- Can I claim compensation if I’ve left the company?
- Can you lose your job if you claim against your employer?
- Injured due to tiredness or fatigue – can I claim?
- I hurt myself at work, can I make a claim?
- What to do if you cut off your finger at work
- I suffered a burn injury at work, how much could I claim in compensation?
- How to claim compensation for industrial dermatitis
- I was injured at work – what are my rights?
- Is my employer liable for an accident at work?
- What should I do if I hurt myself at work?
- Who pays my medical bills if I’m injured at work?
- Can I make a claim if injured in my probation period?
- Who pays damages in an accident at work claim?
- I slipped on water at work, can I make a claim?
- Does my employer pay my medical bills if I’m injured at work?
- Can you still claim compensation f you didn’t take time off work?
- Do you have to be an employee to make a workplace injury claim?
- I am a new employee, can I make a claim?
- How do you prove an accident at work claim?
- Do you need to be an employee to make a workplace accident claim?
- What happens if you do not report an injury or accident?
- Can I make a claim if I’m an agency worker?
- I was dismissed after an accident at work, what should I do?
- If I was partly at fault for an accident can I still make a claim?
- I am self-employed and had an accident at work, can I make a claim?
- I had an accident at work due to no safety boots – can I make a claim?
- Can an apprentice make an accident at work claim?
- Can I claim if injured because of no safety goggles?
- What is the time limit for an accident at work claim?
- What are my employers’ responsibilities after an accident at work?
- Will suing my employer create problems?
- How to make a claim for inadequate tools and equipment
- What is the maximum weight I can lift at work?
- I had an accident at work, what are my rights?
- Who has the overall responsibility for recording injuries at work?
- How long after an injury at work can I make a claim?
- I fell down the stair at work, can I make a claim?
- Learn more about accident at work claims here
Guide By Waters
Edited By Melissa.
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