Rubbish Bag Injury At Work Claims Guide

By Stephen Hudson. Last Updated March 2024. This guide will help you if you have experienced a rubbish bag injury at work because your employer acted negligently. Tasks such as taking a rubbish bag out can be hazardous, especially if a workplace does not properly dispose of hazardous materials or sharp instruments. We created this resource to explain what you could do after a rubbish bag accident at work.

Please contact Legal Expert today to see if you could claim compensation for a rubbish bag-related injury. A skilled lawyer can work on your case if you have enough evidence to support your claim. Moreover, you can make a No Win No Fee claim, so you won’t have to pay a solicitors fee upfront. Use the contact details below to contact our team.

• Call 0800 073 8804
• Make your claim online
• Ask an advisor a question using the widget below

Select A Section

1. What Is A Rubbish Bag Injury At Work?
2. Preventing Accidents In The Workplace
3. Types Of Rubbish Bag Injury At Work
4. How To Claim For A Workplace Injury
5. What Evidence Do I Need When Claiming For A Trip And Fall At Work?
6. Settlements For A Rubbish Bag Injury At Work
7. Discuss Your Claim With Our Team

What Is A Rubbish Bag Injury At Work?

Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, employers are responsible for their workers’ health, safety and welfare while at work. Therefore employers should take reasonably practicable steps to manage risks to their employees. Failure to do so is a breach of their duty of care.

Not all injuries in the workplace will be grounds for a claim. In some cases, an accident could occur that your employer could not have seen or prevented.

Some of the things that employers can do to prevent the risk of their workers being injured include:

• Maintaining good housekeeping by ensuring that clutter (including refuse bags) is cleared away
• Providing personal protective equipment (PPE) that staff members need to carry out their role safely
• Providing training to staff so that they can safely carry out their required roles
• Carry out risk assessments for activities that carry the potential to cause harm

Preventing Accidents In The Workplace

As we have mentioned, employers must follow health and safety legislation to prevent accidents in the workplace. There are several pieces of legislation that could be relevant in these kinds of claims.

The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 requires employers to reduce the risk of their workers being harmed by hazardous materials. Exposure to hazardous substances should be avoided wherever possible.

What’s more, The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 requires employers to supply their workers with protective equipment and clothing that they require in order to do their job safely. Employees disposing of chemicals may require safety goggles, protective gloves or respirators to do so safely. Failure to provide employees with the correct PPE can cause illness or injuries.

If you would like to know whether you could claim for a rubbish bag injury at work, speak with an advisor today. If they feel you have a valid claim, they could connect you with a No Win No Fee solicitor.

Types Of Rubbish Bag Injury At Work

Below, we have included examples of how rubbish bag accidents at work could be caused by negligence.

• If a rubbish bag splits and a heavy object falls out, the accident could crush a worker’s foot, potentially causing a broken toe or foot injury.
• A worker can suffer from chemical burns if their employer has disposed of corrosive chemicals improperly.
• A worker could inhale toxic fumes and become ill if their workplace neglects to dispose of hazardous substances appropriately.
• If a worker trips and falls over a rubbish bag, they may experience broken bones or soft tissue injuries.
• Likewise, manual handling accidents caused by heavy objects in rubbish bags can cause back injuries.
• If a sharp or needlestick injury occurs, the worker may contract a bloodborne disease such as hepatitis.

This is not an exhaustive list of the ways that negligence could lead to a rubbish bag injury at work. If you’d like an advisor to tell you if you could be eligible to claim, get in touch today.

How To Claim For A Workplace Injury

If you were injured at work, you might be eligible to claim compensation. To meet the criteria to claim for an accident at work, you will need to prove that your employer owed you a duty of care and that they breached this, resulting in you sustaining harm.

In some cases, you might be responsible for an accident that left you injured. For example, you may have been given the appropriate PPE to use when disposing of hazardous substances but chose not to wear it. If you sustained a needlestick injury as a result of this, then your employer may not be deemed liable; if this is the case, you’d be unable to claim.

To start a rubbish bag injury claim, you will also need to be within the personal injury claims time limit. The time limit to start a claim is generally three years from the date of the accident or the date you connected negligence with the injuries you sustained.

There can be variations to this time limit, however. To see if one of these exceptions applies to your case, please feel free to call us today. If your case is valid, you could be connected with a No Win No Fee lawyer.

What Evidence Do I Need When Claiming For A Trip And Fall At Work?

When making a personal injury claim for a trip and fall at work caused by a bag of rubbish, you will need evidence that can support your case. Evidence that could support your claim may include the following:

• Medical records that confirm your injuries and the treatment you received for them.
• A copy of a report about your trip and fall in the work accident book.
• Photos of the accident scene at work and your injuries.
• Any CCTV or other video footage available of your work accident.
• The contact details of any witnesses that could provide a statement.
• If you are looking to claim for any financial losses or expenses as special damages, you could also gather evidence of this. Examples may include receipts and payslips.

If a work accident solicitor is supporting your claim, then they could help you with gathering evidence for your case. To find out if you could be eligible to work with one of our solicitors, you can contact our advisors.

Settlements For A Rubbish Bag Injury At Work

If you were injured while at work as a result of employer negligence, you could be entitled to claim. In the event that your case is successful, you can receive up to two heads of claim.

• Firstly, you will receive general damages in a successful case, which is compensation for the pain and suffering caused by any physical and mental harm you sustained.
• Secondly, you can receive special damages that recompense you for any costs or losses associated with your injuries.

If you are wondering how much you could claim for your work-related injuries, you could look your injuries up on our table. The table should give you a good indication of what your general damage payout could be. We have used the 16th edition of the Judicial College Guidelines to create the table, which legal professionals use to help them when assigning a value to a claim.

Because every accident claim is different, you may not receive exactly the same amount of compensation as the brackets in the table indicate. So, please call Legal Expert, and our team can accurately value your claim. The compensation table does not include special damage payments.

Special damages can cover costs like:

• The cost of medical treatment
• Loss of earnings, including future earnings
• Home and vehicle adaptations

Other costs could be included as part of a special damages payment. You should provide evidence of special damages to give yourself the best chance of being fully compensated. Evidence could include invoices, receipts or bank statements.

For more information on the process of claiming general and special damages, speak with our team today. If you have a valid rubbish bag injury at work claim, you could be connected with a No Win No Fee lawyer.

Discuss Your Claim With Our Team

You may wish to claim compensation but be reluctant to pay upfront legal fees to fund the services of a solicitor. Paying a solicitor upfront without any guarantee of receiving compensation at the end could pose a financial risk.

For this reason, a No Win No Fee agreement is a popular solution for claimants. When you make a claim with a Conditional Fee Agreement in place, there is generally no solicitors fee to pay upfront or as the claim progresses, and you usually won’t pay your lawyer if the claim fails. A Conditional Fee Agreement is a popular kind of No Win No Fee agreement.

If you are awarded compensation, then your lawyer will deduct a legally-capped success fee from your settlement. This legal limitation entitles you to the majority of the settlement awarded to you.

Please call Legal Expert’s helpline to learn more about the benefits of a No Win No Fee arrangement. Our advisors will be happy to speak to you about your rubbish bag accident at work. If our team believe you are eligible to claim compensation for a rubbish bag injury at work, they can provide you with a skilled personal injury lawyer. Enquire now using the contact information below.

• Call Legal Expert’s helpline on 0800 073 8804
• Fill out our claim online form
• Use the widget below to ask us a question

Related Workplace Accident Claims

We have provided these resources, which may be helpful if you were injured in an accident at work.

How Much Compensation Can I Claim For A Knee Injury?

Defective Work Equipment Injury Claims How Much Compensation?

Factory Accident Claims – The Essential Guide

Below, we’ve included some external resources that could help:

Using personal protective equipment (PPE) to control risks at work – an HSE guide

Handling sharps in adult social care – Guidance from the Care Quality Commission

The causes and symptoms of a broken toe – an NHS guide

If you have any more questions about claiming compensation for a rubbish bag injury at work, please contact us now.

Written by Chelache

Edited by Stocks