By Stephen Hudson. Last Updated 3rd October 2024. In this guide, we explain when and how you may be able to claim compensation if you were injured after you fell down the stairs at work. If you have been injured due to your employer breaching their duty of care, you may have grounds to pursue a personal injury claim. We will explain what your employer’s duty of care is in more depth within this guide, and how a breach of this could cause you to suffer an injury from falling down the stairs.
We’ll also share examples of the evidence that could be used to help support your case. This guide will also discuss the heads of claim that could be awarded for successful personal injury claims, and how compensation is calculated. We’ll also provide a list of benefits of making your claim with the help of a No Win No Fee solicitor.
For more advice on claiming for injuries after falling down the stairs at work, you can contact our advisors for free. They are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can get in touch with them by:
- Calling 0800 073 8804
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Select A Section
- I Fell Down The Stairs At Work – Am I Eligible To Claim?
- Examples Of How Falling Down The Stairs Could Cause An Injury
- Calculating Compensation For Falling Down Stairs at Work
- Time Limits For Claiming After Falling Down The Stairs At Work
- How Can I Prove A Claim For Injuries After I Fell Down The Stairs At Work?
- No Win No Fee Claims After You Fell Down The Stairs At Work
I Fell Down The Stairs At Work – Am I Eligible To Claim?
If you suffer injuries in a fall down stairs, you may wonder if you are eligible for compensation. To claim, you will need to prove that you were owed a duty of care and that when this was breached, you suffered injuries.
While you are at work, your employer owes you a duty of care under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA). This states that your employer must take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of their employees.
As part of their duty, they are required to carry out risk assessments. This is set out in the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. This includes taking reasonable steps to prevent someone falling down the stairs, such as ensuring there is adequate lighting on the stairwell. We look further into what steps an employer can take to prevent accidents on the stairs in the next section.
In order to claim for injuries suffered when you fell down the stairs, you must be able to meet the personal injury claims eligibility criteria. This is:
- Your employer owed you a duty of care.
- They breached this.
- You suffered injuries as a result of this breach.
If you fell down the stairs, call our advisors for free advice. They can assess the potential of your claim and if it seems eligible, you could be passed onto one of our No Win No Fee solicitors.
Examples Of How Falling Down The Stairs Could Cause An Injury
As we discussed above, per their duty of care, your employer should take reasonable steps to ensure the stairs in your workplace are safe to use. For example, they should ensure that the workplace has suitable and sufficient lighting, such as in stairwells.
Additionally, they are responsible for managing any known hazards that pose a risk of injury to employees. Managing can include removing the risk completely, or where this is not possible, reducing the risk. For example, if there is a broken handrail on a stairwell, a spillage, or items scattered on the stairs, and these issues have been reported to your employer, they should take steps to address them and notify employees of the hazard that could result in them falling down the stairs.
If they fail to do so, you could fall down the stairs and injure yourself. Examples of how this could happen and the injuries you could sustain as a result include:
- If there is poor lighting in the staircase that an employer is aware of, this could result in someone tripping and falling down the stairs. As a result, they could suffer a broken arm or leg.
- An employee could sustain a head injury after slipping on a spillage that wasn’t cleaned up or signposted in a reasonable time frame.
- There may be boxes and other items left on the stairs causing a trip hazard. As a result of poor housekeeping, an employee trips and falls down the stairs causing them to suffer a back injury.
Call our advisors today if you are still wondering, ‘I fell down the stairs, could I make a personal injury claim?’. They could also help you with any other questions you may have and offer you free advice for your potential claim.
Calculating Compensation for Falling Down Stairs at Work
If you make a successful claim after having slipped down the stairs or fell down the stairs at work, you could potentially be awarded two different types of damages. These are called general and special damages.
General damages address the physical and mental effects of the injuries you have suffered after falling down the stairs at work. Here are a few examples of some physical and mental effects that are considered for this award:
- Decrease in quality of life. For example, if you have permanent chronic ankle pain after falling down the stairs, you could miss out on hobbies you used to love, such as hiking.
- How severe your pain is.
- How long it will take you to recover (if you can fully recover).
During the accident at work claims process, you may have an independent medical examination to assess the extent of your fall injuries. The reports from this can be used alongside the compensation guidelines from the Judicial College (JCG) to value your general damages.
The JCG is a publication with varying guideline compensation brackets for all sorts of mental and physical injuries.
Guideline Compensation Table
In the table below, we have taken some injuries from the JCG, which could possibly be suffered after having slipped down the stairs or fell down the stairs at work. We have also taken the injuries’ accompanying compensation guidelines, (except the first figure, which is not from the JCG).
Please keep in mind that the compensation guidelines in the table cannot be guaranteed for your specific case. This is because all accident at work claims have unique circumstances.
| Injury Type | Severity | Compensation Guideline |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Severe Injuries with Special Damages | Severe | Up to £500,000+ |
| Leg | Amputation (a) (iii) | £127,930 to £167,760 |
| Knee | Severe (a) (ii) | £63,610 to £85,100 |
| Ankle | Severe (b) | £38,210 to £61,090 |
| Arms | Less severe (c) | £23,430 to £47,810 |
| Simple fractures (d) | £8,060 to £23,430 | |
| Back | Moderate (b) (i) | £33,880 to £47,320 |
| Minor (c) (i) | £9,630 to £15,260 | |
| Neck | Moderate (b) (i) | £30,500 to £46,970 |
| Moderate (b) (ii) | £16,770 to £30,500 |
More Payouts After Falling Down The Stairs At Work
Special damages address the financial effects of the injuries you have suffered after falling down the stairs at work. Here are a few examples of some financial losses that could be covered under this award:
- Loss of earnings. For example, if you have permanent chronic ankle pain but you have an active job that requires you to be on your feet all day, you might have to change occupations.
- Medication costs, eg. prescriptions and painkillers.
- Care costs. For example, the injuries after you fell down the stairs could lead to you being unable to look after yourself. If this is the case, you may need to pay for a nurse or other form of professional care.
Special damages can restore your monetary position to what it was before you were injured when you fell down the stairs at work. However, you will need to keep proof of these financial losses in the form of receipts, payslips, invoices, or bank statements, for example, as special damages are not always given when a claim is successful.
If you have slipped down the stairs or fell down the stairs at work, please contact us to see how we could help you. You can find out more about how accident at work compensation is valued.
Time Limits For Claiming After Falling Down The Stairs At Work
If you’ve been injured due to falling down the stairs, then you could be entitled to compensation if negligence was the cause. However, you should be aware of how long you have to make such a claim. As per the Limitation Act 1980, the typical time limit you have to begin a claim is 3 years from the date you sustained the injury.
If it was a child who fell down the stairs, then their time limit is suspended. It only begins once they turn 18. However, because children cannot make a claim for themselves, a litigation friend must be appointed to do so in order for a claim to be made before the injured child’s 18th birthday.
A litigation friend must also be appointed to claim on behalf of an individual who has a reduced mental capacity. The claimant can only make their own claim once (or if) they recover or are deemed capable of pursuing their own claim. This date is also the beginning of their 3-year time limit. Before then, the time limit is suspended – as with child injury claims.
If you or someone you know has slipped down the stairs and would like to know more about time limits involved, reach out to our advisors today.
How Can I Prove A Claim For Injuries After I Fell Down The Stairs At Work?
‘I fell down the stairs at work; how do I prove my claim?’ is a question we are frequently asked. For an accident at work claim to be successful you will need to prove that your employer was negligent. This includes proving your injuries were caused by your employer’s breach of duty.
If you fell down the stairs at work and suffered an injury, this should have been recorded in your work’s accident book. This can help prove your case. Other items of evidence could be useful, such as:
- Copies of relevant risk assessments carried out by your employer
- CCTV of the accident (if such footage exists)
- Photographs of the scene of the accident
- Workplace inspection and maintenance records
- Records of similar accidents in the previous 12 months
- Witness statements of anyone who saw the accident happen
- Medical records, including scan and test results
- A medical report that details your injuries and gives a prognosis for the future
- Wage slips or bank statements showing any loss of earnings
- Receipts and invoices for any items or services purchased to help cope with your injuries.
There could be many more documents that aide you in your case. To see if you are eligible to claim after you slipped down the stairs, contact one of our knowledgeable advisors today.
No Win No Fee Claims After You Fell Down The Stairs At Work
You could potentially claim compensation for falling down the stairs with the help of No Win No Fee lawyers. If you fell down the stairs and were eligible to claim, they could offer you a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This is a type of No Win No Fee arrangement.
When you hire a No Win No Fee lawyer for your compensation claim, they typically won’t charge upfront for their services. If your claim is successful, a legally capped success fee will be taken from your award. Should your claim fail, you usually won’t have to pay for your lawyer’s services.
Our advisors can discuss what happens when you fell down the stairs and what steps you can take to claim compensation. To get in touch:
- Call 0800 073 8804.
- Contact us
- Use our online chat.
To learn more about claiming after you fell down the stairs at work, please contact our team who provide 24/7 free legal advice at any time that suits you.
