By Marlon Cooke. Last Updated 11th October 2024. In this guide, we discuss how to claim against an employer after an accident at work. Kitchen and serving injuries in restaurants, cafés and commercial canteens are prevalent occurrences. If you were in an accident while working in catering, you may be eligible to claim compensation for waiting staff injuries.
Waiters and waitresses are at risk of many types of injuries with the most common being burns, slips, trips and falls. Chefs are prone to cuts and needlestick injuries. Whilst members of the public can suffer injuries caused by one of the serving staff.
In this guide, we will look at the process for claiming for a personal injury caused in a kitchen, or whilst waiting table, and for members of the public injured by serving staff.
Select a Section:
- Claiming For Burn Injuries In A Kitchen
- Claiming For Slip, Trip Or Fall Injuries In A Kitchen
- The Most Common Kitchen Accidents That Result In An Injury
- How To Claim Compensation For Waiting Staff Injuries
- What Compensation For Waiting Staff Injuries Could You Receive?
- How Much Can I Claim For An Injury Sustained In A Kitchen?
- No Win No Fee Waiting Staff Injury Claims
- Call For Free Advice And To Start An Accident At Work Claim
Claiming For Burn Injuries In A Kitchen
It should come as no surprise that burn injuries are one of the two most common types of injuries that the kitchen and serving staff suffer from. The other being cuts and needlestick injuries.
A chef is the most likely type of kitchen staff to sustain a burn injury. Although waiters and waitresses can also burn themselves whilst carrying hot dishes, or if they inadvertently spill hot food on themselves.
If you have suffered a burn injury whilst serving customers in a restaurant, or whilst working as a chef preparing food in a kitchen, then you will very likely have a valid reason to bring a personal injury compensation claim against your employer.
Claiming For Slip, Trip Or Fall Injuries In A Kitchen
If you are interested in claiming compensation for a waiter injury or compensation for waiting staff injuries, you need to be able to prove that negligence occurred. The definition of negligence in terms of making a personal injury claim generally means that:
- A liable party owed you a duty of care
- They breached this duty
- You were injured as a result
When you’re working, your employer owes you a duty of care. This is outlined under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA), which tells employers that they need to take steps to prevent harm from coming to their employees.
For example, in a restaurant, this could include ensuring that spillages are cleaned up in a timely manner, or wet floor signs are used to warn staff where the floor is wet. If your employer knew that there had been oil spilled on the kitchen floor but did not signpost this or move to clear it up, this could cause a slip and fall.
Contact our team today to find out if you could claim compensation for a waitress injury.
The Most Common Kitchen Accidents That Result In An Injury
If you have been injured whilst serving food in a restaurant, you could be eligible to make a waitress injury claim. For example, serving food requires lifting heavy plates and dishes repetitively, and this could result in waitress wrist pain due to some form of repetitive strain injury. This could be the basis of a work-related illness compensation claim. The number of different types of accidents that can occur in a kitchen is vast, but here are the most common:
- Cuts sustained whilst preparing food – chefs are notorious for keeping their knives frighteningly sharp. For this reason, even a slight slip can cause a deep, serious cut.
- Slipping on a wet or oily floor – spills are a daily occurrence in most kitchens. If liquid, especially cooking oil, is left on the floor, it can easily lead to a waiter accident.
- Scalding – either simply from boiling water or from actually preparing dishes. A scald is a serious injury, despite the fact it has few visible symptoms. This is also a common waitress accident whilst carrying piping hot dishes to the table.
- Burns – either from an oven or from a stovetop, burns happen in kitchens regularly. A burn can lead to serious scarring and loss of function in a hand or arm in extreme cases.
- Musculoskeletal injuries – such as pulling a muscle in the back whilst lifting a heavyweight improperly.
All of these types of accidents and more could leave the victim with a valid reason to make a claim against an employer for personal injury compensation.
How To Claim Compensation For Waiting Staff Injuries
If you have suffered an injury whilst working in a kitchen as a chef, cook, waiter or waitress, then you may wish to make a claim for compensation for waiting staff injuries. Should you do so, then there are a number of things you can do to make pursuing your claim more efficient, and these include:
- Document the events leading up to and during the accident – for example, if cooking oil was spilt on the floor, and the restaurant was so busy that nobody had time to clean it up, and this lead to a slip, trip or fall in the kitchen, be sure to note all of this down.
- You must ensure that the accident has been recorded in the accident book – every company is required by law to keep an accident book, to record incidents that have caused an injury. Make sure your injury is officially entered into the company accident book.
- You can make sure the treatment of your injury was recorded – this means you need to visit a hospital to get treatment, not simply take care of it yourself no matter how minor the injury was.
- List Expenses– not just out of pocket expenses such as paying for transport to the hospital, but also other expenses such as missing work and not being paid. This is especially important for people who are on what is termed a zero-hours contract. Make sure you note all of the missed days or hours of work due to the accident.
Once you are ready, you can use the contact details at the bottom of the page to contact us to begin your kitchen injury claim.
How Long Do I Have To Claim Against My Employer?
When you claim against your employer, you will need to take action within the limitation period. As stated by the Limitation Act 1980, this is typically three years from the date of your accident at work. Failing to take action within the time limit might result in your claim being statute-barred. Therefore, our advice would be to start your waiting staff accident claim sooner rather than later.
There are exceptions to the time limit. For example, a minor would have three years from their 18th birthday to claim for a restaurant injury, whilst the time limit is suspended indefinitely for someone who lacks the mental capacity to make a claim by themselves. If they ever regained the required mental capacity to claim alone, the time limit would begin from the date of their recovery.
A litigation friend can bring forward a claim on behalf of a minor or someone who lacks the mental capacity to start their own claim during the frozen time limit period. However, if you were to take action on behalf of someone else, you must act fairly and competently when making decisions about their case. You must also not have conflicting interests.
Contact our team today for more information on making an accident at work claim.
What Compensation For Waiting Staff Injuries Could You Receive?
There are two forms of compensation that you could seek in an accident at work claim.
General damages is the amount of compensation you seek for your pain and suffering. This type of award can take several factors of your injury into account, including:
- The severity of your injury
- The type of accident you had suffered
- Your expected recovery time
- Any loss of amenity or enjoyment
Special damages is the amount of compensation you could seek for the financial impact of your injury. For example, you could request special damages for:
- Any loss of income you had suffered
- Your treatment or care costs
- Aids you need to help you cope with your injury
Our advisers could provide you with a free evaluation of your accident and injury to give you an estimate of the compensation for waiting staff injuries you could seek in your claim. They can also talk to you about actions you could take to ensure that your claim is properly valued.
How Much Can I Claim For An Injury Sustained In A Kitchen?
The actual amount of compensation you could receive as a waiter or waitress who has suffered an injury at work will always be driven by the details of your specific case. However, for the general damages portion of the claim, these figures below are a good indication of how much you might get.
| Injury | Guideline Compensation |
|---|---|
| Multiple Severe Injuries And Special Damages | Up to £500,000+ |
| Moderate Brain Damage (ii) | £110,720 to £183,190 |
| Moderate Brain Damage (iii) | £52,550 to £110,720 |
| Severe Ankle Injuries | £38,210 to £61,090 |
| Moderate Back Injuries (i) | £33,880 to £47,320 |
| Moderate Back Injuries (ii) | £15,260 to £33,880 |
| A Number of Noticeable Laceration Scars or One Single Disfiguring Scar | £9,560 to £27,740 |
| Single Noticeable Scar Or Several Superficial Scars | £2,890 to £9,560 |
| Simple Fractures of the Forearm | £8,060 to £23,430 |
| Simple Fractures to Tibia or Fibula or Soft Tissue Injuries | Up to £14,450 |
On top of this, you would also potentially be claiming some level of special damages, and these would be unique to your case. So please contact us, so we can learn a little more about you and your injury, and give you a better idea of how much you might claim.
No Win No Fee Waiting Staff Injury Claims
Pursuing a claim for a personal injury at work is never simple, and never quick. For a waiter or waitress who is already earning little more than the minimum wage, taking on the legal expenses of pursuing such a case would be daunting, if not impossible.
We have a solution to this problem. We will take on your kitchen accident injury compensation case under a No Win No Fee agreement. What this means is that you don’t need to pay us anything to begin your claim, and you won’t have to pay us any ongoing legal costs across the life cycle of the claim.
The only time you will need to pay us anything is to win compensation on your behalf. If we fail to win any compensation for you, then you don’t pay us anything. So you really have no financial risk at all.
Call For Free Advice And To Start An Accident At Work Claim
Have you been working as a waitress or a waiter and recently suffered an injury due to an accident at work? If you are, and you have, then you may be able to make an accident at work claim.
By calling us on 0800 073 8804, using the webchat feature of this site, or emailing us directly, we can start to help your claim the compensation that is rightfully yours today. And best of all, we will do this under a No Win No Fee agreement, and you won’t pay us a penny unless we actually win your claim for you.
Helpful Links
- No Win No Fee Guide
- Click to learn more about No Win No Fee agreements.
- How Much Compensation For a Burn Injury Claim?
- Have you been burned by a waitress or a waiter or member of the serving staff? Find out how much compensation you can claim today and get free legal advice.
- Restaurant Injury And Accident Compensation Claims
- If you have had any type of injury at a restaurant including slips, trips or burns in a restaurant, feel free to contact us today and find out if you have a claim.
- How Much Compensation Can I Claim Against An Employer For An Accident At Work?
- If you have had an accident at work, find out how to claim and find out how much you can claim a workplace accident.
More Helpful Guides
- Learn how to make a knee injury compensation claim with our helpful guide.
- Advice on suing a company for an injury. Learn about the personal injury claims process with our helpful guide.
- Get more information on hairdressing compensation claims and the process of claiming for injuries caused by a hairdresser with our guide.
Thank you for reading our guide about how to claim compensation for waiting staff injuries. Please call an advisor if you have any further questions about restaurant staff claims.
