This guide discusses all you need to know about scaffolding accident claims and who is eligible to make them.
First, we look at what legislations are in place to protect your safety at work, and who is responsible for adhering to these legislations. We then look at the claims eligibility criteria and give a few examples of what scaffolding accidents could warrant an eligible claim.
Furthermore, we tell you what types of evidence are best to prove a scaffolding accident claim and how compensation is valued if your personal injury claim is successful.
Towards the end of this guide, we discuss how No Win No Fee agreements are beneficial. This is the basis which our panel of expert work injury solicitors work under.
If you have suffered scaffolding accident injuries, contact us. Our advisors can assess your case and tell you whether you are eligible to claim compensation. You can contact us at any time, free-of-charge:
- Call 0800 408 7827.
- Visit our ‘contact us’ page
- Send a message in our live chat box.
Jump To A Section
- Can You Claim For Scaffolding Accidents?
- What Are The Causes Of Scaffolding Injuries?
- How To Make Scaffolding Accident Claims
- How Much Compensation For Scaffolding Accident Claims?
- Why Claim For A Scaffolding Accident On A No Win No Fee Basis?
- More Resources Related To Claiming For An Accident At Work
Can You Claim For Scaffolding Accidents?
Scaffolding can either be set up by an employer or an external scaffolding company. So, you may be able to make a scaffolding accident claim if you can prove that your scaffolding injuries were caused by either your employer or a contractor breaching their duty of care.
If an employer or contractor fails to comply with their duty of care, and this leads to you suffering a scaffolding injury, then they could be liable. While we discuss what duty of care is owed to you by law in the following section, here are the claims criteria:
- A duty of care was owed to you.
- There was a breach of this duty.
- You sustained a scaffolding injury because of this breach.
If you can prove the above, then please have a chat with us today about your circumstances.
What Legislations Are In Place?
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 is legislation that states that all employers owe a duty of care to all their employees to ensure their safety while they are at work. As such, they must take reasonable steps to prevent employee injury across the workspace and its equipment and facilities. This involves managing and removing possible risks and hazards.
Section 3 of the same Act states that employers and self-employed persons undertake their work, so far as is reasonably practicable, to ensure that persons other than themselves or their employees are not exposed to risks to their health or safety. This means that if you are using the scaffolding for your work but the scaffolding company does not employ you, they owe you the same duty of care.
Other pieces of health and safety legislation should also be considered:
- The Work at Heights Regulations 2005 state that employers and those responsible for work carried out at heights must ensure that the work is supervised and planned properly to prevent injury or even death from a fall.
- The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 states how the work equipment that either an employer or a contractor supplies must be of sufficient standard.
- According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), those who are responsible for erecting a scaffolding tower must be competent to do so and must be trained.
What Scaffolding Injuries Could You Claim For?
There are many types of injuries that could be suffered after a scaffolding accident. Here are just a few examples:
- Spinal cord injuries and other back injuries.
- Paralysis.
- Brain damage or other head injuries.
- Fractured or broken bones, such as a broken ankle.
- Loss of limbs (traumatic or surgical).
- Ligament and tendon damage.
If you have suffered any of these scaffolding injuries, or others that aren’t listed, please contact us today to see whether you can claim compensation.
What Are The Causes Of Scaffolding Injuries?
Here are some examples of how the basis of an eligible scaffolding accident claim could form:
- A scaffolding company failed to follow the initial scaffolding plan and, thus, erected the scaffolding incorrectly. This can cause the structure to become unstable and collapse as a result.
- This is your first time working on scaffolding, and your employer did not provide you with any training. Because you are not trained on how to navigate scaffolding safely, the chances of you accidentally falling increases.
- Where a risk assessment has shown that a harness is necessary to complete a certain scaffolding task, your employer did not provide you with a harness. It is an employer’s responsibility to provide you with the necessary Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Therefore, you could suffer severe injuries if you fall without a harness.
A scaffolding accident due to a breached duty of care could happen in more ways. So, give us a call today and talk to a trained advisor.
Will I Lose My Job If I Claim For My Scaffolding Injury?
We understand that the thought of pursuing a compensation claim may be stressful, especially if you are looking to sue your employer. However, you have every right to make a compensation claim if you have suffered scaffolding injuries due to negligent actions.
If you do make a scaffolding accident compensation claim, your employer cannot sack you or make life tricky for you at work. If they do, then this is a breach of UK employment law.
- You can claim for unfair dismissal if your employer sacks you for making a claim.
- You can claim for constructive dismissal if your employer’s behaviour leads to you leaving the job.
How To Make Scaffolding Accident Claims
When making scaffolding accident claims, the more evidence there is to support the case, then the greater the chance to succeed and receive compensation.
As such, here are some types of evidence that can prove what injuries you have suffered and how an employer or contractor is liable:
- CCTV footage of the accident happening.
- A diary where you have recorded your symptoms and treatment,
- Copies of your medical records and notes.
- Details from potential witnesses to the accident.
- Photographs of the accident site (for example, if a piece of scaffolding equipment was broken), and of your injuries (if they are visible).
Collecting all of the above can be daunting. For this reason, as part of their services, the solicitors from our panel help their claimants to gather evidence.
To see whether you can receive this help, please get in touch.
How Much Compensation For Scaffolding Accident Claims?
Compensation for successful scaffolding accident claims could potentially be made up of two different losses that address different ways in which you may have been affected by employer negligence. These different losses are called general and special damages.
General damages address the way you have been psychologically and physically affected by employer negligence. This considers factors such as:
- How severe your injury and pain is.
- Whether your quality of life has changed.
- How long your recovery period is for your injuries.
Through the claims process, you may be asked to have an independent medical assessment for your injuries. The report from this assessment can be reviewed along with the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to determine how much your general damages could be worth.
The JCG is a document which offers guideline compensation brackets for a variety of different physical and psychological injuries and illnesses.
Guideline Compensation Table
We have taken some injuries and their guideline compensation brackets from the JCG and included them in the table below (only the very top value is not from the JCG). The injuries listed are just some examples of what someone could sustain following a scaffolding accident.
However, it is important to only use this table as a guide, since the circumstances of all scaffolding accident claims are unique.
| Injury | Severity | Guideline compensation brackets |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple serious injuries, plus special damages | Serious | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Paralysis | Tetraplegia (a) | £396,140 to £493,000 |
| Paraplegia (b) | £267,340 to £346,890 | |
| Brain damage | Very serious (a) | £344,150 to £493,000 |
| Moderately severe (b) | £267,340 to £344,150 | |
| Less severe (d) | £18,700 to £52,550 | |
| Back | Severe (a) (i) | £111,150 to £196,450 |
| Moderate (b) (i) | £33,880 to £47,320 | |
| Neck | Severe (a) (i) | In the region of £181,020 |
Special Damages
Special damages address the way you have been financially affected by negligence. Some financial losses you could incur following a scaffolding accident include:
- Loss of earnings.
- Professional care costs.
- Medication costs.
Special damages are not always awarded in successful personal injury claims. So, for this reason, it is vital to keep any payslips, invoices, receipts and bank statements to use as evidence. Evidence can greatly increase your chance of receiving an award for special damages if your case is successful.
Please get in touch with us today to learn in more detail how much compensation potential scaffolding accident claims could be worth.
Why Claim For A Scaffolding Accident On A No Win No Fee Basis?
Scaffolding accident claims can be made on a No Win No Fee basis. All the solicitors on our panel offer their services under a type of No Win No Fee arrangement using a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
If you make a scaffolding accident claim with a solicitor under a CFA;
- There are no costs before the claim begins for your solicitor’s work.
- There are no costs throughout the case process for your solicitor’s work.
- If your claim is unsuccessful, there are no costs at all for your solicitor’s work.
- Instead, if your claim is successful, a small success fee will be deducted from your compensation. Success fees are a legally capped percentage of your award. Success fees also ensure that no costs for your solicitor’s work come out of your pocket directly.
Get In Touch
If you would like to begin a scaffolding accident claim in this way, please get in touch with us. Our advisors will assess whether you are eligible for compensation and can pass you onto our panel of specialist No Win No Fee solicitors accordingly. Our lines are open 24/7 there is no obligation, pressure, or rush. Have a chat with us whenever you are ready:
- Call 0800 408 7827.
- Visit our ‘contact us’ page
- Send a message in our live chat box.
More Resources Related To Claiming For An Accident At Work
Here are some of our other accident at work claims:
- Find out whether you can claim compensation if you sustained a minor injury at work.
- Browse our guide about making an accident at work claim after being hit by a falling object.
- Learn about how to sue your former employer.
Additionally, here are some useful resources from other pages:
- Gov.UK – How to receive Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) for the time you have taken off work to recover from an injury.
- NHS – How to get a copy of your medical records to be used as part of your evidence.
- Health and Safety Executive (HSE) – A document to help you understand health and safety in construction and what risks need to be managed.
Thank you for reading our scaffolding accident claims guide. If you feel like there are a few questions that have not been answered, please contact us today. Our advisors will be happy to answer them.