How To Sue For A Broken Cheekbone – A Guide To Claiming Compensation

How to sue for a broken cheekbone

A broken cheekbone injury can be very painful and could have a real impact on your quality of life. In serious cases, it could require surgery and have long-term or even permanent effects.

We understand how overwhelming deciding whether you should sue your employer can be. However, you have more rights than you think. Our advisors are on hand to help you 24/7 with any questions you may have.

Call our team on 0800 408 7827 for free legal advice or read on to find out more about making a claim.

Our guide will talk you through the process of making a personal injury claim. We will also explain the legal process and give you an idea of how much compensation you could be owed. Our example case study will guide you through how a claim is valued following an accident at work.

We will also look at how accidents in the workplace resulting in broken cheekbones might occur. We’ll examine the duty of care that your employer owes you and how this duty may be breached, resulting in injury.

Towards the end of our guide, we’ll take a look at the benefits that a No Win No Fee agreement could offer you in making a claim. We will finish by providing you with some useful resources and answering some commonly asked questions about broken injury claims in the workplace.

We’re here to help you through this difficult time. For this reason, our guide is full of valuable information that you can benefit from. However, if you have any questions or require any further information on anything, our team is available to help.

For more information on why your accident might have happened, continue reading.

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 outlines the general duties that an employer owes towards employees in regards to health and safety. But despite this, accidents can happen in the workplace.

For instance, RIDDOR recorded 65,427 non-fatal injuries in 2019/2020. Additionally, there were 111 workers killed at work in the same time period.

The rate of injuries to the face (excluding the eyes and ears) reported to RIDDOR has remained broadly flat in recent years. In 2014 there were 1,308 injuries of this nature. This rose slightly to 1,343 in 2019/20. Although these numbers don’t exclusively relate to broken cheekbones in the workplace, broken cheekbone injuries will be included in them.

Workplace accidents can happen in any industry. However, some have higher rates than others. The graph below shows figures from the Labour Force Survey in Great Britain in 2019.

Damage to the cheekbone (Zygomatic bone) can bring some unpleasant symptoms. For example, if you’ve broken your cheekbone, you might experience:

• Deformity or “flattening” of the face
• Swelling
• Pain
• Bruising

Occasionally, a cheekbone fracture can damage part of the eye socket, which can cause other symptoms. These can include:

• Difficulty moving the eyes
• Swollen cheeks
• Facial numbness
• Problems with vision

The doctor usually diagnoses a fractured cheekbone with an X-ray. From there, they will decide how best to treat the injury.

Depending on how badly damaged your cheekbone is, treatment and recovery times can vary. For instance, if you need surgery, it can take around 6 weeks to heal. You may also notice numbness or a burning sensation in the injured area. This can take up to a year to go away or may even be permanent.

If you need surgery, you will usually require time off work to avoid any further damage while the bones are healing. For the first few days, you might be in some pain, causing difficulty eating.

For more information on a broken cheekbone, you should seek medical advice from the NHS or your doctor.

An employer could breach their duty of care if they fail to follow the HASAWA. For example, they could do this by:

• Not providing ear protection for employees working in a loud environment, causing them to suffer hearing loss
• Leaving wires trailing,  causing an employee to trip over and break a bone
• Failing to provide proper breaks, leading to tiredness and fatigue in workers

Employers are also required by law to have Employers Liability Insurance. This is to cover themselves and employees if an accident takes place. If they don’t have it claiming compensation can be more difficult. However, provided the company is still active, and they have assets, it may still be possible to make a claim against the company directly.

If an employer breaches their duty of care, this means they’ve acted negligently. If you have evidence to prove your employer’s negligence has caused your injury, you could sue for a broken cheekbone.

Please read on for information on other ways injuries can occur in the workplace. Or, if you would like to get started with your claim today, feel free to get in touch with one of our advisers.

Although there is no one reason why accidents at work occur, there are some common causes. For example, an employee could be injured through a:

• Slip, trip or fall
• Fall from a height
• Manual handling accident
• Equipment or machinery accident

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) recorded 299,000 incidents of assault at work in 2019/20. It can be more difficult to prove employee negligence in the case of workplace assaults, but it is possible. For instance, you may have been threatened by a colleague and brought this to your employer’s attention. If they failed to take the proper steps to ensure your safety, you might be able to claim.

If you have any questions about your accident at work and the process of making a claim, you can call our advisors on the number above. Otherwise, continue reading for advice on how much compensation you could claim if you sue for a broken cheekbone.

There are two types of compensation you can claim, general and special damages.

A solicitor will look at the Judicial College Guidelines to value general damages. This is a set of guideline compensation brackets detailing different injuries of varying severities. General damages will take into account the impact the injury has had on your quality of life.

To prove an accident happened, you need evidence which might include:

• CCTV footage
• Photographs
• Witness details or accident book report

This can prove an accident happened at work. However, it can’t prove the extent of the injuries you sustained from that accident. For this, you’d need your solicitor to arrange an independent medical assessment.

In this examination, an independent expert will assess the nature and extent of your injuries. They’ll detail their findings and prognosis in a report which will be sent to your solicitor.

For more information on how a solicitor might value your claim, call us on the number above. Otherwise, continue reading for more information on special damages and other things you can claim.

As mentioned above, general damages cover the impact that your injuries have had on your quality of life. Special damages, on the other hand, cover any past and future financial losses that you’ve incurred as a direct result of your injuries.

For example, you could claim:

• Loss of earnings for any time taken off work. You can also claim if your future earning potential has been affected
• Care costs if you need someone to look after you while you recover. You can also claim for childcare if you’re unable to look after your children due to your injuries.
• Travel expenses if your injuries stop you from being able to drive. You can also claim for fuel and parking costs for any medical appointments you’ve had to attend.
• Medication and other medical expenses, for example, prescription costs or the cost of any treatment not available on the NHS
• Hobbies or holidays affected by your injury, for instance, if you’ve lost out on a holiday deposit as you’re no longer fit to travel

This list is by no means exhaustive. You can claim a wide range of special damages, as long as you can prove the financial loss is a result of your injury. Evidence is vital to claiming special damages and can include:

• Receipts
• Invoices
• Payslips

Without this evidence, the loss you’ve experienced won’t be able to be included in your claim. For this reason, it’s best to build up a bank of evidence before you start the claims process. This could ensure you get the compensation you deserve.

For more insight into the amount of compensation you could receive when you sue for a broken cheekbone, see our case study below.

Mrs Johnston was on her way back from the break room when she tripped down the stairs. She suffered an injury to her face and required immediate medical attention.

The doctor informed her that she would require maxillofacial surgery. The surgery was needed to put the bone back into place and help with some of the pain she was suffering from.

The doctor advised Mrs Johnston to take time off work. She needed around a month to prevent any further damage to the cheekbone after surgery.

After discussing time off with her employer, they informed her she would only get statutory sick pay. So she decided to sue for a broken cheekbone.