It is a sad fact, but there are a lot of compensation claims for accidents at work in his country. Let’s consider Britain’s major industry, construction. It employs 2.2 million people. Compared with the rest of the European Union, Britain’s accident statistics are relatively low, but they are frequent. In fact there have been 2,800 deaths in the construction industry during the past quarter of a century and many more have suffered from industrial illnesses and serious injury.

In general terms, a construction accident can be any form of industrial accident that takes place on a building site. The most common incidents are scaffolding related or connected to falls from height of either personnel or materials. Work accidents involving power tools, cement mixers, equipment used for lifting gear, for example fork lifts and cranes, and all manner of other faulty pieces of equipment regularly occur on construction or building sites.

You don’t have to be working on a building site to suffer personal injury. People just walking past are also open to danger. Whoever is at risk, whether building site personnel or on the site or passers by, they do have a legal right to make compensation claims, albeit under different laws, if they suffer injury.

Health and Safety is the responsibility of the employer. He should take responsibility for the application of health and safety regulations and make sure the workers receive adequate training and supervision. He should also ensure the building site has insurance cover. If you are unlucky enough to suffer an accident at work, here is what you should do.

The initial step, following the administration of first aid or other medical treatment, is to inform your line manager or supervisor. Precise details of the accident should be entered in the accident book and this information will be used to form the basis of your compensation claim.

In order to prove your claim that the employer was responsible for your accident, make a written note of as many details of the incident as possible to use as evidence. You should also check to see if there were any witnesses to your accident at work and also check if similar work accidents had occurred there before. The next step will be to employ a solicitor who specialises in personal injury claims. A good solicitor will advise you on your personal injuries claim, including the amount you should claim and what your chances are of success.

Should your personal injury claim meet with success, the compensation you receive will not be based only on your injuries. It will be accessed on the loss of current and future wages owing to the injuries suffered by the work accident, as well as any damage to your personal property. A successful personal injury claim could see you awarded a significant sum. The solicitor may even save you further financial strain by agreeing to represent you on a no win now fee basis.

You may, at first, be reluctant to claim against your employer, fearing repercussions following your claim, but if you are certain the accident could have been avoided had proper safety measures been in place, you should certainly proceed, and to make every effort you possibly can to ensure this kind of accident at work does not happen again. You do, after all, also have a responsibility to those persons who you work alongside regarding their safety too.