WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ACCIDENTS AT WORK UK

posted on 23 November 2011 | posted in Uncategorised

Accidents are sometimes unavoidable. Accidents at work UK do happen on a daily basis. In order to address the growing problems of work-related accidents, the UK government has come up with a scheme called “'Revitalising Health and Safety' ('RHS')”. This is a strategy which began in 2000. It aims to enhance health and safety at work. Consequently, it redounds to the health benefits of employees.

It is unfortunate that work related injuries and accidents have caused lost of productivity. In 2009, an estimated aggregate number of 29.3 million days were taken off work. Of this total amount, around 4.7 million days absent were because of injuries at work and the remaining 24.6 million is because of an illness brought about by work. This means that each worker in the UK lost an average of 1.24 days in 2009. This is the reason why the RHS scheme established by the UK government aims to decrease the number of days off work brought about by work-related injuries and illnesses by at least 30 percent.

The reported injuries which were compiled by RIDDOR in 2009 were 131,895 cases. Statistics compiled by the Labour Force Survey however pegged the number at around 246,000 injuries. The reason for the discrepancies in the number of accidents at work UK reported is that half of the victims chose not to report that accident.

In the UK, accident victims at work are eligible for compensations. Most injury at work claims are qualified for a no win no fee representation. If you incur injury due to accident at work UK then you should claim compensation. Businesses have insurance for injury claims. If you make claims against the employer, the insurance will pay you. You will not lose your job just because you make a claim. The amount awarded to the employee will depend on a number of factors such as the severity of the injury, treatment required, pain, amount of earnings lost due to the absences and length of time required to recover fully from the injury. Victims that can prove that the injury can lead to disability or chronic health problems are also awarded higher amounts.