Can I Claim For An Accident At Work If There Were No Witnesses?

Copyright (c) 2011 Nicholas Jervis



Accidents in the workplace happen for a variety of reasons but if you have had an accident at work and there were no witnesses to the accident you may be wondering whether you can make a claim for injury compensation. This article seeks to answer this question as well as looking at common types of accidents at work and the most important things you must remember to do following an accident in the workplace.



Common types of accidents at work.



Accidents in the workplace vary greatly depending on the nature of the job and the type of environment in which you are working. For example, accidents in an office environment may include injuries caused by faulty office equipment - such as broken chairs - or faulty shelving units collapsing, whereas accidents in a factory may be caused by hazardous debris on the factory floor or faulty electrical equipment. Shop accidents could include slips or trips on items dropped on the floor by customers or other members of staff, whereas accidents in a warehouse could be caused by fellow employee's misuse of machinery. All of these types of accidents should be preventable and it is your employer's duty to take steps to avoid them occurring.



What if there were no witnesses to my accident - can I still make a claim?



The simple answer is yes, as long as you have taken some measures to document the accident and are able to prove that the accident happened as you say it did. The most important and useful way of doing this is by entering the accident into the Work Accident Book as soon as possible after the accident. If you are not physically able to do this because of your injuries you should advise a colleague or a senior member of staff of what has happened and ask them to complete an entry in the Work Accident Book as soon as possible. If faulty machinery, or hazardous debris, caused your accident you could take photographs using a camera or your mobile phone. In addition, when you are seen by medical staff at your local A&E department, or by your GP, ensure that you give them as full a description as possible of the circumstances of the accident so that this can be referred to by your solicitor when your claim is underway.



Important things to do after the accident.



* Enter details of your accident into the Work Accident Book;



* Advise a senior colleague of what has happened;



* Seek medical attention for your injuries;



* Choose a specialist work accident solicitor to advise you on whether you are able to pursue a claim.



Summary.



In summary, the fact that there were no witnesses to your accident in the work place does not mean that you cannot pursue a claim. Ensure that the accident is carefully recorded in the Work Accident Book, seek medical treatment for your injuries as soon as possible (and give the treating practitioner a full account of the accident) and then seek comprehensive legal advice from a specialist work accident solicitor.





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