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In the immediate aftermath of an accident, it can be difficult to determine your rights after sustaining a workplace injury while employed through an agency. If the injuries you sustained as an agency worker were directly caused by the negligent actions of a third party, such as the company which hired you, then you may be able to pursue compensation for your pain, suffering, and financial losses resulting from the accident. Whether the accident occurred at a warehouse, an office, hospitality, or in retail, one of the specialist workplace injury solicitors making up our expert panel at Legal Helpline is here to support you if you have grounds to make a claim. They have the necessary skills and knowledge to help you pursue an agency worker accident at work claim and secure the evidence you need to show how a host employer or recruitment firm was responsible for your injuries.
Key Takeaways
- An agency worker is a person who performs work for an organisation but is contracted through a different employment agency.
- Employers have the same legal responsibility to take reasonable steps to protect the health and safety of temporary workers as they do for permanent employees.
- Agency work accidents can include manual handling incidents, slips and trips, chemical burns, or falls from height.
- Temporary workers can pursue compensation if they sustain an injury because of the negligent actions or inaction of their agency or the company to which they were contracted out.
- One of the experienced solicitors on our panel may be able to help you pursue an agency worker accident at work claim on a No Win No Fee basis.
For a free consultation to find out if you can claim after your own workplace accident, please get in touch with our friendly advisors today.
Jump To A Section
- Can I Make An Agency Worker Accident At Work Claim?
- Who Will Be Responsible For An Agency Accident Claim?
- Agency Worker Accident Examples
- What Injuries Can Agency Staff Workplace Accident Claims Cover?
- How Much Agency Worker Injury Compensation Could Be Awarded?
- Agency Worker Injury Compensation Claims On A No Win No Fee Basis
- More Information
Can I Make An Agency Worker Accident At Work Claim?
You may be able to make an agency worker accident at work claim if it can be shown that you sustained an injury because of another party’s negligent actions. However, the circumstances of the incident must meet the eligibility criteria for making a workplace accident claim. This means you must be able to prove the following:
Your Employer Owed You A Duty Of Care
All employers, including companies that hire agency workers, are required to adhere to the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA). This legislation establishes an employer’s legal duty of care, requiring them to take reasonable steps to protect employees’ well-being, health, and safety while at work. Employers owe this duty of care to everyone in the workplace, including permanent employees, temporary staff, and agency workers.
That means the host employer has a responsibility to ensure that workers are appropriately trained for site-specific tasks, provided with properly inspected and maintained equipment, and operate in an environment where known hazards are clearly signposted. In addition, recruitment agencies must ensure that agency workers receive general safety training and the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE).
Your Employer Breached Their Duty Of Care
A breach happens when the hiring company or agency fails to meet health and safety obligations due to negligent actions or omissions. For example, the host employer may have knowingly supplied defective machinery or failed to identify multiple hazards in the workplace due to a lack of routine risk assessments.
This Resulted In Your Injury
In order to pursue compensation, you must be able to demonstrate that you sustained a physical or psychological injury as a direct result of the breach. For an agency worker, this harm could include ligament damage resulting from poor manual handling training, a head injury caused by a lack of protective safety gear, or a fracture sustained after tripping over unsecured cables in an office.
Contact our advisors today for a free claims assessment to find out if you can pursue an agency worker accident claim with the support of a solicitor from our panel here at Legal Helpline.
Who Will Be Responsible For An Agency Accident Claim?
The host company is typically the party responsible for an agency accident claim, as they have ultimate control over workplace health and safety standards. Employers direct the work, provide specific task instructions, arrange on-site training, and supply the equipment used by agency workers. Moreover, Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 requires employers to take practicable steps to ensure that non-employees (including agency workers) are not exposed to health and safety risks. If an employer fails to maintain these standards, they may be responsible for the injuries that an agency worker sustains in a workplace accident.
However, there are situations in which the recruitment agency may also be liable for a worker’s injury, depending on the circumstances of the incident. If an agency has some degree of control regarding the work you carry out, it may have a duty to provide you with the training, protective gear, and tools required for you to perform your job. Therefore, in such a scenario, the agency may be liable if you are injured in an accident at work that was not your fault.
All organisations that engage agency staff must also adhere to The Agency Workers Regulations 2010. These regulations outline how agency workers should receive equal treatment to that of directly employed staff, encompassing access to shared facilities and the right to work in a safe environment.
Please contact our advisors if you have any questions regarding who is responsible for your agency accident claim.
Agency Worker Accident Examples
Common examples of agency worker accidents that can give rise to claims include slips and trips in offices, falls from height at construction sites, and manual handling incidents in warehouses. Here are some specific scenarios:
- Manual handling accidents: You are contracted through an agency to work at a warehouse. The host employer has you move a heavy load of stock without providing manual handling training, leading you to sustain a hip injury.
- Slips and trips: Soon after being placed in an office, you break a leg and suffer a head injury when you slip on a puddle of water that had formed beneath a leaking pipe. The company which hired you had failed to make repairs or display a wet floor sign to alert people to the hazard.
- Chemical burn accidents: Your agency gets you work as a cleaner at a supermarket. The store fails to inspect any of the cleaning products supplied to staff, and several are unlabelled. You subsequently suffer serious burns to your hands due to this oversight and the failure of your agency to provide you with the necessary PPE.
- Defective equipment accident: While on agency work at a construction firm, you are supplied with a ladder that has not been inspected for several months. This allows a defect to go undetected, resulting in you sustaining a back injury when the ladder collapses beneath you.
Discuss your agency work accident with our advisors to find out if you can claim compensation for your injuries.
What Injuries Can Agency Staff Workplace Accident Claims Cover?
Agency staff workplace accident claims can cover any injuries sustained because of someone else’s negligent actions, including fractures, ligament damage, and brain trauma. Other agency staff injuries that may give rise to accident at work claims include:
- Head trauma
- Neck and spinal injuries, which can result in partial or full paralysis
- Soft tissue damage, ranging from tears to muscle damage
- Internal organ damage
- Breaks and crush injuries
- Lacerations and scarring
- Psychological harm, such as anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
If you suffered an injury while employed with an agency, you must inform the relevant party so that they can make a note of the incident in an accident report book. You should also inform the recruitment agency about the incident and seek medical assistance to receive treatment for your injuries. All of this information may later be used as evidence to support your claim.
You can confidentially discuss the details of the injuries you suffered as an agency worker to find out if you can claim compensation.
How Much Agency Worker Injury Compensation Could Be Awarded?
How much agency worker injury compensation could be awarded for the physical or psychological harm you suffered depends on the severity of your injuries, how they affect your day-to-day life, and the related impact on your finances. The pain and suffering you experience because of an injury is valued under the head of claim, general damages.
Before valuing general damages, you may undergo an independent medical assessment to determine the extent of your injuries. When reviewing this, your solicitor might refer to the suggested compensation brackets that the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) pair with various forms of injury. Solicitors can refer to these guidelines to ensure compensation awards are consistent with injuries in similar claims.
Additionally, you may be awarded compensation for any financial losses you incurred as a result of your injuries. This will be valued under the head of claim special damages. Some examples of monetary losses associated with agency worker injury claims include:
- Lost earnings for your time off work due to your injuries
- Medical costs for private treatment, prescriptions and care services
- Travel costs for going to and from medical appointments
- Reimbursements for damaged belongings, such as work clothes
- Costs for special equipment, such as walking aids or wound support
- Home or vehicle alteration costs for mobility ramps
To claim special damages, you must collect evidence of the losses you incurred. This may include copies of your payslips, receipts or credit statements.
Contact our advisors today for more guidance on the factors which might influence how much compensation is awarded in an agency worker injury claim.
Agency Worker Injury Compensation Claims On A No Win No Fee Basis
By pursuing an agency worker injury claim with a solicitor from our panel at Legal Helpline, you can benefit from dedicated legal representation and an expert service provided under No Win No Fee terms. Our panel of accident at work solicitors use a specific kind of No Win No Fee contract called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This enables their clients to start a claim with the knowledge that their legal representative will not charge any service fees for their work, either in advance of the claim or while it is underway. These fees are also not payable in the event that a claim is unsuccessful.
Rather, you will pay your solicitor a small success fee if the claim is settled in your favour. This is taken as a percentage of the compensation that is subject to a legal cap, ensuring the bulk of what you receive stays with you.
Our Panel’s Services
Although there is no obligation to seek legal representation when pursuing an agency worker injury claim, it may be in your best interest to do so. Sometimes the claims process can become complex, so having the support of a fully qualified and experienced solicitor from our panel at Legal Helpline may be useful. For example, they can:
- Use their skills and knowledge as accident at work solicitors to help gather evidence establishing the liability of the agency or hiring employer for your injuries
- Help you navigate the claims process and explain legal terms
- Assist you in applying for interim payments to support you in covering medical costs
- Set you up with an independent medical assessment and rehabilitation services
- Calculate your compensation for injuries, loss of earnings, and other losses to help negotiate a fair settlement on your behalf
- Correspond with representatives of the agency, hiring company, and other involved parties
Our excellent panel of solicitors at Legal Helpline firmly believe that claimants should be represented by someone who always has their best interests at heart. So, please trust they will be there to assist and support you throughout your claim and do all they can to help you regain your health and get back on track.
Contact Our Team To Begin
Contact our friendly advisors at Legal Helpline today for more information about starting your agency worker injury claim by:
- Calling on 0333 000 0729 for a free consultation
- Messaging on a secure and private live chat
- Filling out a quick and confidential online form
Our advisory team is available 24 hours a day, every day. So, contact them at a time that suits you.
More Information
For more information about accident at work claims, please read the following guides:
- Learn about unsafe practices in the workplace
- Information about accident at work employee rights
- A guide explaining how to report an accident at work
References:
- Find access to urgent care near you, NHS.UK
- Information about your rights as an agency worker, GOV.UK
- Find out if you are eligible for statutory sick pay, GOV.UK
Thank you for reading our guide, which explains how to make an agency worker accident at work claim with the support of a solicitor from our expert panel.