If a colleague has ran over your foot at work, you may be interested in knowing whether you could make a personal injury claim for your workplace accident.
Many organisations and companies use different types of vehicles around the workplace, for example on a construction site or in a warehouse forklift trucks will be used to move around items that are too heavy or bulky to be moved by an employee. Having such large industrial trucks move around workplaces carrying loads can be a hazard within themselves, that is why it is essential for employers to ensure they are used in a safe way so as not to cause accidents.
In this guide, we will start out by looking at how compensation for a personal injury claim after an accident at work is calculated, who could be eligible to make this type of claim, how an accident involving a workplace vehicle could occur and the evidence that could be collected to support your case.
Towards the end of the guide, we have provided a summary of the No Win No Fee agreement our panel of solicitors can offer and what benefits this offers claimants.
Colleague Ran Over My Foot At Work – Can I Claim?
To have your questions answered today in a free consultation where you are not obligated to use our services, please contact our advisors using the following contact details:
- Call 0161 696 9685.
- Use the “Contact Us” page
- Start a conversation in the chat icon below
Browse Our Guide
- Examples Of Payouts If A Colleague Ran Over Your Foot At Work
- Are You Eligible To Claim If A Colleague Ran Over Your Foot At Work?
- Examples Of How A Colleague Could Run Over Your Foot At Work
- What Evidence Could Support Your Claim?
- Start Your Workplace Accident Claim
- Get Further Guidance On Claiming If A Colleague Ran Over Your Foot
Examples Of Payouts If A Colleague Ran Over Your Foot At Work
Compensation awards for injuries after a colleague ran over your foot can be split into two different heads of claim. General damages compensate for the injuries, as well as the pain and suffering caused by such injuries and loss of amenity.
When injuries are being valued, as well as the report from your independent medical assessment you will attend as part of the claims process, legal professionals will also turn to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This is a publication that contains a list of injuries accompanied by their severities and guideline compensation brackets.
Guidance Brackets
As every claim is unique, this table is only to be used as a guide.
| Injury | Severity | Guideline Bracket Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foot Injuries | Amputation of One Foot (b) | £83,960 to £109,650 | This is injury is awarded similarly to a below-knee amputation due to the loss of the ankle joint. |
| Very Severe (c) | £83,960 to £109,650 | Injuries that produce severe and permanent pain or really serious permanent disability. For example a traumatic amputation of the forefoot. | |
| Severe (d) | £41,970 to £70,030 | This bracket includes unusually serious injuries to a single foot such as an extensive degloving, extensive surgery or other disability that prevents the wearing of normal shoes. | |
| Serious (e) | £24,990 to £39,200 | Injuries leading to continuing pain from traumatic arthritis, prolonged treatment and risk of fusion surgery. | |
| Moderate (f) | £13,740 to £24,990 | Displaced metatarsal fractures resulting in permanent deformity. | |
| Toe Injuries | Amputation of All Toes (a) | £36,520 to £56,080 | Level of award will depend on whether the amputation was surgical or traumatic and the extent of the loss of the forefoot. |
| Severe (c) | £13,740 to £21,070 | This bracket awards for severe crush injuries resulting in the loss of one or two toes. | |
| Serious (d) | £9,600 to £13,740 | Serious injuries to the great toe or crush and multiple fractures of at least two toes involving permanent disability. |
Special Damages
Costs incurred from your injuries can be reimbursed under special damages. We have included some possible costs you could claim compensation for here:
- Any loss of earnings stemming from time taken off work to recover from your injuries.
- Costs for support with food preparation, cleaning or maintenance of outside space if you are unable to safely carry out these duties yourself.
- Travel to and from work if unable to drive safely.
- Any out-of-pocket medical bills such as prescriptions.
As with general damages, claiming special damages will require supporting evidence. Retain copies of any travel tickets, receipts, payslips and other documentation that demonstrates you incurred monetary losses.
Are You Eligible To Claim If A Colleague Ran Over Your Foot At Work?
The duty of care owed by employers to their workforce is set out in the Health and Safety At Work etc. Act 1974. Employers are legally required to take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of their employees while at work.
This means that if your employer were to fail in their obligation to take these reasonably practicable steps in keeping you safe while at work they would be in breach of this duty, therefore, if this breach led to an accident in which you were injured, they could be liable for your suffering.
Below are the criteria that must be satisfied in order to have an eligible personal injury claim:
- At the time of the accident, your employer owed you a duty of care,
- Through actions or inactions, the duty of care was not adhered to, therefore it was breached.
- As a result of the breach, you were involved in an accident in which you were injured.
Time Limits
When making any kind of compensation claim, you must adhere to the time limits as stated in the Limitation Act 1980. To make a personal injury claim for an accident at work, you will usually have 3 years in which to begin legal proceedings. This will commence from the day of the accident. There are exceptions to this time limit especially for those under 18 and those who have mental incapabilities.
Examples Of How A Colleague Could Run Over Your Foot At Work
Accidents in workplaces can happen for different reasons below we look at examples of accidents that involved workplace vehicles and have resulted from an employer not adhering to their duty of care:
- An employee is asked to use a forklift to move a pallet from one end of the warehouse to the other. They have never had any training on how to use a forklift. The employee loses control of the truck and runs over a colleague’s foot causing very severe fractures to several metatarsals.
- There are no designated walkways around a delivery yard. As an employee tries to get to the entrance of their workplace, a colleague who is driving a delivery van fails to see them driving straight over their foot. This causes their toes to be severely crushed which leads to them being amputated.
- An HGV is unloading at your place of work. The van has faulty brakes which the employer is aware of but has yet to have repaired. As the van starts to roll, your foot becomes trapped underneath.
What Evidence Could Support Your Claim?
By collecting a thorough body of evidence, you will improve your claim’s chances of success. Evidence is used to show how the accident occurred, what caused it and the effect your injuries had on you.
- The first step after an accident is to seek proper medical treatment. This is important for your health, but it will also produce medical documents, such as an X-ray, that you can use as evidence.
- Witness statements can provide useful accounts of how accidents took place. Note down contact information so their statements can be taken during the claims process.
- Training records that show training was not carried out.
- Similarly, maintenance records will show if any repairs have gone incomplete, or if the maintenance checks were omitted altogether.
- Request copies of CCTV footage.
Our experienced advisors can provide further information on how to collect evidence for your claim. You could also get support from a personal injury specialist from our panel of solicitors if you have a valid claim. Speak to our team today for a no-cost assessment of your eligibility to claim.
Start Your Workplace Accident Claim
To begin your accident at work claim after a colleague ran over your foot, first speak to our advisors. They can provide further guidance on the claims process as well as assess your eligibility to claim. If your potential claim is valid, our team could connect with a personal injury specialist from our panel of solicitors.
Our panel can offer their services under a No Win No Fee contract called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). A CFA brings many benefits including:
- No fees for the solicitor to start work on your claim
- No ongoing fees during the claims process for that work.
- In the event the claim is unsuccessful, you will not pay any fees for the solicitor’s services.
A successful claim will see you awarded personal injury compensation. The solicitor will take a percentage of this compensation as their success fee. Since success fee percentages are legally capped, you will keep most of any awarded compensation.
To find out today if you have valid grounds to pursue a claim, call our team. You can speak to an advisor via:
- 0161 696 9685.
- Use the “Contact Us” page
- Start a conversation in the chat icon below
Get Further Guidance On Claiming If A Colleague Ran Over Your Foot
Here are more of the guides that can be found on our website:
- Find out the eligibility criteria for making manual handling claims after a workplace accident.
- Learn more about starting a claim for an accident with a pallet truck.
- Inadequate personal protective equipment injury claims guide.
Here are some resources from different web pages that you may find useful:
- The HSE has provided this guidance on safe forklift truck operation.
- See the NHS information on when to call 999.
- The government resource on statutory sick pay can be viewed here.
- The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), is the regulator for health and safety in workplaces in Britain.
To find out if you could make an accident at work claim after a colleague ran over your foot contact our team via the information provided above.