All employers owe their employees a duty of care to ensure their safety within the workplace. If they breached this duty, causing you to be injured after being hit by heavy boxes at work, you could make a personal injury claim. If you succeed, you could be awarded a payout that addresses the way your injuries have affected your quality of life. As we move through this guide, we discuss when you could be eligible to seek compensation and how settlements are calculated if a successful claim is made.
Examples Of Payouts If Hit By Heavy Boxes At Work
Later in this guide, we provide examples of how an accident at work involving falling objects could occur and the injuries that could be sustained as a result. Additionally, we discuss the evidence you could gather to prove the injuries you sustained were the result of your employer breaching their duty of care.
As you move towards the end of this guide, you will find information on how our panel of No Win No Fee solicitors can benefit you and the terms under which they could begin work on your claim.
If you have any other questions, please contact an advisor from our team. They can offer free advice and answer your questions free of charge. To get in touch, you can:
- Call 0161 696 9685.
- Fill in our ‘Claim Online‘ form.
- Send a message in our live chat box.
Jump To A Section
- Examples Of Payouts If Hit By Heavy Boxes At Work
- Can I Claim For Being Struck By Heavy Boxes At Work?
- Examples Of How You Could Be Hit By Heavy Boxes At Work
- What Evidence Could Support Your Accident At Work Claim?
- Claim If Hit By Heavy Boxes At Work With A No Win No Fee Solicitor
- Find Out More About Claiming For An Accident At Work
Examples Of Payouts If Hit By Heavy Boxes At Work
There are up to two possible heads of loss that can be awarded for successful accident at work claims.
Firstly, you will receive general damages if your claim is successful. You could receive compensation under this head for a physical injury, psychological injury, or both together. This compensates for the psychological and physical effects of your injuries, like the:
- The extent of your pain and suffering.
- Disruption to your everyday routine.
- The length of your recovery period.
To help them calculate the value of your injuries, solicitors and other legal professionals may look at the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) alongside your unique medical assessments. The JCG contains various guideline compensation brackets for several types of injuries.
Injuries Table
The injuries table below has different guideline compensation brackets for injuries from the JCG. However, none of these figures are guaranteed as each case is calculated on an individual basis.
| Injury Type | Severity Level | Guideline Award Brackets | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brain damage | Very severe (a) | £282,010 to £403,990 | Little to no meaningful response to surroundings. The person needs nursing care on a full-time basis. |
| Moderately severe (b) | £219,070 to £282,010 | A physical or cognitive disability that's serious in nature. | |
| Moderate (c) (ii) | £90,720 to £150,110 | Where both intelligence and the ability to work are moderately affected. | |
| Leg | Severe (b) (i) | £96,250 to £135,920 | Very serious fractures that have not fully united, leading to extensive bone grafting. |
| Severe (b) (ii) | £54,830 to £87,890 | Injuries of a very serious nature leading to permanent mobility issues. | |
| Less serious (c) (i) | £17,960 to £27,760 | Fractures that don't fully recover and serious soft tissue injuries. | |
| Foot | Severe (d) | £41,970 to £70,030 | An unsually severe injury to one foot, such as those resulting in extensive surgery. |
| Serious (e) | £24,990 to £39,200 | Traumatic arthritis causing continuous pain. | |
| Moderate (f) | £13,740 to £24,990 | Permanent deformity from displaced fractures. |
Are There Other Types Of Damages You Could Claim?
Secondly, you may receive special damages if your claim is successful. This payout reimburses the past and future financial expenses you have incurred because of your injuries, like your:
- Loss of earnings.
- Medical expenses, such as prescription costs.
- Travel expenses, such as taxis to and from medical appointments.
You must have evidence of your injury’s financial costs, so please keep hold of any invoices, payslips, receipts, and bank statements.
To find out more information about payouts for successful personal injury claims, please contact an advisor.
Can I Claim For Being Struck By Heavy Boxes At Work?
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 establishes an employer’s duty of care which they owe to all of their employees. The duty of care placed on employers requires them to ensure employee safety while working by taking reasonable and practicable steps. Some of the steps they need to take to uphold this duty include providing adequate training, necessary personal protective equipment (PPE), performing risk assessments, and implementing measures to address any hazards that pose a risk of injury.
If you have been hit by heavy boxes at work because your employer has failed to uphold their duty of care, you may wish to make a workplace injury claim. Here are the eligibility criteria that you must meet in order to seek personal injury compensation:
- You were owed a duty of care by your employer.
- This duty was breached.
- You sustained a physical and/or psychological injury because of the breach.
How Long Do You Have To Claim For Accidents At Work
If you do not begin your personal injury claim within the legal time limit, as stated in the Limitation Act 1980, then you may not be able to claim. The time limit to initiate legal proceedings is 3 years starting from the date you were injured.
There are some instances where this time limit will have an exception made. For further guidance on the eligibility criteria and the limitation period, you can get in touch with an advisor today.
Examples Of How You Could Be Hit By Heavy Boxes At Work
Here are some examples of how you could get hit by heavy boxes at work as a result of your employer acting negligently:
- Defective equipment: In a warehouse, an employer fails to check the maintenance of a forklift truck before asking an employee to use it. The forks on the defective forklift malfunction and break when the employee is loading heavy boxes. Thus, a colleague standing alongside the truck suffers crush injuries to their chest as the boxes fall on them.
- No workplace training: The employer in a shop does not provide their employees with any manual handling training. So, an employee stacks heavy boxes in the stockroom insufficiently. Another store assistant is in the stockroom when the boxes fall. The falling objects lead to brain damage as they hit the assistant on the head.
Not all accidents at work will form the basis of a valid claim. Get in touch with an advisor to find out when you could be eligible to seek workplace injury compensation.
What Evidence Could Support Your Accident At Work Claim?
Evidence is important to show how your injuries have affected you and that a breach of your employer’s duty of care caused them.
The following evidence could help strengthen your personal injury claim for being hit by heavy boxes at work:
- CCTV footage of your accident.
- Photographs of the immediate aftermath of the accident, including any defective equipment or of your physical injuries.
- Copies of your medical records.
- Contact information from any eyewitnesses, most likely other employees.
- Journals of your symptoms and psychological effects, preferably dated.
If you have an eligible claim and instruct a solicitor from our panel to represent you, they can help you collect your evidence. To potentially receive this assistance, contact our team on the number above.
Claim If Hit By Heavy Boxes At Work With A No Win No Fee Solicitor
You may be eligible to make your personal injury claim for being hit by heavy boxes at work with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel. This is because they can offer their services under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), which is a type of No Win No Fee contract. There are no upfront or ongoing costs for your solicitor’s work under a CFA. There are also no charges for your solicitor’s work if your claim is unsuccessful.
So, what does this mean if your claim is successful? A success fee will be deducted from your compensation before it is awarded. The law sets a maximum percentage of what can be taken as the success fee, so you still receive the larger part of your payout.
Talk To Our Team Today
Talk to our team today, where they can not only assess your personal injury claims validity but also connect you with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel if you are eligible to proceed. You can get in touch by:
- Calling 0161 696 9685.
- Filling in our ‘Claim Online‘ form.
- Sending a message in our live chat box.
Find Out More About Claiming For An Accident At Work
Learn more about claiming for a personal injury by reading our similar guides:
- See if you can claim compensation for a workplace injury after leaving the company.
- Read about what you need to know about an employee’s rights after an accident at work.
- Find out how a split liability personal injury claim works.
Alternatively, here are some related external resources:
- Health and Safety Executive (HSE): Information on managing risk assessments at work.
- NHS – Information on head injuries and concussion.
- NHS – Information on a broken leg.
Thank you for reading our guide today on how much compensation you could receive if you have been hit by heavy boxes at work. If you have any other questions, please contact an advisor on the number above.