A building site accident claim is a subdivision of the category relating to industrial and workplace safety. All of the regulations that apply to factories and offices and many more specific regulations also apply to construction sites. Employers owe a general duty of care to employees and these are embodied in numerous Parliamentary Statutes and regulations from the EC. In brief employers must ensure :-
- That you are provided with a safe place of work.
- That the appliances that you and your colleagues use are safe and well maintained.
- That your system of work does not expose you to any form of danger or hazard.
- That work colleagues are competent and do not expose you to any risk.
- That risk assessment has been carried out for all potentially dangerous activities.
Building site accident claim settlements are a very common issue with workers in this industry being six times more likely to be killed than in any other industry. No longer are the mines and the fishing vessels the most dangerous places to work. It’s now on your door step, quite literally that most fatalities occur. About 200 people are killed every year on construction sites ranging across the spectrum from large civil engineering projects to local jobbing builders, with particular concern for inexperienced one off self build operatives. Almost all of these accidents are foreseeable and thus preventable.
One in three fatalities throughout the range of British industry occurs in construction with most deaths being the result of falls from height due to either carelessness on ladders or more often unlawful scaffolding structures. Most of the remainder of accidents are caused by personal collision with moving mechanical equipment including cranes, forklifts, diggers and dumpers.
Employers have a legal duty enacted by law to reduce the risk of injury to employees by taking care of health and safety in accordance with statutory requirements. Employers must provide competent co-workers, adequate equipment, comprehensive training and safety equipment and must carry out a risk assessment of all potentially dangerous activities. There are some specific requirements including :-
- safe place of work and safe access
- protection from falling objects
- physical prevention of falls through fragile materials
- protection from falls over 2m
- equipment that will arrest falls
- training on safe use of ladders
- competent design and supervision for erection of scaffolding
- safe storage for materials and equipment
Umbrella Claims is a specialist organisation that deals exclusively with accident compensation claims on a No Win No Fee basis. Win or lose there is no charge*. This means that you never have to pay anything to us or our personal injury solicitors. All compensation received of whatever nature is paid to you in full without any deduction whatsoever - absolutely guaranteed. We will minimalise any inconvenience to you and we offer free advice without obligation from some of the best lawyers in the business. We ensure that our client’s interests are a priority and our lawyers deal with claims in a friendly, efficient and competent manner to ensure that you get the compensation that you deserve in the shortest time scale possible.