A Guide To Claiming If Injured Due To A Lack Of Work Safety Boots

By Cat Stardew. Last Updated 17th July 2023. If you were injured due to a lack of work safety boots, you could be entitled to compensation. This guide will explore how you could get the payout you deserve.

You are entitled to a safe working environment at work. In some lines of work, this will mean your employer is obliged to provide you with certain safety equipment. In addition to this, your employer is supposed to perform risk assessments to identify potential risks and hazards which would require personal protective equipment to deal with. In this guide, we will discuss protective equipment for the feet.

Injured due to lack of work safety boots

Injured due to lack of work safety boots

If you get injured while at work, and it has to do with the fact that your employer had not met their obligation to provide you with work safety boots, then they could have breached their duty of care towards you. If your employer breaches their duty of care and you get hurt as a result you could be entitled to make a personal injury claim for compensation. That is what this guide is about and it is what Legal Helpline specialises in.

If at any time you have a question or would like to proceed with a claim, please call us using the number at the top of this page.

Jump To A Section

  1. What Is Workplace Safety Footwear?
  2. Do Employers Have An Obligation To Provide Safety Footwear?
  3. Hazards Caused By Not Wearing Protective Footwear
  4. Warehouse Worker Injuries Due To A Lack Of Work Safety Footwear
  5. Construction Worker Injuries Due To A Lack Of Work Safety Boots
  6. Compensation Payouts For Work Injuries
  7. Additional Compensation Which May Be Claimed
  8. No Win No Fee Claims If Injured Due To A Lack Of Work Safety Boots
  9. Supporting Resources

What Is Workplace Safety Footwear?

In some workplaces, wearing protective footwear is an important part of ensuring you’re safe. Depending on the workplace environment and the nature of the work you are doing there may be different types of protective footwear you need to use. In some workplaces, special non-slip shoes may need to be worn to prevent employees from slipping and falling on slippery floor surfaces. In other workplaces, hardened shoes may be necessary, such as shoes with metal toe caps to protect your feet from being injured by safety hazards.

Safety boots are covered under the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations Act 1992 along with other forms of personal protective equipment. Employers are obliged to provide them to their employees if the likes of risk assessments identify them as necessary to carry out tasks. Employers should also provide storage space for personal protective equipment when it is not being used by employees. For more information about the requirements of protective footwear in the workplace, please read this guide by the Health and Safety Executive. Alternatively, please read on to find out how to claim if you were injured due to a lack of work safety boots.

Do Employers Have An Obligation To Provide Safety Footwear?

Employers have an obligation to provide their employees with any personal protective equipment which they require for their job. This is a part of their general legal duties towards their employee’s health and safety. The Health And Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 outlines an employer’s obligation to take all reasonable steps to prevent avoidable accidents and injuries. The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations Act 1992 further specifies an employer’s obligation to provide their employees with safety equipment. If you suffer an injury in an accident at work because your employer did not fulfil this obligation, then you could have grounds to make a personal injury claim against them.

Do Employees Pay For Work Safety Footwear? If your employer has made you pay for the foot safety footwear that is required in your place of work you ought to immediately contact a solicitor. Health and safety regulations determine that employers are obliged to provide personal protective equipment unconditionally. It is illegal for an employer to charge an employee for personal protective equipment that they need.

Time Limit For Claiming If Injured Due To A Lack Of Work Safety Boots

If you are eligible to make an injury at work compensation claim, you must ensure that you start proceedings within the correct time limit. This time limit for personal injury claims is usually three years from the date of your injuries, as stated by the Limitation Act 1980. But this rule does come with some exceptions, so you may still be able to claim if you were injured more than three years ago.

One of these exceptions covers minors under the age of 18. This is because the time limit remains frozen until the claimant’s 18th birthday, when it reinstates, and lasts until their 21st birthday. However, a litigation friend can start proceedings on the claimant’s behalf at any time while the limit is frozen.

Similarly, the time limit is indefinitely frozen for those who lack the capacity to make a claim for themselves. It will only reinstate if the claimant regains the ability to claim for themselves; if not, then a litigation friend can begin proceedings on their behalf.

To find out if you are within the time limit to claim for injuries caused by a lack of work safety boots, get in touch with our team today.

Hazards Caused By Not Wearing Protective Footwear

Protective footwear is designed to guard you against a wide variety of hazards that can exist in different workplaces. The following is a list of some of the hazards which might mean you’re injured due to a lack of work safety boots.

  • Electric shocks
  • Chemical burns
  • Exposure of the skin to toxic materials
  • Exposure to excessive vibration
  • Exposure to high temperatures
  • Exposure to flames
  • Blunt force trauma from falling objects
  • Crushing injuries from getting feet caught in something
  • Being run over by vehicles
  • Puncture and cutting injuries from sharp objects.

Any injury that occurs which could have been prevented by wearing protective footwear provided by your employer could potentially be grounds for making a personal injury claim. If the cause of your injury is not listed here, do not worry. Call our team of advisors on the number at the top of the page and they’ll advise you on your circumstances.

Warehouse Worker Injuries Due To A Lack Of Work Safety Footwear

A warehouse is one working environment in which protective footwear would probably have to be worn to keep employees safe from hazards. That means that employers must provide protective footwear. If they fail to do so and an employee suffers an injury, they could be subject to a personal injury claim. Protective footwear may have to be worn in a warehouse to prevent the following sorts of accidents and injuries.

  • Having objects fall on your feet
  • Slipping, tripping and falling on uneven or wet floors or packaging
  • Having your feet exposed to dangerous or toxic material being stored in the warehouse.
  • Having your feet run over by forklifts or trolleys used in the warehouse.

Construction Worker Injuries Due To A Lack Of Work Safety Boots

The construction industry is a working environment where wearing protective boots is necessary. Upon completion of risk assessments, employers in the construction sector should provide their employees with protective footwear. The kind of protective footwear that should be supplied for working on building sites are the reinforced kind, with thicker soles and materials as well as toe caps.

Construction sites can have the hazard of sharp objects on the ground, such as nails, wood splinters or broken glass. There is a threat of falling material such as brickwork too. These boots must also be able to handle mud and ice on the ground.

If you’re injured due to a lack of work safety boots on a construction site because your employer failed to provide you with protective footwear, you could be entitled to claim.

Compensation Payouts For Work Injuries

You are probably interested to find out how much compensation you could be entitled to claim for your accident. We cannot give you an accurate figure at this stage as calculations have to be made based on your particular circumstances. But we can outline what your compensation will consist of and how it is calculated. Below, you’ll find some relevant injuries and their potential payouts. This data has been taken from the Judicial College Guidelines, a legal publication used by solicitors and the courts to value claims. 

InjuryNotesCompensation
Amputation of both feetBoth feet have been amputated with the ankle joints lost.£169,400 to £201,490
Amputation of one footOne foot has been amputated and the ankle joint has been lost with it.£83,960 to £109,650
Very severe foot injuryAn injury causing severe pain and a permanent disability, such as the traumatic amputation of the forefoot.£83,960 to £109,650
Severe foot injuryBoth feet or heels have been fractured which causes permanent pain with a serious restriction on mobility.£41,970 to £70,030
Serious foot injuryLess severe foot injuries with traumatic arthritis (or a risk of it) that causes continuing pain and will require prolonged treatment.£24,990 to £39,200
Moderate foot injuryDisplaced metatarsal fractures leading to permanent symptoms and deformity. The injury may also require surgery in the future.£13,740 to £24,990
Modest foot injuriesPuncture wounds, ruptured ligaments or simple metatarsal fractures that result in pain and aching with a permanent limp.Up to £13,740
Amputation of all toesHow much is awarded will depend on whether the amputation was traumatic and how much of the forefoot was lost.£36,520 to £56,080
Severe toe injuryA crush injury that has required one or toes toes to be amputated.£13,740 to £21,070
Serious toe injury.One of toe toes have been fractured or the big toe has been crushed. This will cause discomfort and pain.£9,600 to £13,740

This table could also be known as a personal injury claims calculator. It shows how much financial value is attributed to injuries depending on their severity and how much they are going to affect the victim’s life going forward. 

To get a more precise valuation relevant to your case, why not call our team on the number at the top of this page?

Additional Compensation Which May Be Claimed

It’s also possible to recover expenses and financial losses as a result of being injured due to a lack of work safety boots. Some of the types of things you can recover include:

  • Medical care costs
  • Disability care costs
  • Travelling costs
  • Loss of income

You must keep hold of all paperwork related to your losses and expenses, anything from a bus ticket to a wage slip to an invoice should be filed in a safe place as it could be used as evidence to calculate how much compensation you might be owed.

No Win No Fee Claims If Injured Due To A Lack Of Work Safety Boots

Our panel of solicitors can give you the option of entering into a No Win, No Fee Agreement, also known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). The CFA is designed to offer claimants financial protection and the confidence to pursue justice. If you sign a CFA with a solicitor from our panel, you will not have to pay any fees upfront, nor will you have to pay any fees during your claim either. And if your claim is unsuccessful, you will not have to pay any of the fees your solicitor has incurred in pursuing your case.

If your claim is successful, your solicitor may seek a small contribution towards their costs. This is known as a ‘success fee’ and would be deducted from the compensation awarded at the end of the claim. Don’t worry, the success fee is legally capped and will be agreed upon with you before the claim begins.

Our phone number is 0333 000 0729. You can use that to get in touch right away with our team. If you don’t wish to have a phone call right away you can arrange one for a time you prefer with our websites contact form here.

Supporting Resources

Thanks for reading our guide on how to claim if you were injured due to a lack of work safety boots.