Working at height can carry inherent risks, and this means that employers, site managers and construction companies should take the necessary steps to ensure that scaffolding is as safe as possible. Falling from a height at work can cause devastating and life-altering injuries, and this scaffolding accident claims guide will let you know when you could be able to claim.
Scaffolding Accident Claims Key Takeaways
- If you have been injured whilst working with scaffolding and it was someone else’s fault, you could be entitled to compensation.
- Your claim could be against your employer, someone else’s employer, the company in control of the scaffolding or the company that provided it.
- Compensation can cover injuries and also financial losses.
- You generally have three years to start an accident at work claims, but there are exceptions.
- An expert solicitor from our panel could represent you on a No Win No Fee basis.
To get started, read on or:
- Message us via the live window option below.
- Contact us online about your scaffolding injury compensation claim.
- Call us at 0333 000 0729.
Go To A Part Of Our Scaffolding Accident Claim Guide
- Am I Eligible To Make A Scaffolding Accident Claim?
- How Much Scaffolding Injury Compensation Can I Claim?
- Types Of Scaffolding Accidents That Lead To Claims
- Common Injuries Caused By Scaffolding Accidents
- Scaffolding Regulations – Your Employer’s Duty Of Care
- Could I Claim For A Scaffolding Injury As A Member Of The Public?
- How Are Scaffolding Accident Claims Made?
- Why Trust Legal Helpline With Your Claim?
- More Information
Am I Eligible To Make A Scaffolding Accident Claim?
Your eligibility to start a claim for personal injury after a scaffolding accident rests upon showing three points:
- Firstly, that you were subject to a duty of care at the moment of injury.
- Someone failed to meet this duty of care sufficiently.
- As a result, you experienced harm.
These criteria are often used to define negligence, and with all three in place, you could have grounds to seek compensation for your injuries from your employer or construction site management. We will look at some of the specific laws and regulations that impose a duty on employers and others later in this guide.
If you’d like to check in person, please reach out by phone, email or ask in the live discussion window below a question.
How Much Scaffolding Injury Compensation Can I Claim?
Scaffolding injury claims vary from case to case, and the ‘average’ amount awarded is not very helpful if you do not know if your case is average. What is of more value is to tell you how personal injury compensation is calculated.
How We Estimate Compensation
At Leal Helpline, the solicitors on our panel approach the calculation process by looking at two heads of loss called general and special damages. General damages enable those involved in the calculation process to establish a sum for pain, suffering, lost amenity and any permanent disabilities.
To do this, publications like the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) are used. This contains award bracket amounts based on past successful claims for a wide range of injuries based on severity. Our excerpt illustrates:
Compensation Guidelines
| INJURY | SEVERITY | AWARD BRACKET | DETAILS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple degrees of injury and special damages | Serious | Up to £1 million plus | This amount applies to more than one serious injury and special damages for lost employability and care costs. |
| Head/Brain | (a) Very Severe | £344,150 up to £493,000 | Permanent and profound disability requiring constant help from professional carers for all needs. |
| (c) Moderate (i) | £183,190 up to £267,340 | Despite sensory loss and vestibular symptoms, a lower degree of dependence on others is needed. | |
| Neck | (a) Severe (i) | In the region of £181,020 | Cases of incomplete paraplegia or spastic quadriparesis resulting in little or no neck movement. |
| Back | (a) Severe (i) | £111,150 up to £196,450 | The most severe types of damage to the nerve root and spinal cord. |
| (a) Severe (ii) | £90,510 up to £107,910 | Cases that include special features like bladder/bowel injury and unsightly scarring. | |
| Pelvis | (a) Severe (i) | £95,680 up to £159,770 | Pelvic fractures that can rupture the bladder, require spinal surgery and cause intolerable pain. |
| Knee | (a) Severe (i) | £85,100 up to £117,410 | Serious disruption of the knee joint with ligament damage and extensive treatment required. |
| Leg | Very Serious (ii) | £66,920 up to £109,290 | Injuries bad enough to require crutches or mobility aids for the rest of the person's life. |
| Ankle | (c) Moderate | £16,770 up to £32,450 | Ligament tears and fractures that create more minor problems like standing on uneven ground or taking stairs. |
Importantly, they are only guide amounts and every scaffolding accident claim will differ. For a precise estimate, speak to us. Also, our table has an entry at the top that isn’t taken from the JCG.
Special Damages
A second component that makes up compensation can often be special damages. These reimburse the person for the financial harm caused by their scaffolding injuries. It is required to put forward evidence of any associated losses or expenses you wish to claim, such as:
- Payslips or statements that prove a loss of earnings after an injury.
- Proof of medical expenses for private care.
- Rehabilitation and physiotherapy costs, including those that are predicted for the future.
- The expense of paying others for domestic care.
- Receipts and tickets for essential travel.
There may be other forms of evidence that prove how the injuries harmed you financially. If your claim is eligible and you place it with a solicitor from our panel, they can analyse this evidence with you. Their expert advice could increase the compensation owed to you. Call to discuss.
Types Of Scaffolding Accidents That Lead To Claims
We now look at some scenarios where employer negligence could give rise to a valid claim for injury involving scaffolding:
- An employer failed to carry out a thorough risk assessment of work being done at a height. Because of this, they failed to identify uneven ground, and the scaffolding was erected in a hazardous way. An employee suffered a significant brain injury after falling.
- Poor training provided by the employer meant that scaffolding was erected incorrectly. This caused a scaffolding collapse and an employee suffered spinal cord injury in a fall or through contact with the falling poles, planks and scaffolding equipment.
- A safety harness was not provided, and an employee was instructed to work on scaffolding in poor weather. The combination of wind and rain caused them to fall, breaking their leg.
Your example may be different, but the basic principle is the same. The employer or third party in charge of scaffolding have a duty of care to ensure it is safe. If they failed in a way that caused you injury, call our advisors to discuss your next step.
Common Injuries Caused By Scaffolding Accidents
Scaffolding accidents can cause a wide range of injuries as often, the accident involves falling and this can damage any area of the body. Frequently encountered injuries on scaffolding sites include:
- Severe brain trauma.
- Head and neck injury.
- Paralysis.
- Cuts and deeper lacerations.
- Bone fractures.
- Spinal damage.
- Pelvic damage.
- Less severe concussion or mild fractures.
- Shock.
It is possible to sustain a combination of these scaffolding accident injuries as well. A well-handled scaffolding accident claim can look at multiple injuries and ensure that each one is reflected in the calculation. For more on how our panel of solicitors do this, please speak to the team.
Scaffolding Regulations – Your Employer’s Duty Of Care
Employers have an obligation to the health and safety of their employees as detailed in legislation called the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HASAWA). They need to take reasonable, proportionate and practicable steps to prevent their staff from experiencing harm while working. This duty of care extends to sub-contractors as well as members of the public.
In addition to this duty of care law, there is specific legislation for construction site and scaffolding safety:
- The Work at Height Regulations 2005
- The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015
- Scaffolding Rules as detailed by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Britain’s workplace safety regulator.
Employers need to check equipment, provide personal protective equipment (PPE) and train employees in safety procedures. Anyone working at height should be competent to do so. Together, these rules and regulations explain everything an employer can do to ensure that a scaffolding accident at work is safeguarded against as much as possible.
If you feel that your employer failed to apply the appropriate standards of health and safety and you were harmed as a consequence, call us about your options for starting a scaffolding accident claim.
Could I Claim For A Scaffolding Injury As A Member Of The Public?
Scaffolding that overlaps onto the pavements and public highways may be the responsibility of the Local Authority or a private firm. Either way, both are bound by HASAWA and also the Occupier’s Liability Act 1957 (OLA). OLA provides a similar obligation to HASAWA and those in control of the scaffolding must take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of the public.
If a member of the public can prove that they were injured by scaffolding in disrepair or in a dangerous condition, a personal injury claim could apply. Start by chatting with our advisors. They can assess the strength of your claim in a free, no-obligation call.
How Are Scaffolding Accident Claims Made?
Now we examine some important steps in building a scaffolding accident claim, such as gathering supporting evidence, meeting the time limits for claiming and working with a solicitor:
Gather Evidence – CCTV, Accident Books, Witness Statements And More
Evidence forms the basis of scaffolding accident claims. You need to assemble as much proof as possible that the employer/occupier breached health and safety standards in a way that led to you being harmed. The following can help with this:
- Photos of your injuries.
- Photos of the hazard that caused the accident.
- Eyewitness contact information from people willing to give a supporting statement to a solicitor.
- Site CCTV footage that shows the accident and injury.
- Copies of medical reports detailing the treatment you needed for your injuries. This includes X-rays and specialist reports.
- A copy of the workplace accident book entry (a legal requirement on construction sites) or any Health and Safety Executive reports on serious injury.
Factual evidence like this can greatly strengthen your scaffolding accident claim. So if you’d like personalised advice on what to gather, speak to our team. They could direct you to a personal injury expert solicitor from our panel to help.
Time Limits When Starting A Claim
The Limitation Act 1980 applies a three-year time limit in which personal injury claims must be started. Usually, this starts from the date of the accident and injury. There are circumstances under which the time limit differs.
For example, minors cannot claim themselves until they are 18 from which date they have three years to do so. Also, the time limit is paused for those who lack mental capacity. Should capacity return the three-year period starts from that date.
Both groups can have a claim started for them at any point by a litigation friend. This is someone appointed by the courts to carry out the duties of a personal injury claim on their behalf.
If you’d like to discuss time limits and litigation friends in person, please reach out to our advisory team by phone, email or through live chat below.
Considering Claiming On A No Win No Fee Basis
Not all law firms and solicitors provide No Win No Fee terms. However, the solicitors on our panel routinely offer a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) as a way to assist eligible claimants to start a legal action. Working this way with solicitors from our panel means the following:
- Work on the claim can start without any solicitor’s fees needing to be paid.
- Solicitors ask for no fee as they work on the claim going forward.
- Should the claim fail, the solicitors will request no fees for their completed work.
- Claims that enjoy a positive outcome are subject to a success fee needing to be paid to the solicitors.
- This amount is a pre-agreed percentage deducted from the compensation at the end.
- In addition to this, success fees are subject to a legal limit which means you can rest assured that the majority of the compensation is yours.
Why Trust Legal Helpline With Your Claim?
There are many good reasons to entrust your scaffolding accident compensation claim to a solicitor on our panel. If the claim appears eligible and they agree to take it up, you can expect a host of benefits such as:
- Expert calculation of what you could be owed in compensation.
- Assertive communication with the other side.
- Regular updates on how the claim is progressing.
- Prompt attention to the court-issued instructions regarding documents and deadlines.
- A smooth and professional experience throughout the claims process.
If you’d like to discover whether you could take advantage of excellent service like this, start by speaking to our advisory team. They can assess your scaffolding accident claim and take it from there:
- Message us via the live window option below.
- Contact us online about your scaffolding injury compensation claim.
- Call us at 0333 000 0729.
More Information
In addition to the information in this guide about scaffolding accident claims, the following links provide more detailed resources to help:
- Read how to make workplace accident claims as a subcontractor here.
- Here, you can read how to use an accident at work calculator.
- Also, information if you suffered a crane injury.
External information that may help:
- This looks at scaffolding rules from GOV.UK.
- Read this symptom checker from the NHS.
- Also, information from Headway, the brain injury charity.
Thanks for your interest in our guide about scaffolding accident claims. The advisory team is standing by, ready to answer any further questions you may have about your scaffolding injury claim.
