This article has been written for those who have been injured in an accident caused by no stairwell lighting and find themselves wondering if they can claim personal injury compensation. If you’ve asked questions like, ‘can inadequate lighting cause a trip hazard?’ or ‘what injuries are most common after a fall?’, then this article may help.
No Stairwell Lighting Caused An Accident – How To Claim Compensation
If a third party owed you a duty of care and you can prove your injury occurred because this was breached, you may be able to make a personal injury claim. This guide will also explain how you could claim with the assistance of a No Win No Fee solicitor.
Read on to find out more, or speak with our advisers to speak to someone about your circumstances. You can contact Legal Helpline by:
- Calling us at 0161 696 9685
- Using the live chat feature below
- Filling in our online contact form with your query
Select A Section
- What Are Accidents Due To A Lack Of Lighting?
- How Could No A No Stairwell Lighting Accident Happen?
- What Are The Most Common Injuries From Falling Down Stairs?
- Top Places Stairwell Accidents Could Happen
- Calculating Settlements For Accidents Caused By No Stairwell Lighting
- Starting Stairwell Accident And Injury Claims
What Are Accidents Due To A Lack Of Lighting?
There are many places in which a stairwell or a staircase could be situated, including workspaces, leisure centres, shopping centres, and other public areas. If the lighting on a stairway is too dim or if the fixture or light fitting is broken, then there may not be enough illumination to spot potential trip hazards.
If you sustain harm in the form of an injury while trying to use a stairwell at work or in public, you may be able to claim compensation. You must be able to show that negligence took place. We will explain more about what this means later in the article.
To learn more about how no stairwell lighting could cause an injury for which you can make a personal injury claim, speak to our advisers today. They can offer more personal advice about your circumstances.
How Could No A No Stairwell Lighting Accident Happen?
Many different accidents could occur in a stairwell. Poor lighting could make it difficult to spot various hazards, such as:
- A broken or defective railing that causes an office accident
- A trip hazard, such as wet leaves tracked into a supermarket
- Uneven or broken steps that result in an accident in a gym
Stairway lighting can be important for spotting these hazards. There are pieces of legislation to determine who is responsible for the safety of those using specific places, and this can include ensuring there is adequate lighting.
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 states that employers have a duty of care to take reasonable steps to ensure their employees’ safety. The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 specify that employers must ensure there is suitable lighting while moving from place to place at work. If you are visiting a workplace, even if it is not your own workplace, an employer owes you a duty of care while you are present.
The Occupier’s Liability Act states that the party in control of a space, otherwise known as the ‘occupier’, owes a duty of care to visitors who use that space for its intended purpose. For example, the owner of a business must take reasonable steps to ensure no one suffers an accident in their shop.
What Is The Leading Cause Of Accidental Falls On Stairways?
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) collects statistics about the kind and number of accidents that occur in the workplace. They collect this information under a piece of legislation called the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013, which requires that certain incidents are reported by employers.
The statistics for the 2020/21 year show that there were:
- 16,698 non-fatal slips, trips, and falls on the same level
- 4,143 non-fatal falls from a height
- 3 fatal slips, trips, and falls on the same level
- 35 fatal falls from a height
To learn more about injuries that could result from an accident that happened because there was no stairwell lighting, contact our advisers. They will be able to offer advice about your potential injury claim.
What Are The Most Common Injuries From Falling Down Stairs?
A number of injuries could arise from falling on or down a staircase. These injuries could be quite serious in nature, as tripping near the top step could result in a fall from a height.
Some of the injuries you could sustain are:
- A broken or fractured bone
- Sprains or strains to ligaments, such as an ankle sprain
- Head injury or brain injury, including concussion
- Nerve damage to the shoulders, neck, or back
- Dislocations, such as a dislocated knee
You should seek medical attention following an accident. It’s important that you receive medical treatment for the full extent of your injuries, and a medical report can also be a valuable form of evidence when making a personal injury claim.
Get in touch with our advisers to learn more about the injuries you may be able to claim for after an accident that happened because there was no stairwell lighting.
Top Places Stairwell Accidents Could Happen
Stairwells can be found in many places, which means there are several locations where negligence could occur and cause an injury. For example, there may be inadequate or no stairwell lighting in a:
- Shopping centre
- School, library, or hospital
- Multi-storey carpark
- Fire escape
- Workplace
To find out about who could be liable for no lighting in a stairwell, contact our advisers. They will listen to the details surrounding your accident and offer personalised advice.
Calculating Settlements For Accidents Caused By No Stairwell Lighting
You may be wondering how much compensation you could receive from a personal injury claim. Compensation payouts can include up to two heads of claim, which are known as general damages and special damages.
General damages are supposed to recompense you for the pain and suffering caused by your injury. Instead of providing a personal injury calculator for this article, we’ve included a table displaying compensation brackets for certain injuries.
| Injury Type | Compensation Bracket | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Very Severe Brain Injury (a) | £282,010 to £403,990 | Injured person will have little or no meaningful environmental interaction despite some ability to follow commands. Need for full-time care. |
| Moderately Severe Brain Injury (b) | £219,070 to £282,010 | Very serious disability and substantial need for care. Physical or cognitive disability. Awards will take into consideration life expectancy and risk of future developments. |
| Severe Back Injuries (a) (i) | £91,090 to £160,980 | Damage to spinal cord and nerves, leading to pain and disability as well as impaired lower organ function and incomplete paralysis. |
| Severe Back Injuries (a) (ii) | £74,160 to £88,430 | Nerve root damage, loss of sensation, impaired mobility, sexual difficulties, unslightly scarring. |
| Severe Neck Injuries (a) (i) | In the region of £148,330 | Injuries associated with incomplete paraplegia or cerebral palsy, or little or no movement in neck despite wearing a collar constantly. |
| Severe Neck Injuries (a) (ii) | £65,740 to £130,930 | This bracket considers injuries that are severe but fall short of the injuries in the above bracket. For example, fractures or perhaps damage to cervical discs. |
| Severe Leg Injuries (b) (ii) | £54,830 to £87,890 | Injuries resulting in permanent mobility issues and permanent ongoing need for mobility aids. |
| Serious Hand Injuries (e) | £29,000 to £61,910 | Damage that has reduced capacity and function to about 50%. |
| Wrist Injuries (a) | £47,620 to £59,860 | Injuries or procedures such as arthrodesis, where function is completely lost. |
| Moderate Foot Injuries (f) | £13,740 to £24,990 | Fractures that result in permanent deformities and pain. |
These numbers are taken directly from the Judicial College Guidelines, a document that a personal injury solicitor may use to help them assess a personal injury claim. Please bear in mind that these figures are only intended as a guide, because your actual settlement will vary.
Special damages are the second potential head of claim that can be added to general damages and are intended to recompense you for any financial losses resulting from your injury. This could include:
- Loss of earnings, including future earnings
- Travel expenses relating to your injury, such as going to hospital appointments
- Replacing property that was damaged during the accident
Get in touch with our advisers to learn more about special damages you may receive after no stairwell lighting led to an injury.
Starting Stairwell Accident And Injury Claims
If you find yourself contemplating a personal injury claim, you may be worried about the cost of hiring legal representation. Our advisers may be able to help with this. If they feel your claim is valid, they may put you in touch with a No Win No Fee solicitor.
A solicitor from our panel may offer you a kind of No Win No Fee agreement called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). By using this agreement, you generally won’t have to pay for the solicitor’s services if your claim fails.
Instead, a small percentage will be deducted from your final compensation amount, and only if your claim succeeds. This amount is capped by law. Furthermore, you usually don’t make an upfront payment to secure their services or pay them anything as the claim is ongoing.
To find out more about claiming after an accident that involved no stairwell lighting, call us today. We can be contacted by:
- Calling us at 0161 696 9685
- Using the live chat feature below
- Filling in our online contact form with your query
Learn More About Claiming For Trips And Falls
We have included links to more of our guides that may be of use:
How to get more money from a personal injury claim
How long is the limitation period for injury claims
Other resources that could be helpful:
Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) – an organisation that imparts knowledge to avoid serious accidents
Request CCTV Footage – Government information about how to claim CCTV footage that you appear in
Human Factors – HSE resource about important human factors to take into consideration for work, including lighting and noise
We hope this article has provided useful information about injuries caused by no stairwell lighting. If you still have questions, contact us using the provided details.
Written by MF
Publisher FS