Care Industry Compensation Claim Solicitors

Care work includes working in a variety of different settings; working in a care home, mental health facility, hospital or caring for vulnerable people in the community. With such varied settings and physical roles, there are a number of different ways that you may be injured :

• Muscular or soft tissue injuries to your back, neck or shoulders from moving, lifting or restraining a person in your care.
• Repetitive strain injuries from completing the same tasks without appropriate breaks, training or equipment.
• A trip, slip or a fall.
• Injuries following a physical assault by a vulnerable person in your care.
• Needle stick injuries causing puncture wounds, infections or serious illness.
• Burns or scalding injuries from food and drink preparation.

Following an accident at work, you should follow the steps below where possible:

• Report the injury and the cause of the accident to your employer immediately.
• Ensure that this is reported in the organisation’s accident book and, if necessary, to the Health and Safety Executive.
• Tell your union representative if you are a member.
• If you can, take photos and/or videos of the cause of the accident.
• obtain contact details of potential witnesses whether these are colleagues who witnessed your  accident or who can provide helpful background information.
• Seek medical attention, either from Accident & Emergency depending on the severity of your injuries, Minor Injuries Unit or your local GP.  Even if you do not feel your injuries warrant medical attention immediately, you should attend your GP as they can record the event on your medical history.

All employers have a legal duty of care towards their employees to provide them with a safe working environment. There are a number of ways that an employer may be considered liable for your accident:

1. Lack of training - Due to the high risk involved within the care industry, one of the main ways an employer can prevent accidents occurring within this sector is through adequate staff training.  This should include training specific to the sector, clear manual handling training on how to safely move and lift vulnerable people, training on how to avoid repetitive strain injuries, as well as restraint training to safely avoid any potential incident.
2. Lack of proper equipment or failure to maintain the equipment – All equipment should be provided by your employer and every employee should be trained on how to use this equipment safely. The correct PPE should be provided and all equipment provided should be regularly checked to ensure it is still working correctly.  Any damaged equipment should be repaired or replaced.
3. Lack of adequate risk assessments – Your employer should properly risk assess each part of your caring role, to include the potential risk of harm you face in caring for particular individuals and how many carers may be required to carry out certain roles etc.

If your employer has failed to provide a safe working environment for you and this has led to an accident, they may be liable and therefore you could make a claim for compensation.  Even if your accident was caused by a colleague or the person you were caring for, you may still have a claim for damages against your employer.

We appreciate that you may feel cautious about bringing a claim fearing that any claim may jeopardise your current position and future career. As an employee you are protected under employment law against being treated unfairly for bringing a claim for damages. All employers should have the appropriate liability insurance in place to cover any such claim.

Part of the duty of care employers have towards their employees in the care industry is a duty to provide a safe working environment.  Your employer has a duty to provide you with appropriate training to reduce the potential for you to be harmed by someone you are caring for and to ensure that there are sufficient members of staff available to minimise the risk of such an incident occurring. Each individual you care for should be risk assessed by your employer and these risk assessments and care plans should be regularly reviewed and updated.

These risk assessments and care plans should include:

• Reference to the appropriate workplace policies for managing vulnerable or unpredictable people in your care.
• How to identify and manage warning signs of potentially difficult behaviour.
• How to respond to these warning signs and seek to reduce the risk of the situation escalating.
• The steps to take and the back up available should a situation escalate and you are harmed or at risk of being harmed.