Every year, the UK’s Health and Safety Executive publishes statistics revealing the number of employees injured in accidents at work. The most recent figures show that 135 workers were the victims of fatal accidents in the past year, whilst over 560,000 workers self-reported their own non-fatal injury accidents. Employers reported another 60,000 accidents, as the law requires them to do so when a workplace accident results in a reportable injury. 

1.8 million workers self-reported suffering from work-related illnesses in 2022/2023. 

It’s a pretty astonishing fact that 50,000 workers suffer injuries in accidents at work every month, yet by and large, it receives scant coverage in the national press.   

It’s a fact of life that accidents at work will happen. However, the sheer volume with which they occur is not an acceptable or inevitable fact.

Are personal injury claims the antidote to so many workplace accidents taking place?

Perhaps there’s a perception on the part of some employers that since accidents at work are inevitable, it’s a case of managing the fallout from them. They realise that some matters will be ‘resolved’ by injured employees hiring specialist accident at work solicitors to pursue personal injury claims on their behalf.   

For example, an employee injured at work due to their employer’s negligence may bring a workplace accident claim. If their claim is successful, the employee will receive compensation for the pain, suffering and loss of amenity caused by the injury, as well as special damages for loss of earnings and other monetary costs.

In legal terms, the injured worker has been ‘put back into the position they were in just before the accident’, which is the aim of all compensation claims. Employers must, by law, take out employers’ liability insurance; this policy will pay out any damages awarded following a successful accident at work.

The employee receives their compensation, and the employer’s insurance company, not the employer themselves, pays the compensation. 

However, successful accident at work claims do not act as some form of ‘cure-all’. They ensure that some employees receive monetary compensation for the ordeal they have had to go through. However, the physical and mental effects on the injured worker don’t quickly disappear. 

Even if the level of perfection were such that every worker injured in a workplace accident could claim for and receive personal injury compensation, it would still not hide the fact that too many people are getting injured in the workplace, nor would it wipe away the fact that so many accidents at work are happening.

However, not every employee injured in an accident can or will claim compensation. 

Many employees fear losing their jobs if they claim compensation from their employer, even when they have realistic prospects of bringing a successful claim. So, they decide against claiming.    

Others feel too embarrassed to claim, especially those in smaller, family-type companies.

Then there are those employees who decide not to claim because they believe their lives will be made miserable by the employer if they do.

Not all accidents at work are the fault of the employer, either. Human error or poor behaviour by the employee can be the cause of workplace accidents. Factors that can lead to employee error include:

• Overconfidence  
• Complacency 
• Working whilst under the influence of alcohol or drugs
• Fatigue 
• Fooling about whilst on the job
• Trying to complete a task too quickly

So, there are many cases where injured workers will find themselves without redress. Indeed, depending on the nature of the accident, they may even be subject to disciplinary action due to their negligence.  

What are the costs of accidents at work?

It’s worth noting that on top of the 620,000 fatal and non-fatal accidents reported for the year 2022/2023, there were also 1.8 million cases of self-reported work-related ill health. The types of illnesses reported were as follows:

• Stress, depression and anxiety: 49%
• Musculoskeletal disorders: 27%
• Other types of illness: 24%

In 2021/2022, the estimated annual cost of workplace injury and work-related ill health rose 10% from the previous year to £20.7 billion, with work-related ill health costing £13.1 billion and workplace injuries £7.7 billion. 

Why the difference in cost? On average, more sick days (17) are taken due to ill health than for injuries sustained at work( 9). 

Of the £20.7 billion costs of accidents at work, the majority fall on the injured workers and their families. The costs are both human and financial. ‘Human costs’ can be defined as a monetary estimate of the effect of the injury on the individual’s quality of life. In the case of Fatal Accidents, ‘human costs’ refers to an estimation of the impact of the individual’s death on the family left behind. Human costs accounted for £11.6 billion of the total £12.2 billion costs individuals bear. 

The cost of workplace self-reported injuries to employers was £3.9 billion, made up of insurance costs, loss of production caused by the absence of injured workers, the cost of hiring replacement staff as cover for those off work and the cost of replacing or repairing machinery and equipment damaged in the accident.

For the government, the £4.9 billion financial fallout from employees being absent from work due to illness or injury manifests itself most in the cost of benefits payments and of the NHS providing health and rehabilitation to injured or ill employees. 

Conclusion 

Accidents at work happen on such a frequent basis that it’s clear that current safe working practices are not being robustly implemented and enforced. In addition to the monetary costs associated with accidents at work, there are indirect costs of workplace accidents that affect both employers and employees. 

A personal injury claim aims to put accident victims back in the position they were in immediately before the accident. In the case of an accident at work claim, they also help to bring to account those employers whose negligence caused one of their employees to suffer injuries whilst they were carrying out their work duties. However, it would be too simplistic to say they act as an effective deterrent to accidents happening in the first place. Besides, not all of those entitled to bring claims do so. 

Employers whose businesses have a record of workplace accidents start to lose reputation, primarily when accidents result in fatalities or life-changing injuries.  

Employees lose morale and faith in the employer if accidents occur regularly.  

Ultimately, businesses that lose the trust of their employees will see a downturn in productivity. They may also be subject to accident investigations by the Health and Safety Executive, which has the power to prosecute errant businesses and members of the management, where the requirements to ensure the safety and welfare of their employees, as per the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, have not been met.  

Prioritising safety as a pre-requisite enhances the reputation of a business and signifies to its employees that their employer cares about their well-being whilst at work. Employee morale receives a boost, leading to increased productivity and profitability.