Accidents at work occur on a regular basis in businesses of all sizes across all industries.

From the traditional office environment to a building site, potential hazards lurk in every workplace, especially if the stringent health and safety guidelines that exist to protect staff are not adhered to.

A failure to provide a safe working environment or adequate staff training on how to use certain pieces of machinery can have disastrous consequences for employers and employees alike.

To get a clearer idea of injury and illness rates at work, statistics released by the Health and Safety Executive for 2010/11 make for interesting reading. A total of 26.4 million working days were lost during that period due to work-related illness and injuries sustained in the workplace, 171 workers were killed at work and 1.2 million working people were suffering from a work-related illness.

These figures give you some idea of how common work-related injuries and illnesses are in the UK and when accidents do happen it can lead to compensation claims being made.

The different kinds of workplace accidents

Many different factors can contribute to a workplace accident, from a lack of training to failing to provide the proper protective equipment to perform a particular job safely. Training differs from one occupation to the next and can include everything from informing staff how to lift items in the correct manner without putting strain on the back, learning how to drive a forklift truck and using other machinery and disclosing how to deal with hazardous materials.

The most common injuries sustained at work

The single most common cause of major injury at work is slipping or tripping and injuries sustained as a result can range from minor sprains to fatalities. Back problems also frequently occur after lifting objects incorrectly and vibration white finger is common among people who do a job involving some form of manual labour. Asbestos-related diseases and industrial deafness are also common problems in the UK as well as accidents that occur on scaffolding, in factories and in or around forklift trucks.

Are you worried about making a clam against your employer?

It can be a confusing time for you if you have suffered an injury or illness at work and are considering whether or not to make a claim against your employer. You may be afraid that making a claim will result in you losing your job, but it is actually illegal to be dismissed for doing precisely that and it’s worth remembering that  employers have a duty of care to safeguard your general wellbeing in the work place. Employers will also be insured to protect themselves against any claims being made against them. Providing the accident was caused due to the negligence of your employer, the accident was recorded in the accident book at work and if possible there are witnesses, you have grounds to make a claim.