Construction Accident Claims

Construction Accident Lawyer

Construction site workers face physical dangers every day at work. There is strict health and safety legislation requiring employers to ensure that their workers are properly trained and have the correct equipment. If you have suffered an accident, our personal injury lawyers can help.

Contact us

Contact

  • “They punch well above their weight. The quality of service they provide equals that of any of the larger top-name firms in this area.”

  • “This is an excellent PI team, who are highly respected in the PI sector. Their team includes bright, hard-working solicitors dedicated to achieving successful outcomes for their clients”

Make a Construction Accident Claim

Despite the protection of the law, many construction workers are at particular risk and may be reluctant to make an accident at work claim for any injuries. Those most at risk tend to be ‘casual’ workers who are registered as self-employed under the Government’s Construction Industry Scheme.

There may be up to 1 million casual workers with self-employed status in the UK. Most of them are not truly self-employed but are described as such to allow them to be engaged, often by agencies, without national insurance payments and with reduced worker safety rights.

London construction site claims

In London’s large construction sector, nearly 40% of all workers are migrants. Bulgarians and Romanians now enjoy the same freedom of movement as workers from other European Union states, so they can officially work here as ’employed’ or as ‘self employed’ construction workers.

Many of our construction industry clients work with self-employed status and we are still able to bring successful claims for nearly all of them. This is because in many cases we can show that the relationship is, in reality, one of employer-employee and in any event, there are still health and safety duties owed to the self-employed. If a self-employed worker is injured because of the negligence of another worker or organisation he will still be able to bring a claim.

Help with your Construction Accident Claim

Some construction site workers are reluctant to bring a claim because they may lose their job. In reality, most are not kept on if they are unable to work through injury anyway, because their self-employed status means they are not eligible for sick leave or sick pay. Employees with full employment status, would have a further claim, for Unfair Dismissal if the employer sacked them because they were off work on sick leave.

The employer is required by law to have liability insurance for worker accidents and so in practice, the claim is dealt with and paid for by the insurers, and the employer accepts this. So it is rare for the employer to want to take any action against the employee.

Another reason a migrant construction worker might be reluctant to bring a claim is because of issues with their immigration status. We can usually advise on these issues and most claims will still succeed. Please contact us for free no obligation advice on a personal injury claim.

Due to the nature of the work those working in the construction injury are at increased risk of sustaining a head injury after an accident. Find out more about our expertise in serious head injury accident claims.

Construction Accident Claim case study

Mr C worked for a plant hire company. He drove a low-loader lorry to a construction site and unloaded the vehicles from the back. There was a dumper truck and two diggers, all chained together. The wheels were caked in mud. As he reversed one of the diggers off the back of the lorry the tyres could not grip on the surface of the low loader and it slid off the side, landing on its roof.

The legal case against them was that it was foreseeable that the vehicles’ tyres would be covered in mud because they had been used on construction sites; the employers should therefore have ensured that there was a supply of sand and a shovel in the lorry or that arrangements were made with the site main contractors for the wheels to be hosed down on arrival at the site.

Mr C was fortunate to escape with only a fracture to his ankle. The fracture needed surgery but he recovered well and was back at work within six weeks.

The employers denied liability and so court proceedings were issued but their insurers obtained a barrister’s advice after which they agreed to deal with the claim. Liability was then admitted and the case was settled for £8000 damages plus the legal costs.

If you work or worked in construction and experienced an injury due to an accident at work, contact our specialist team of lawyers who can advise you on whether or not you are eligible to claim compensation.

Speak to a Personal Injury Lawyer Today

For a free initial conversation call 020 7485 8811

Email us Send us an email and we’ll get back to you






    Client StoriesVIEW ALL

    1. strawberry pickers
      14.3.2024

      Strawberry Picker Receives £10,500 After Accident at Work

      Incident in the Strawberry Field Our client was at work, walking in the field and carrying cages with strawberries, when...

      Read more
    2. Accidente en almacén
      13.3.2024

      Accident at Work Compensation Examples

      Factory Worker Receives £14,000 for Hot Water Burns Our client was working in a food producing factory. He was injured when...

      Read more
    3. 13.2.2024

      5-figure Payout for Death of Hungarian Lorry Driver

      Siobhan McIvor, a Partner and Personal Injury lawyer, has successfully settled a fatal accident compensation claim on behalf of the...

      Read more
    4. accident at work claim
      6.12.2023

      Accident at work claim settled for Romanian driver

      Siobhan McIvor, a Partner in the Personal Injury Department, has successfully settled an accident at work claim arising from an...

      Read more
    5. blood clot work accident
      5.12.2023

      Compensation After Accident at Work Leads to Blood...

      Serious injury lawyer, Blanca Diego Casas recently represented an individual who suffered serious medical complications after sustaining an injury at...

      Read more
    6. Forklift truck accident claim settled
      23.11.2023

      Accident at work claim settled for Hungarian factory...

      Forklift trucks are a common cause of warehouse injury claims due to human error on the part of the forklift...

      Read more
    7. Tractor at work on a field
      11.4.2023

      £250,000 settlement for client injured in forklift accident

      Sophie Davies, a specialist personal injury lawyer at Osbornes Law, recently represented a client who suffered life-changing injuries following a...

      Read more
    8. shopping bags
      17.11.2021

      £100,000 settlement for tripping at work

      Osbornes Law secures £100,000 settlement for Hungarian woman who tripped over a shopping bag at work Siobhan McIvor, a Partner in...

      Read more
    9. factory worker
      17.11.2021

      £165,000 settlement for factory accident

      Siobhan McIvor, a Partner in the Personal Injury Department of Osbornes Law, has settled a £165,000 accident at work claim, with...

      Read more
    10. steak being cooked
      31.8.2021

      Kitchen Accident Claim

      Our client, a hospitality supervisor instructed Osbornes after he slipped and fell on oil and food debris on the floor...

      Read more
    11. 18.5.2021

      Construction Site Accident at Work

      Our client suffered numerous fractures to their left leg requiring surgery following a work accident on a construction site. He...

      Read more
    12. 18.5.2021

      Compensation for Amputation on Construction Site

      Our client worked as a carpenter/bricklayer on a building site at a residential property in North London. He was...

      Read more
    13. tractor
      5.1.2021

      Farming accidents high risk for self-employed

      Agriculture represents a dangerous industry in the UK, and according to the Health and Safety Executive’s report 2020/2021, farm deaths...

      Read more
    14. Accidente en almacén
      15.10.2020

      Fatal Accidents In The Workplace

      A new article from the BBC takes a looked at fatal accidents at work. The report states that since 1981, there...

      Read more
    15. accidente de construccion
      2.9.2020

      Lasting damage to ankle following construction accident settles...

      Sam Collard, a Partner in the Osbornes’ catastrophic injury team, recently settled a construction accident claim for a Romanian man...

      Read more
    16. injury at work
      30.7.2020

      Self-Employed Injury At Work

      Claim for an accident as a self-employed worker Being self-employed has advantages, including independence, creative freedom, job satisfaction and control...

      Read more
    17. accident at work injury
      19.6.2020

      Changes to employer’s liability for work accidents

      As it now stands employers are automatically liable for some workplace injuries, (without the Claimant having to prove “fault”) is...

      Read more
    18. building site
      13.8.2019

      Fatal Accident Conviction Highlights Health & Safety

      Conrad Sidebottom, 46, and Richard Golding, 43, were jailed for their part in causing the fatal injury of Anghel Milosavlevici. Osbornes Law...

      Read more

    VIEW ALL