Making a claim for a forklift accident

Even though forklift accidents only make up a small proportion of factory and warehouse accidents (around 1%), they frequently end in serious personal injuries or death, so must be given full attention by employers and employees as well as the relevant health and safety authorities.

One of the most common causes of a forklift accident is vehicle toppling. Because of the top-heavy weight distribution of most forklift trucks, this kind of work accident can easily occur if it is on even ground or has been excessively loaded.

In such instances, it is absolutely vital that the driver is wearing a seatbelt. Failure to do so can result in serious crushing injuries and sometimes even death. Wearing a seatbelt is a much better idea than potentially becoming stuck under a rollbar and several tonnes of forklift truck.

Although forklift drivers are the group mostly likely to be injured in a forklift accident, driver error is the most commonly cited cause of forklift accidents.

However, this issue of driver blame is not as straightforward as many might think. Even when a driver error is cited as the cause, the driver may be able to claim forklift accident compensation.

This is because employers have certain strict obligations they should meet. These obligations relate to providing appropriate driver training, enforcing a suitable system of supervision and ensuring a safe working environment for forklift operation.

Forklift accident case study
YouClaim deal with hundreds of workplace accident compensation claims each year, including many from claimants injured while driving forklifts.

One such case was that of Ben, who contacted us in 2004 to tell us about the injury he'd sustained while working his warehouse job.

He had been packing boxes in a narrow space when a forklift attempted to pass him.

The problem was that Ben was unsighted to the driver, a temporary worker who had only limited experience driving forklifts. In attempting to pass through the narrow space, the forklift caught Ben's leg and crushed it against the wall, causing a severe fracture.

Ben's employers were found to have been negligent on several counts, including failing to assign correctly trained staff and operating the forklift in an unsafe working environment.

Ben's no win, no fee claim for forklift accident compensation claim ended with a work accident damages payment of £16,500.

Making a no win, no fee compensation claim
Any worker who, through no fault of their own, suffers personal injuries in a construction accident is entitled to claim compensation.

Here at YouClaim, we have experience in helping thousands of people claim the compensation they deserve.

Our no win, no fee solicitors are widely recognised as being among the UK's leading experts in workplace accident litigation. This is proudly reflected in their resounding success rate.

Claiming with us is a no-risk business. We guarantee that you will never have to pay either us or the opposing legal side a single penny in legal costs or fees.

In addition, in the event of your compensation claim win, you will keep 100% of all damages awarded you as we never take a cut.

To begin your forklift accident claim today, simply call us on 0800 10 757 95.

Alternatively, you may wish to fill out an online claim form, leave a call back request or discuss your claim live using e-chat.