Causes of construction-related personal injury compensation claims

The construction industry is one of the areas of work which poses the greatest risk to employee health because of the many inherent risks that come with handling heavy materials and dangerous machinery and tools. As a result, constructions accidents make up a significant proportion of the personal injury compensation claims that no win, no fee solicitors handle. Read more about construction accident frequency.

In years gone by, building sites were a much more dangerous place. Health and safety regulations were effectively nonexistent and safety equipment such as goggles and hard hats were barely ever seen. Read more about safety on site.

However, a combination of stringent enforcement of safety regulations by the Health and Safety Executive with the increasing number of personal injury compensation claims of the past few years has meant that most employers now take the problem of construction accidents more seriously. Despite this, accidents are still happening in their thousands and workers are still sustaining serious personal injuries.

Causes of construction accidents
In an effort to improve understanding of the type of accidents which happen in the building industry, in 2003 Loughborough University conducted a thorough piece of research into the most common causal factors of construction injuries.

The researchers took 100 construction accident reports as a basis from which to work out common contributing factors. Poor housekeeping, lack of worker training, poor communication and restricted space were found to be some of the most relevant issues, while bad weather was found to play a part in far fewer accidents than was expected.

The most common type of construction accident was found to be the slip, trip or fall, accounting for just over a fifth of the accidents the Loughborough researchers studied. This includes everything from minor slips or trips on the level, to falls from a height, the latter of which are the cause of a large proportion of worker deaths. Read more about construction accidents and slips and trips.

Another of the most common types of construction accidents, and one which is also the cause behind many a personal injury compensation claim, are injuries which happen while an employee is handling, lifting or carrying materials or tools. This is most often a back injury, such as a strain or a slipped disc.

Other common construction accidents include workers being struck by moving objects, such as dropped materials or falling scaffolding, contact with moving machinery and being trapped by a collapse or an overturning vehicle.

Making a personal injury compensation claim
If you have been injured in a construction accident, you may be eligible to make a personal injury compensation claim against your employer.

YouClaim can match you up with one of our panel of personal injury solicitors who specialise in no win, no fee claims for construction site accidents. They offer first class representation and are successful in the vast majority of compensation claims which they take on.

There are no costs or fees to worry about when you make a personal injury compensation claim through YouClaim. No matter what the outcome of your case, you will not be held responsible for the costs.

If you would like to find out whether you could make a personal injury compensation claim for your construction injury, get in touch with us today. You can call us on 0800 10 757 95, request a call back from our advisors or chat to us online via e-chat now.