Health and safety, work accidents, and pregnancy

It's well known that UK law is very clear about the right of pregnant women to continue working, and to do so without discrimination. It also establishes their employers' responsibilities to help them avoid work accidents and injuries.

The UK's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) provides a helpsheet for pregnant women to assist them in the workplace during this time, and this is available from their website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg373.pdf.

The laws that are most likely to be useful at this point are The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (MHSW), which regulate health and safety for expectant workers, and the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. Under the latter, any negligence on an employer's part with regard to the health and safety of pregnant members of their workforce is automatically considered to be sex discrimination.

This also acknowledges that there are risks of work accidents that are specific to pregnant workers that may occur in the workplace, and that the effects of a personal injury while pregnant may be more serious.

An employer's risk assessment is supposed to consider the possibility that women who work there may become pregnant, and to establish reasonable procedures to avoid risks in this situation. Therefore, it is not necessary to tell your employer you are pregnant before you are ready to, but your employer is not compelled to make further health and safety adjustments to help you avoid personal injury, and any injury to your baby, until you provide written notice.

Making a personal injury claim for a work accident
Whether or not you are pregnant, suffering a work accident means that you may be able to claim compensation for your injuries and any costs incurred. So if you have suffered an accident at work, and believe your employer to have at least a share in the responsibility for that, you should call YouClaim for advice on whether you are eligible.

Our knowledgeable advisors will be able to discuss the details of your situation with sensitivity and without pressure. If you decide to proceed with a claim, you will be able to use one of our expert personal injury solicitors to help lead your compensation claim to a successful resolution.

All personal injury solicitors that we work with are drawn from firms that work on a no win, no fee basis within the governance of the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Our success rate is near-unrivalled, and our 100% compensation guarantee means that you can be sure that no-one associated with YouClaim will take a cut from your award in a won case.

Use our online claim form or e-chat service to reach us, or call our UK hotline 0800 10 757 95 today, and we'll help you get your work accident compensation claim under way.