Healthcare Worker & Social Care Worker Accident Claim*

Involved in an accident as a healthcare worker?

Being involved in an accident, regardless of how serious the workplace accident was, can be a traumatic experience. In cases where you are injured in an accident as a healthcare worker or social care worker that was not your fault, you may be entitled to seek compensation.

 

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Common healthcare worker claims*

Working as a healthcare worker or as a social worker, you may be exposed to hazards that could potentially impact your health and safety. Appropriate tools, training and safety measures are important for keeping you safe at work.

Employers have a duty of care to provide their employees with a safe working environment and to minimise dangerous practices and procedures at work. If the employer breaches this duty and an employee is injured as a result of their negligence, they could be liable to a personal injury claim.

Employers must ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, that their employees have the required systems of work necessary for a safe working environment.

Legislation set out in the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 states that managers are responsible for ensuring:

• a safe place of work
• safe systems of work
• competent employees
• safe equipment.

For example, if your healthcare employer does not provide you with the correct personal protective equipment (PPE) or training, you could be at risk of being exposed to injury through exposure to diseases, radiation or dangerous materials such as contaminated sharps.

Here are some other common risks for those working in healthcare roles:

Workplace violence

Healthcare professionals such as emergency department staff, ambulance crews, psychiatric nurses and those working with people with mental disabilities, have an increased risk of violence at work. This is where someone experiences aggressive verbal abuse, threats or physical assault while performing their job.

In recent years, nurses in particular have bore the brunt of a high percentage of healthcare related assaults.

Sharps injuries

Sharps are medical devices which can include needles, scalpels or cannulas. Healthcare workers are at risk of sharps injuries. The HSE states that control measures must be put in place by the employer to prevent or minimise the risk of injury to employees.

Examples of these control measures include:

• eliminating the unnecessary use of sharps by using needless intravenous systems
• substituting unprotected medical sharps with safer sharps devices
• keeping handling of sharps to a minimum
• prohibit the recapping of needles
• ensuring sharps get placed in a sharps bin immediately after use
• ensuring that needles are not passed from hand to hand, bent or broken
• ensuring that appropriate PPE is made available
• training based on a training needs assessment to include safe working practices with sharps
• reporting any incident involving sharps
• following local first aid and follow-up procedures.

Employers must also provide an adequate number of sharps bins and ensure that they are correctly maintained.

Manual handling injuries

Healthcare workers may also be vulnerable to manual handling injuries. This could be through repetitive strain, moving or repositioning patients, or carrying heavy loads without the correct equipment or training.

While the risk of injury can never be completely eliminated, safe patient handling techniques can help to prevent manual handling injuries. Healthcare and social care workers should be trained on how to safely move a patient or heavy loads.

According to HSE guidelines, manual handling training that demonstrates how to correctly lift items must be provided by employers:

•  at induction
• at no greater than three yearly intervals, or
• where there is a major change in the work involved or equipment used, or
• when an employee is transferred to another activity requiring different loads to be handled.

No employee should be expected to carry loads that are beyond their capability as this could result in serious injury which the employer could be liable for.

Employee responsibilities

To help prevent accidents, healthcare and social care employees have a responsibility to:

• comply with the manual handling and people handling policy and risk assessments
• attend mandatory manual handling and people handling training sessions
• report accidents, incidents and any difficulties relating to manual handling and people handling tasks
• take reasonable care of personal safety, health and welfare and that of others
• co-operate with managers to regularly review the risk assessment and control measures.

If you are a healthcare worker and have been injured in the workplace through no fault of your own, contact us for a confidential discussion. Our specialist accident at work solicitors will be able to advise you on whether it is possible to make a personal injury claim.

Below are some additional injuries frequently experienced by healthcare and social care workers:

• Manual Handling Injury Claims*
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Claims*
• Dangerous Machinery Claims*
• Dangerous Practices and Procedures at Work Claims*
• Being Hit by Falling Objects*
• Slip, Trip and Fall in the Workplace*
• Broken Handrail Accident Claims*
• Chemical and Gas Inhalation Claims*

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What do I do if I'm involved in an accident as a healthcare or social care worker?

Following a healthcare or social care worker accident, there are a number of steps you should follow:

1. Seek medical attention

   Your health is your wealth and should be your first priority. Immediately after an accident, take a second to assess yourself to determine if you have any injuries. Then check if anybody else involved in the accident need medical attention. If you or anyone else involved has sustained a serious injury ensure that you contact an ambulance to attend the scene.

   For minor injuries, you must remember that minor injuries where you ‘feel fine’ could progress to more serious injuries in the future. In this case it is always better to be safe than sorry and advisable that you go to your nearest accident and emergency (A&E) or local GP to be checked out.

2. Report the accident

   It is critical to report the accident to your superior, i.e. a supervisor or manager on site. It doesn’t matter how small you think the accident may be. By law, accidents at work are required to be reported if the person is injured and can’t perform their daily work tasks for more than three days. Make sure to fill out an Accident Report Form. This can be used for reference in any medical examination and will also prevent any similar accidents from happening in the future.

3. Identify any witnesses

   If possible, try to collect the contact details of anybody that witnessed your accident. This may be of use if you do decide to pursue a personal injury claim. It is also useful to find out if there is any CCTV in the area where your accident happened.

4. Document the incident

   It is important that you collect all the relevant information in connection with your accident:

   • How the accident happened
   • Details of any witnesses
   • If there are any CCTV recordings of your accident
   • Take pictures of where the accident happened and what caused your accident

5. Speak to an accident at work solicitor

   If you are considering moving forward with a healthcare or social care accident claim for any personal injuries sustained it is advisable that you speak with an accident at work solicitor as soon as possible. If you are proceeding with a claim, the first step will be submitting your claim to the Personal Injuries Assessment Board for assessment. A specialist accident at work solicitor can help you in preparing your application to the Injuries Board and ensure that you follow the process in the correct format, meaning that you can move forward with your claim quickly without unnecessary delays.

   It is important to remember to keep copies of any expenses that you have incurred as a result of the accident. It is also imperative to retain copies of medical reports or incident report forms where possible as you will need them when making a claim.