Poor Lighting at Work – A Guide to Claiming Compensation

Where there is a risk of injury because of poor lighting at work employers might need to improve the lighting as part of their duty of care towards your welfare. Failure to do so could enable you to claim compensation for any subsequent accidents and injuries. In this guide about claiming compensation for a personal injury caused by poor lighting in the workplace, we’ll explore what you can do after an accident to protect your rights and what compensation might be claimed.

If you’ve been injured because of poor lighting at work, we’ll review whether you have a feasible claim for free. In the call, an expert advisor will assess the merits of your claim and provide free legal advice. If a claim against your employer is likely to succeed, an accident-at-work solicitor might offer you legal representation on a No Win, No Fee basis.

For more information on poor lighting accident compensation claims, you can:

• Call us on 0333 241 2519 now.
• Ask questions via our live chat service.

If you have any further questions about your options whilst reading our guide, please feel free to call the number above to speak to a legal advisor.

Can I Make a Poor Lighting Accident Claim?

Employers have a duty of care to take practical and reasonable steps to protect their staff whilst working because of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. To uphold their duty with regard to adequate lighting in the workplace, they could:

• Conduct poor lighting risk assessments on a regular basis to spot any potential risks.
• Install extra light fittings or windows to enable natural light to enter the building.
• Check lightbulbs are working regularly.
• Measure illumination levels regularly.
• Discuss working conditions with staff to check that they have enough light to work safely.

These are just some of the ways that employers can prevent workplace accidents linked to poor lighting. Therefore, the criteria that accident-at-work solicitors will normally check before accepting poor lighting accident claims are:

1. Did your employer owe you a duty of care?
2. Did your employer’s negligence lead to an accident in the last three years caused by poor lighting
3. As a result of that accident, have you been injured?

If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of poor lighting at work, you can call our legal advisors now to check if you could be entitled to claim compensation.

What Types of Poor Lighting Accident Claims Can We Help With?

Here are a few scenarios where inadequate lighting could result in workplace accident compensation:

• If you cut off the tips of your fingers as a result of poor lighting while using a cutting machine.
• Slipping on a wet floor in a dimly lit corridor where the lack of lighting made it difficult to notice the hazard.
• You fell down stairs at work because of blown lightbulbs that should have already been replaced.
• If you were hit by a forklift truck because its driver had been dazzled by the sun due to a lack of blinds.
• Where you couldn’t read safety instructions while using equipment in a factory due to a lack of natural light.
• Tripping on cabling because of poor office lighting caused by automatic lights not working.
• Walking into a low-hanging beam in a poorly lit warehouse caused a head injury because the hazard was not visible.

If you’ve been involved in an accident because of poor lighting at work, call now to see if you could be compensated for your injuries.

What Should I Do After an Injury Caused by Poor Lighting in the Workplace?

As you also have a duty of care regarding health and safety at work, if you are injured because of poor lighting at work, you should:

• Inform your employer about what happened.
• Ensure your injuries are checked at a hospital or GP surgery.
• Ask for the accident to be logged in the accident book.

This will enable your employer to learn from what happened and could lead to them making changes that will reduce the risks of poor lighting hazards in the workplace for others.

Also, these steps will provide you with some of the evidence needed to support a poor lighting accident claim.

What Evidence Can Be Used for a Poor Lighting Accident Claim?

If you supply evidence to prove why your accident happened, it could strengthen the chances of being compensated for your injuries. Therefore, if making a poor lighting claim, the following forms of evidence might be useful:

• Videos and photographs of the accident scene – ideally, these will show why the lighting was so poor.
• Medical evidence to confirm the injuries you are claiming compensation for.
• A copy of the accident report form to show your employer had been made aware of the incident.
• Details of anyone else (colleagues, customers, visitors) who may have witnessed the accident.

If you believe you’ve got grounds to claim compensation for a personal injury at work caused by inadequate lighting, call us now to have your evidence assessed for free.

How Long Do I Have to Claim Compensation?

The Limitation Act 1980 sets the time limits for personal injury claims and workplace accidents. This means that when claiming compensation for an accident caused by poor lighting, you’ll normally have 3 years from the date you were injured to begin your claim. However, if the symptoms of your injury took some time to develop, the time limit might start on the date you realised your symptoms were caused by the accident.

We would suggest that it’s best to seek legal advice at your earliest opportunity. That’s because time will be needed at the start of the claims process to find evidence and gather information to support your claim.

You can find out how long you have to start your poor lighting accident claim by contacting one of our legal advisors.

How Much Compensation for an Injury Caused by Poor Lighting at Work?

The level of compensation paid if a claim for a poor lighting injury at work is successful is based on how much suffering was caused by the accident.

The first element of any compensation payout is called general damages. It is used to cover the physical and emotional pain, discomfort and any other suffering your injuries have caused. Also, you can claim for loss of amenity.

On top of general damages, special damages might form part of your claim if you have lost any money because of your injuries. For instance, successful poor lighting claims could provide compensation for:

• Any loss of earnings (present or future).
• Costs associated with medical treatment.
• Support or care costs.
• Travel expenses.
• The cost of making changes to your home that will improve your quality of life if you’ve been left disabled.

If your poor lighting accident claim is managed by an accident-at-work solicitor on our panel, they’ll assess your suffering in detail to make sure any settlement you’re offered is fair.

Will I Be Fired If I Claim for a Poor Lighting Accident at Work?

You are legally protected against any form of action being taken against you for claiming compensation against your employer for a genuine injury. As such, your employer cannot pick on you, bully you, demote you, single you out or fire you as a consequence of your claim.

If that were to happen, you may have grounds to take separate action for unfair or constructive dismissal.

What If I’m Not a Full-Time Employee?

It doesn’t matter what type of employment contract you have or what type of job you do, if you are injured at work because of your employer’s negligence, you could be entitled to claim for your suffering.

Therefore poor lighting accident claims could be made by all workers including contractors, the self-employed, agency staff and zero-hours staff.

Will I Need a Solicitor to Claim Compensation?

Taking on a legal representative can make it much easier to secure compensation following an accident caused by poor lighting in the workplace. While you’re not obliged to find a solicitor to help you, having one on your side could result in you being offered a far higher settlement than your employer’s insurers would’ve offered had you gone it alone.

If you work with a solicitor from our team, they will:

• Work hard to secure evidence to support your claim.
• File your claim correctly and on time.
• Argue your case if it is contested in any way.
• Keep you up to date about the progress of your case.
• Ensure any compensation offer you receive is fair.

What’s more, our solicitors offer No Win, No Fee services for poor lighting compensation claims. To do so, they’ll ask you to sign a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) if your case is taken on.

The CFA, your contract, means that no payment for your solicitor’s work is required before, during or after the case if it is lost.

Should the claim succeed, up to 25 per cent of your compensation will be deducted as your solicitor’s success fee. This is legally capped to help ensure you retain the bulk of any settlement awarded.

Will the Claim Go to Court?

Generally, very few poor lighting accident claims made against employers should end up in court. In our experience, employers and solicitors settle amicably so that expensive and time-consuming court hearings aren’t required.

However, as a last resort, your solicitor may ask a court to hear your case if they suspect that it is strong enough but your employer won’t admit liability or offer a fair settlement.

How Long Do Work Accident Claims Take?

Each work-related accident claim varies in length because there are several factors to consider. For instance, if your employer admits right from the start that they caused your accident and injuries, you could receive a settlement in less than 6 months so long as your injuries have recovered or are properly understood.

Where you’ve suffered more serious injuries or the claim is contested, it can take up to a year (or sometimes longer) to settle the claim while negotiations are ongoing or medical reports are being prepared.

Contacting Us About a Poor Lighting Accident at Work Claim

If you’ve been injured in an accident at work caused by poor lighting, you can:

• Call our legal advisors on 0333 241 2519 to find out your options.
• Use our online chat service to ask any questions you have.

We provide no-obligation legal advice as part of a free initial consultation about your claim. You won’t be pressured into proceeding with legal action but if you decide to start a claim and one of our solicitors can help, you’ll benefit from a No Win, No Fee poor lighting accident claims service.