building site accident claims

Building Site Accident Claims: Proving Employer Fault For Worker And Visitor Injury

Find out how to show your employer is at fault for different types of building site accident claims; why employees, self employed and contractors can all claim compensation for injury; find our when visitors and trespassers are entitled to claim; claiming for overseas work accidents and compensation payout calculations for all manner of injuries

Table of Contents

How do you show fault for your building site accident?

A building site is a smaller type of a construction site – often the terms are used to mean the same thing. We have set out in our construction accident article how to show your employer is legally at fault for construction and building accident claims.

What types of worker can you be to make a compensation claim?

If you have suffered injury on a building site whilst at work – you should be able to claim compensation if you fall within one of the following class of individuals:

Employees

Employers owe very strict duties to employees – to keep you safe at all times during the course of employment and whilst you are on your employer’s premises.

Contractors

So far as building site accident claims are concerned – contractors are treated very much like employees. So long as a company of individual has control of your working practice or work environment – the duty owed by that company is similar to that owed to an employee.

Self-employed

The test for the self-employed is the same as that for a contractor – as set out in no 2 above.

building site worker injury compensation
Building Site Worker Injury Compensation

Can visitors injured on a building site make a compensation claim?

“Yes” – although it is true to say that the majority of building site accident claims are made by workers – there are others who can be injured on construction sites who will be entitled to claim compensation, including:

Visitors to the building site premises

Anyone with permission to enter onto a building site is a lawful visitor and should be protected from the dangers inherent on the site. Should you suffer injury whilst visiting a building site – it is likely you will be able to claim compensation.

Certain types of of trespasser – especially children

An occupier of a building site should ensure it is properly fenced off to prevent trespass. If the trespasser is a child – the potential of a claim increases.

The company in charge of the building site should be aware that children will be attracted to play. This is known as an allurement.

For example – a simple gap in a fence surrounding the building site could allow a child entry and lead to a liability claim if injury occurs.

Can you claim compensation if you are injured on an overseas building site?

“Yes” – you can claim compensation if you have a building site accident overseas. If you are from the UK and your company has an office in the UK – it might even be possible to claim compensation in the UK courts.

If your injury was suffered in the US – you would most likely wish to claim in the US as compensation amounts for injury are far higher than in the UK.

How much compensation can you claim for your injuries?

The amount of compensation building site accident claims are worth depends on the type of injury which you suffer.

See our compensation amounts article for an alphabetical list of all the types of injury you might suffer, with an explanation of how your solicitor calculates the amount of compensation you can claim with examples of payout amounts for all manner of bodily, psychological and financial losses (such as lost income).

Summary of building site accident claims & next steps

In this article we have set out who can make building site accident claims, how to show legal responsibility and how much compensation you can claim.

Next – we suggest you consider our accident at work article to see the claims process from start to finish for work injury claims.

Use our specialist solicitor free online / telephone help – to ask an online questions, speak direct to a solicitor or have your potential building site work injury claim assessed.