Health and Safety Solicitor: Can an employee claim compensation for an injury at work if no health and safety training is provided?

Health and safety solicitor: I work in office where there is no health and safety training either at induction or ongoing and no DSE / risk assessments in place. Several colleagues are complaining of back / neck pains after working long hours on their computers. Their chairs and workstations have never been assessed.

If they have to receive medical treatment or have to have time off are they entitled to compensation and has the company breached any HSE laws?

Health and safety solicitor response

To decide if your employer is responsible to pay compensation for employees who are injured at work and have not been provided with proper health and safety training I recommend you follow the steps below:

Health And Safety Solicitor

1. Different types of health and safety at work training that can be provided

You have indicated that you work in an office on computers and you have not been given the appropriate health and safety training.

Click repetitive strain injury to view the health and safety law relating to the use of display screens.

In the office you are also likely to be moving objects so the Manual Handling Regulations are likely also to apply.

Click HSE accident at work claim to read an article I have written about workplace accidents including the Health and Safety Executive manual handling regulations.

2. Risk assessments

Click accident in the workplace to read about the risk assessments that should be made by an employer before jobs are done by employees to ensure your health and safety.

3. Injury must be caused by breach or negligence

Even if your employer has failed to provide proper health and safety training it does not mean that you can claim compensation. You must have an injury which has been caused by your employer’s failure or negligence.

In other words – you must suffer an injury which was caused by the faulty working practice and a medical expert would need to show in a report based on an examination of you, your medical notes and a description of the working practice that the working practice on the balance of probability caused your injury.

The balance of probability is another way of saying that it was more likely than not that your injuries were as a result of the defective working practice.

4. Health and safety solicitor free online legal help

My website has a number of free online legal help options available.

Simply click health and safety solicitor to select which type of free legal help you wish to benefit from including receiving a call back from a specialist health and safety solicitor.