The responsibility of employers 

Employers have a duty to take reasonable care of your health and safety whatever your line of work. Whether you work in a shop, factory, office or other environment, your place of work must be safe and your employer has a responsibility to try to prevent accidents or injuries occurring.

These responsibilities include:

• Providing a safe workplace for you
• Providing appropriate protective equipment
• Protecting you from dangerous and harmful substances
• Effective implementation of health and safety guidelines, including regular checks
• Considering the risks to you as an employee and how these risks can be best avoided
• Ensuring that all employees are competent in carrying out their role so they will not harm themselves or you
• Having systems and processes to ensure that you can work in the safest way possible
• Ensuring that you have the correct, properly maintained equipment and materials to do the job. This could range from heavy plant machinery to office equipment.

For certain jobs even more protection is offered by law, for example, if you work at height, in the construction industry or with chemicals, specific regulations apply to protect you.

Whilst it may seem daunting to pursue a claim against your employer, the law stipulates that they should have insurance in place to cover accidents where they are at fault. This is known as Employer’s Liability Insurance. Most of the correspondence during the claim will be with the employer’s insurer rather than the employer itself.

Employee responsibilities

Employees also have a responsibility to ensure that they exercise care and follow the safety procedures outlined by their employer. The employee also has a responsibility to notify their employer if they become aware of any health and safety issues.

Call now for expert support

If you have had an accident at work and feel that your employer is a fault, call now for free advice. Your appointed solicitor will assess your situation and advise you on what to do next.