'I was injured at work, can I claim?' - Expert guide to work injury claims in Ireland

People are often apprehensive about making work injury claims because they fear losing their jobs or because they might upset an existing working relationship with their employer.

It is important to know that the law protects people injured at work from being penalised or threatened with dismissal for making work injury claims. 

It is worth remembering that any work injury claims settlement is paid by your employer’s public liability insurance company, so you should not be concerned about your fellow employees suffering financially due to making a work injury claim.

Is there currently a high level of accidents in workplaces?

In 2021, there was an increase in the number of non-fatal incidents reported to the Health and Safety Authority compared to 2020. In 2021, the Health and Safety Authority (H.S.A.) reported that 38 people died in Ireland due to workplace accidents; 11 fatal accidents were in the agricultural industry, with 9 of these victims being over 65 years old. 

These figures do not take into account the tens of thousands of people who are non-fatally injured in the workplace each year.

Employers have a legal obligation to provide their employees with a safe place to work.

It is also in the employers’ financial interest to protect their employees.

Employers are estimated to lose approximately €100million each year due to sickness and non-statutory leave.

What provisions are in place to protect employees?

There are several provisions in place; there is a common law provision which is dealt with by case law, that obliges an employer

• to provide a safe place of work 
• to provide a safe system of work 
• to provide proper equipment 
• to select proper and competent staff 

In addition to the common law duties which an employer owes, the Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 (as amended) sets out several statutory duties, including: 

• that premises, equipment, work systems and articles for use at work (including tools and chemicals) are all safe and without risk to the health of those using them 
• that employers prepare a written safety statement for their workplace.  This action programme sets out how workplace health and safety are managed. 

When accidents occur in the workplace, do most people look for someone to be held accountable?

Yes, victims, their families and those involved in one way, or another typically look for someone to be accountable, but assigning responsibility is not always easy, particularly when a workplace accident occurs.

At common law, the duty and standard of care are that an employer should act ‘reasonably and prudently’. 

The standard of care under the legislation is much higher. An employer is expected to act as reasonably practicable as possible and do everything they reasonably can to prevent an accident. Where an employee has an accident in the workplace, it does not automatically follow that the employer is liable for the injury suffered.   

Safety in the workplace is not the sole responsibility of the employer.  When an accident occurs, it can be through negligence on the part of the employer or the part of the employee, or both may have contributed and in some cases – freak accidents can also occur where a set of circumstances collide which were unforeseeable and often these are described as ‘acts of god’.

In what cases can the employer be considered negligent?

An employer is legally required to take reasonable care for employees’ safety; however, the employer’s duty is not unlimited.  The law does not require an employer to ensure employees’ safety in all circumstances. An employer will have discharged their duty of care if they do what a ‘reasonable and prudent’ employer would have done in the circumstances.  Even where a specific precaution is evident, countervailing factors may justify the employer not taking that precaution in the interest of the employee’s safety. 

It is not enough for an employee to simply suggest their employer was negligent; they must prove that the employer breached the common law or statutory duties to receive compensation.

There are two important elements to proving negligence: 

• That the act complained of was reasonably foreseeable; and
• That reasonable care was not taken to prevent the accident 

An engineer’s report will often be required to support this element of the claim and prove that the employer failed in its duty of care to his employee.

Is the care or duties owed by employers defined in the law? 

The courts have developed several duties over the years. Employers have a duty to: 

• Provide a safe place of work
• Provide competent co-workers so that employees are not at risk
• Provide a safe system of work which is planned and organised
• Maintain the procedures which are in place 
• Provide instructions, training, equipment, and support to employees 

Reported cases have laid down some general guidelines which are helpful but which are not exhaustive: 

• The employer is not obliged to warn the employee of obvious risks
• The employer cannot foresee every risk that may occur.
• An employer may be negligent by omission if he has forgotten to do something a reasonable person would have done in the circumstances.

Afterthought – What to do to avoid being sued as an employer?

• Provide a safe place of work
• Provide competent co-workers so that employees are not at risk
• Provide a safe system of work which is planned and organised
• Maintain the procedures which are in place
• Provide instructions, training, equipment and support to employees