Can I Claim For Inadequate Lighting In The Workplace?

This guide examines if you can claim for inadequate lighting in the workplace if you’ve sustained injuries as a result. We look at who might be eligible to claim accident at work compensation by exploring the eligibility requirements to make a personal injury claim.

Additionally, this guide looks at examples of accidents that could be caused by poor workplace lighting. We also explain how compensation could be awarded for successful claims.

If you would like to claim compensation, you may wish to have the support of a solicitor specialising in accident at work claims. This guide concludes with a look at how a solicitor can help with your inadequate lighting compensation claim on a No Win No Fee basis.

Please direct any questions you have about claiming for injuries caused by poor lighting in the workplace to a member of our advisory team.

To discuss your inadequate lighting injury claim:

Call 020 8050 2736
Fill out our claim online form and an advisor will call you.
Ask about compensation for your inadequate lighting injury in our live chat.

Select A Section

Can I Claim For Inadequate Lighting In The Workplace?
What Types Of Accidents Could Be Caused By Poor Lighting In The Workplace?
How Much Compensation From An Inadequate Lighting Injury Claim?
What Evidence Do You Need To Claim For An Inadequate Lighting Injury?
Why Use A No Win No Fee Solicitor When Claiming For Poor Lighting In The Workplace?
Read More About When You Can Claim For Inadequate Lighting In The Workplace

Can I Claim For Inadequate Lighting In The Workplace?

While you are at work, your employer must take reasonable steps to ensure the health, safety and welfare of you and your co-workers. This is the duty of care that employers owe employees as set out in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA). As part of this duty, your employer should ensure that the workplace has suitable lighting. We’ll look at some examples of accidents that can be caused by poor lighting in the next section.

However, in order to have good grounds to make a personal injury claim after an accident at work caused by poor lighting, you must meet the eligibility requirements. This means that you need to be able to prove that:

Your employer owed you a duty of care.
There was a breach of duty, such as failing to replace broken lighting.
You sustained injuries because of the breach. For example, the lighting on the stairs was broken, but your employer failed to fix this. As you were walking down the stairs you missed your footing as you could not see where you were going. This led to you suffering a severe back injury.

If you would like to further discuss your question, “Can I claim for inadequate lighting in the workplace?” call an advisor.

What Types Of Accidents Could Be Caused By Poor Lighting In The Workplace?

The workplace will dictate what sort of lighting is required, as will the nature of the work. For example, if you work outside but it is not bright enough to safely carry out your work duties, your employer will need to supply artificial lighting. Your workplace may also be required to have emergency lighting should the electrics fail.

Accidents that could be caused by insufficient lighting include:

Falling down the stairs. Staircases should be properly lit to help prevent a fall from a height. For example, if you descend the stairs in darkness, you could lose your footing and fall.
Slips, trips and falls. You could trip over an item if you can’t see it due to lack of light. For example, there could be trailing wires in a walkway that could cause you to trip and suffer an injury.
Cuts, lacerations and traumatic amputations can occur if you are working with sharp objects and bladed edges but can’t see properly because the light is poor.

What Injuries Could Be Caused By Defective Lighting?

There are various injuries that could be suffered due to defective lighting. These include:

Head injury. This could range from a mild concussion to very serious brain damage.
Facial injury, such as a broken nose or damage to your teeth.
Broken bones, such as a fractured ankle from tripping over uneven surfaces.
Dislocated knee or elbow.

How Much Compensation From An Inadequate Lighting Injury Claim?

If you make a successful claim for injuries sustained due to poor lighting, your compensation could consist of two parts. These are known as general and special damages.

In the first part or general damages, you are compensated for the physical pain and mental suffering caused by the inadequate lighting accident. To help arrive at a figure for general damages, those responsible for valuing claims may refer to the guideline compensation amounts for different injuries from the Judicial College (JCG).

The top figure shows how compensation could be awarded for multiple severe injuries and special damages but is not part of the JCG. The remaining figures are from the 16th edition of the JCG.

Injury	Severity	Notes	Compensation Guideline
Multiple Serious Injuries and Special Damages	Very Severe	Claimants may be compensated for multiple injuries and related expenses, such as lost wages and carer costs.	Up to £1,000,000+
Head Injury	Very Severe Brain Damage	The injured person suffers severe cognitive and physical disabilities and requires nursing on a full-time basis.	£282,010 to £403,990
Head Injury	Minor	The claimant might have minimal brain damage. The award considers initial injury severity, recovery time, extent of continuing symptoms and whether the injured party has headaches.	£2,210 to £12,770
Arm Injury	Severe	These injuries are extremely serious with the claimant left little better off than if the arm had been amputated, such as a serious brachial plexus injury.	£96,160 to £130,930
Arm Injury	Simple	The claimant suffered a simple fracture to their forearm.	£6,610 to £19,200
Knee Injury	Severe (i)	In these cases, a serious knees has resulted in disruption of the joint with the development of osteoarthritis, considerable pain and function loss.	£69,730 to £96,210
Elbow Injury	Severe	These injuries cause a severe disability.	£39,170 to £54,830
Ankle Injury	Severe	The claimant required extensive treatment and suffers significant residual disability.	£31,310 to £50,060
Nose/Nasal Complex Fracture	Serious	These fractures cause permanent airway damage and require a number of operations.	£10,640 to £23,130
Damage to Teeth	Serious	The claimant has suffered the loss or serious damage to their front teeth.	£8,730 to £11,410

Additionally, you may also be awarded special damages to compensate for your out-of-pocket expenses suffered as a result of the injuries you sustained in your accident at work. Your settlement may include compensation for your:

Lost earnings, including pension contributions, if you required time off work to recover from your injuries.
Care costs, such as a nurse.
Home help. For example, if you have to hire a cleaner while you recover from your injuries.
Medical expenses, such as medication costs and physiotherapy.

You will need to submit evidence of your expenses as part of the personal injury claims process, such as receipts, invoices and wage slips.

If you have any questions about when you can claim for inadequate lighting in the workplace or how compensation could be awarded in a successful claim, speak to an advisor.

What Evidence Do You Need To Claim For An Inadequate Lighting Injury?

All personal injury claims require supporting evidence. This needs to prove liability for the injuries sustained in the workplace accident.

Examples of evidence that could be useful for accident at work claims include:

Accident reports. For example, a copy of the accident book. The accident book is legally required for any workplace that employs 10 or more people. This should be filled in with your name, the time and date and relevant accident details.
Medical evidence. For example, if you seek treatment following the accident, you can request a copy of your medical records.
Witness contact information. If you make a note of the contact details of those who saw what happened, they can give witness statements later in the claims process.
Accident footage. For example, you can request CCTV footage of yourself.

A personal injury solicitor could help you gather evidence. To find out more or to further discuss, “Can I claim for inadequate lighting in the workplace if it has caused me to suffer an injury?”, speak to a member of our advisory team.

What Is The Time Limit For An Accident At Work Claim?

The Limitation Act 1980 generally sets a three-year time limit to begin a personal injury claim. However, there are some exceptions to this that suspend the time limit, such as being under 18 at the time of the accident. To discuss these exceptions and find out if you are within the limitation period to start the claims process, speak to a member of our team.

Why Use A No Win No Fee Solicitor When Claiming For Poor Lighting In The Workplace?

If you are eligible to claim personal injury compensation, you may want legal representation during the personal injury claims process. One of the personal injury solicitors from our panel could help you with your accident at work claim. Generally, our panel provide a No Win No Fee service under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).

When you launch a claim with the support of a No Win No Fee solicitor, they:

Won’t take an upfront payment.
Don’t ask for you to cover ongoing costs.
Only take a small, legally capped percentage of your award as a success fee if your case is successful.
Won’t ask for you to pay this fee if your claim fails.

Direct any questions, such as ‘Can I claim for inadequate lighting in the workplace that has caused me to suffer an injury?’ to our advisory team. If your case satisfies the eligibility requirements, you could be connected to one of the personal injury solicitors from our panel.

To discuss starting an inadequate lighting injury claim: