How To Make A Personal Injury Claim Due To A Concussion At Work

By Marlon Dawson. Last Updated 8th September 2022. If you at some point suffered a concussion at work due to negligence by your employer, you could claim compensation. 

This guide will look to explain negligence, how it could apply and explain how you could be eligible to make a personal injury claim for a workplace accident. 

Our advisers are available now for a free consultation if you would like to speak to someone about your potential claim, and can be reached using the details on our contact page.

concussion at work

A guide on claiming after a concussion at work

Choose A Section 

  1. Can I Claim Compensation After A Concussion At Work? 
  2. Situations Leading To Concussions And Other Head Injuries 
  3. Explaining What To Do After Suffering A Concussion 
  4. Concussion Compensation Payout Examples
  5. Should I Work With A No Win No Fee Solicitor? 
  6. Further Information On Concussion At Work Claims 

Can I Claim Compensation After A Concussion At Work? 

If employer negligence played a part in you suffering a concussion at work, then you could be able to make a personal injury claim. Negligence, in this instance, refers to an employer failing to properly carry out their responsibility of care to their employees. 

The law requires them to do all they reasonably can to make sure:

  • A working environment is safe 
  • Any tasks they ask an employee to carry out are safe or has measures in place to help provide safety 

An employee’s health, safety and wellbeing are an employer’s responsibility. However, employees do have a responsibility to take care of their own health and safety too. 

If there are reasonable actions employers can take to help make a workplace safe, they should take them. If they did not, and this led to you suffering a concussion at work; then they could have breached their duty of care and you could make a claim against them. 

Frequency Of Injuries In Work 

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) requires the reporting of various serious work accidents to the Health & Safety Executive. Of the non-fatal injuries reported in the year 2020/21 there were 2,542 head injuries (excluding the face). 788 of all employer-reported non-fatal injuries that year were concussions. 

Situations Leading To Concussions And Other Head Injuries 

A concussion is a type of brain injury. It can occur from a hit to the head or a hit to the entire body that leads to the head being shaken with intensity. 

Falls from a height, slips & trips and being struck by falling objects were among the most commonly reported workplace accidents for the year 2020/21. 

An accident alone would not be enough to claim compensation. Negligence causing the accident is what would make a claim viable. 

An employer’s duty of care is covered in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.  It contains actions an employer has to take to make sure a workplace is safe and two key ones are conducting risk assessments and implementing safe systems of work. 

  • A risk assessment (or health and safety check) has to be performed on any task an employee is asked to do, or any area an employee is asked to work in.
  • The employer must also then take actions to reduce risk. If necessary, they should implement safe systems of work to manage any risks that cannot be avoided. Safe systems of work are guides and rules that dictate how various activities should be carried out so as to be safe and avoid accidents and injuries. 

If they did not perform these tasks and this contributed to you suffering a concussion at work, they could be held responsible. They could have acted negligently and breached their duty of care. 

Possible Breaches 

If you’ve suffered a concussion at work, and want to know whether your situation would constitute employer negligence, you can ask what could have been done within reason to prevent the injury. 

For example, if your concussion came from a falling object – ask whether the environment was properly checked in a risk assessment and what health and safety measures could have been in place to avoid it.  

If you endured a fall from a height, ask whether the equipment provided was safe to use and whether there were adequate safe systems of work to help avoid the accident 

Review your situation and compare it against what the legislation asks to help you see if negligence possibly played a part. Alternatively, give our advisors a call and they can tell you if you might have a valid claim. 

Explaining What To Do After Suffering A Concussion 

If you suffered a concussion at work, or any head injury, it is heavily advised to seek out medical attention. You can request first aid even if just as a basic form of assurance. 

If you suffered any symptoms such as confusion, dizziness or a headache, it should be reported in the work accident report book. Not having done so will not lose you your claim, but any serious accidents and injuries should be noted down in the report book. 

After receiving any needed treatment, you can gather evidence around the circumstances of the accident that could help you in your claim. 

This could be:

  • Pictures or recordings of the accident (such as CCTV or phone recordings) 
  • Witnesses’ contact information

Anything relevant to your accident or the hazard that caused your accident could possibly be used as evidence. If you have proof that the hazard had been in place for a long time and your employer had not taken any actions to deal with it, seek it out to use as evidence.

You should also maintain notes on how the concussion has affected your day-to-day life. This could be in terms of pain or physical effects caused by the injury. It could also include any financial records of costs you have incurred because of the injury. 

A personal injury solicitor can give you a good idea of what evidence could be useful in proving your claim.

Concussion Compensation Payout Examples

While a concussion is in itself an injury, it could also be a symptom of a more serious head injury. To show you what compensation in a concussion claim could be, we’ve included figures from the 2022 Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) in the table below. However, every claim is assessed individually so you should not take these amounts as guaranteed.

InjuryNotesAward
Brain Damage: Very SevereLeaving you with little, if any, responses to environment£282,010 to £403,990
Brain Damage: Moderately SevereLeaving you with a serious disability£219,070 to £282,010
Brain Damage: Moderate (i)Moderate to severe intellectual deficit etc.£150,110 to £219,070
Brain Damage: Moderate (ii)Moderate to modest intellectual deficit £90,720 to £150,110
Brain Damage: Moderate (iii)Memory and concentration affected for a time£43,060 to £90,720
Less Severe Brain Damage
Good recovery but some effects may persist£15,320 to £43,060
Minor Brain or Head InjuryMinimal brain damage£2,210 to £12,770
Deafness/Tinnitus: (d) (vi)Slight tinnitusUp to £7,010

The compensation featured is general damages. If you successfully prove that your head injury was a result of your employer’s negligence, you will be awarded general damages for the injury you suffered and the pain and distress it may have caused you.

You could also be eligible to claim special damages if you suffered financial losses because of your concussion. This compensation is intended to address the financial impact of an injury. For example, you may have been financially affected because:

  • You were unable to work and lost out on income
  • You required care or prescription costs
  • You need to pay for adaptations to your home to help you cope with your head injury

As we have said, a head injury could be fairly serious. If you had suffered a concussion or symptoms typically associated with a concussion and are eligible to make a claim, then please reach out to a member of our team to see how they could help you with claiming compensation.

Should I Work With A No Win No Fee Solicitor? 

As mentioned, the effects of a head injury can be very serious. If you are looking to make a claim, then you may want to seek out legal representation. 

A No Win No Fee agreement offers you a chance to have legal representation without having to worry about paying upfront costs or ongoing fees to your solicitor. Their fee would only be taken if your compensation is awarded, as an agreed-to legally capped percentage. If the claim were not to be successful, you would not be charged a fee at all. 

Let Us Handle Your Concussion At Work Claim 

Our panel of solicitors work on a No Win No Fee basis. You can contact an advisor to see if they could represent you in your claim. 

  • Advisors can be reached via the contact page.  
  • Alternatively, use our live chat.
  • You can also call us on the number at the top of the page.

Further Information On Concussion At Work Claims 

The NHS offers more information about head injuries and concussion 

If your injury came as a result of a health and safety concern, you could report it to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

If you cannot work because you suffered a concussion at work, you can seek out statutory sick pay

For questions about accidents in public spaces, we offer guides about: 

Written by CHA

Published by VIC