Construction Workers Forego Injury Claims because the buck stops nowhere

The claims process for construction workers injured in site accidents can be so complicated that some of the most vulnerable are simply giving up – along with their solicitors – and foregoing compensation.

Nicola Winslett, personal injury partner at SAS Daniels LLP solicitors, Cheshire’s biggest law firm, says that a combination of long and complicated chains of contractors, sub-contractors and individuals in most building projects mean that both paperwork and accountability can go AWOL, and leave injured site workers penniless.

“Major incidents and injuries are highly public, highly publicised and highly compensated, but less serious injuries to sub-contractors and self-employed don’t attract the same level of interest or action,” said Nicola.

“Those smaller-scale injuries are not just painful, but even a relatively minor injury can keep a construction worker off site – and unpaid – for several days, or even force them to work when they’re unfit, and therefore potentially a danger to themselves or their colleagues.

“This is a really specialist area, and requires solicitors with very specific knowledge – I’m currently handling a claim for an individual which became so convoluted that the solicitor, who wasn’t a specialist in construction-related personal injury claims, advised the client to drop the claim.

“But despite all the potentially liable parties denying liability, I am confident of a successful claim for the simple reason that none of them can provide documentation to show or prove they have complied with their respective Health and Safety duties.

“Because claims made my non-construction specialists often founder because of that lack of specific knowledge, construction site workers who could claim compensation sometimes simply give up, often on the advice of general injury-at-work lawyers – but more claims may be a better for the industry in the long run, because accountability simply has to be tightened up.

“The construction industry works on the basis of long lines of contractors and sub-contractors, and that can mean paperwork isn’t kept up-to-date between the various businesses and individuals in the chain. And there is often confusion about who is employed and who is ‘self-employed’.

“When somebody is injured, this can cloud the issue of who to claim against. An injured worker can expect his employer to provide him certain rights and expect certain protection; a ‘self-employed worker’ does not benefit from the same protection, but that is not to say he has none.

“It can get extremely confusing, complex and off-putting for workers who may have had a limited education, or who are handicapped by language limitations, and compounded by the number of businesses in the chain against whom a claim could be made.

“Once the correct defendants have been identified the challenge is to extract the evidence from them: obtaining copies of the Health and Safety paperwork, for instance.

“In many cases we find that it either never existed, or has been mislaid or disposed of when the job has finished. But this non-appearance of paperwork can often actually assist an injured claimant’s case. As in most things, the trick is in knowing what to ask for and who to ask in the pre-action stages as that can set up the claimants claim.”

SAS Daniels LLP is Cheshire’s biggest law firm, with offices in Stockport, Macclesfield, Chester, Congleton and Bramhall.

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For more information contact Nicola Winslett