How To Take Legal Action After An Electric Shock At Work

In this guide, we will help you understand whether you’re eligible to seek compensation following harm sustained due to an electric shock at work. Your employer owes you a duty of care to ensure they take all reasonable steps to prevent you from sustaining harm at work. However, if they failed to do so you could seek compensation for the impact your injuries have had on your quality of life and any financial losses incurred as a result of your injuries.

This guide will provide information on the steps you can take to build a strong claim including evidence that you could obtain to support your case.

Additionally, you may wish to seek legal representation but are concerned about the costs associated with doing so. If so, this guide will provide information on the benefits of the No Win No Fee services our panel of solicitors offer.

Whilst we have aimed to cover the information you need, please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any additional questions regarding your claim.

You can get in touch by:

Calling the number above.
Filling out our online contact form.
Speaking with an advisor using the live chat function below.

Choose A Section:

What Is An Electric Shock At Work?
How Might An Electrocution Occur At Work?
What To Do After An Accident At Work?
Compensation For An Electric Shock At Work
Using A No Win No Fee Solicitor For An Electrocution Claim
Find Out More About An Electric Shock At Work

What Is An Electric Shock At Work?

There are various workplaces where someone could sustain an electric shock at work, including:

Offices
Kitchens
Shops
Factories

According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), electrical injuries can be caused by various voltages. However, a higher voltage is generally more likely to have a greater risk of injury.

The HSE also found that just 50 volts of electricity applied to two points on the body can block the connection between your brain and muscles. Side effects of this can include:

Disrupted heartbeat.
Difficulty breathing.
Muscle spasms.

In some cases, the electric shocks could occur through no fault of anyone in particular. However, in order to make a claim, you must be able to demonstrate that you suffered harm as a result of your employer breaching the duty of care they owed you.

For more information on whether you’re eligible to claim after being injured at work, please get in touch on the details above.

How Often Do Electric Shock Accidents Happen?

According to employer reports made under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013, there were 59 non-fatal injuries caused by contact with electricity.

In addition, the reports highlighted that around 9 workers suffered fatal injuries as a result of contact with electricity.

These are provisional figures.

How Might An Electrocution Occur At Work?

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 places a responsibility on employers to provide employees with a safe working environment. As part of their responsibility, they have a duty of care to do everything they reasonably and practically can to prevent employees from sustaining harm at work.

However, there are instances where they might fail to do so, causing you to sustain an electric shock at work.

Examples of employer negligence resulting in harm might include a failure to:

Adequately maintain equipment: Your employer might fail to carry out regular checks on equipment to ensure it’s safe to use. As a result, you could sustain an electrical burn at work due to a faulty piece of machinery that your employer was aware of but failed to act on.
Provide necessary Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Your employer must provide you with free PPE when necessary. For instance, if a risk still remains after they have taken all reasonable steps, they must do what they can to reduce the chance it has of causing harm. If they fail to do so, you could sustain damage to your heart after experiencing a severe electric shock.
Provide adequate training: Your employer must provide you with suitable health and safety training. This could include training on electrical fires. However, if they fail to do so, you may experience harm.

What To Do After An Accident At Work

In order to make an electric shock at work claim, there are several steps you could take to strengthen your case. For instance:

Seek medical attention: This can help to ensure your injuries are treated correctly and can provide medical evidence in the form of doctor and hospital records.
Gather evidence: You could obtain relevant evidence such as CCTV footage, pictures of your injuries and the cause of the accident at work.
Seek legal advice: An experienced solicitor from our panel could help you gather evidence to support your case. They could also help you through the different stages in the accident at work procedure when claiming.

For more information on how you could work with a solicitor from our panel, please get in touch on the details below.

Compensation For An Electric Shock At Work

The Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) are often used by solicitors when working out how much compensation you could receive for the pain and suffering your injuries have caused. The compensation for the impact of your injuries on your quality of life is awarded under general damages.

Medical evidence will also be used to determine how severe your injuries are and the impact they may continue to have in the future.

We have included different injuries and the corresponding bracket compensation awards outlined in the JCG in the table below. Please only use these as a guide though because your actual settlement will vary.

Injury :	Compensation bracket:	Notes:
Moderate Brain Damage (c) (iii)	£40,410 to £85,150	Cases in this bracket will involve issues with concentration and memory. However, dependence on others will be very limited.
Facial Disfigurement (d)	£3,710 to £12,900	Scarring that is less significant.
Deafness/Tinnitus (b)	£85,170 to £102,890	Where hearing has been completely lost in both ears.
Impaired Taste and Smell (a)	In the region of £36,770	Where someone has completely lost their taste and smell.
Facial Disfigurement (c)	£8,550 to £28,240	Scarring that is significant but with the worst effects being reduced by plastic surgery.
Facial Disfigurement (b)	£16,860 to £45,440	Scarring that's less severe but the disfigurement is still substantial.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (b)	£19,750 to £51,070	Moderately severe cases but where the the prognosis is better after professional help.
Chest Injuries (a)	£94,470 to £140,870	Where one of the lungs is completely removed or the heart has been seriously damaged. There will also be ongoing pain and permanent scarring that's significant.
Facial Disfigurement (e)	£1,600 to £3,310	Trivial scarring where the effect is minor.
Facial Disfigurement (a)	£27,940 to £91,350	Very severe scarring that causes a very disfiguring cosmetic effect and a severe psychological impact.

Your payout may also comprise special damages which cover the financial losses incurred due to your injuries. These might include:

Medical expenses
Transport costs
Loss of income

You must provide evidence to prove these losses, including receipts and payslips.

Using A No Win No Fee Solicitor For An Electrocution Claim

A No Win No Fee arrangement, such as a Conditional Fee Agreement allows you to avoid paying an upfront fee when hiring a solicitor.

The agreement stipulates that you won’t need to pay a success fee should your claim fail. If your claim does succeed, the success fee will be deducted from your compensation. However, it is capped by law.

An accident at work solicitor from our panel could represent your electric shock at work case on this basis. For more information, get in touch with an advisor to find out whether this is possible.

Discuss Your Electric Shock At Work Claim With Us

If you have suffered from an electric shock at work, get into contact with our advisors for advice on whether you have a valid claim.

You can get in touch by:

Calling the number above.
Filling out our online contact form.
Speaking with an advisor using the live chat function below.

Find Out More About An Electric Shock At Work

Below, we have provided additional resources that you may find beneficial.

We hope this guide on claiming following an electric shock at work has helped. However, if you have any additional questions, please get in touch using the details below.