Industrial Injuries and Illnesses

At the factory, workers are endangered with various types of common factory accidents. It can be an injury to a limb caused while loading paper reels in the box factory, or the inhalation of poisonous fumes while working in a chemical plant. Whatever the case, the one who suffers from industrial injuries and illnesses is the worker and the one who incurs treatment and hospitalisation costs is again the worker. In some instances, the workers are even rendered useless for the rest of their lives, making their families and dependants also suffer along with them.

The factory owners should make their workplace as safe as possible for their workers, so that accident risks are kept to the minimum. Most of the common factory accidents are the results of falls and slips on the work premises or the injuries that were held while handling heavy loads. Some amount of claims may arise out of the injuries that were caused due to dangerous and defective factory equipments or dangerous work processes.

Most workers do not know that all employers are legally obliged to keep a book of accidents and to ensure that all the accident reports are entered into it. Therefore, whenever the workers meet an accident during working hours in the factory premises, they must first of all report to the supervisor or to the person who is responsible for the safety and health of the workers. Then they should seek immediate first aid in the factory premises and the person there will tell them whether they require treatment in a hospital or not. After that, the injured workers have to fill in a form for claim of compensation.

Within the 24 hours of the accident, a solicitor will contact them in order to fully assess the claim. If a factory accident is less than 3 years old and if the workers can prove that it was caused due to employer’s negligence of any duties owed to the workers, then the workers can claim for compensation. Damages like injuries or loss of income can be successfully awarded by making such claims.

What the workers can claim for include any psychological or physical injuries, for which the factory management is entitled, any medical or travel expenses caused due to industrial injuries & illnesses, interest on such types of losses and the legal expenses that the workers had to make for claiming the compensation. It is important for every worker what their legal rights are and what are they entitled to in case of industrial injuries.