Workplace burns represent nearly 25% of the serious burns requiring hospital treatment in the UK, according to the latest Health and Safety Executive (HSE) statistics. Those burns fall into three main categories:
1) Thermal (open flames, hot surfaces, steam, hot liquids, ultra violet).
2) Chemical (corrosive liquids, gases and other substances).
3) Electrical (electrical currents).
Burning injury arise from accidents that occur across a range of workplace from small restaurants to gigantic chemical plants. The cause of the accident and the nature and extent of the burn injury depends primarily on the type of work environment in which it occurred. For instance a superficial scalding injury is more likely to happen in a restaurant and an extensive chemical burn more likely in a heavy industry setting.
The most common causes of workplace burn injuries are:
• Exposed hot surfaces
• Open flames
• Hot equipment with inadequate or missing safety guards
• Faulty electrical equipment/lack of care or training when dealing with electrical current
• Exposure to or incorrect use of corrosive chemicals/gases/substances
• Exposure to excessive ultra violet light (sunlight)
• Fires
• Explosions
And the most common reasons for workplace accidents that cause burn injuries are:
• Insufficient staff training in awareness of burn hazards in their work environment.
• A lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves or goggles.
• A lack of training on how and when to use PPE.
• An untidy work place with slip, trip and fall hazards present.
• A lack of training in handling and working with hazardous substances
• Faulty electrical equipment.
• A lack of guards or warnings on equipment that has a surface hot enough to burn
In short a great many workplace burn injuries/fatalities could be avoided and the risks removed or mitigated if employers fully discharged their duty of care and their other legal obligations towards their workforce. If you have suffered a burn injury at work that wasn’t your fault, you might be able to make a claim for injury compensation.
Thinking of Claiming Workplace Injury Compensation?
There are strict time limits for making any compensation claim. Delaying your claim could mean you lose out your right to compensation completely. For expert help with How to Claim Workplace Injury Compensation
- Call our lawyers on FREEPHONE 0800 1404544
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