Can I be sacked for having an accident at work?

Unfortunately, accidents at work do happen, and sometimes this can result in an employee being dismissed. In some cases, the employer is correct to do so. But in others, this could be seen as unfair dismissal.

Let’s look at whether you can be sacked for having an accident at work, touching on the concept of fault. We’ll also look at the rights and responsibilities of both employees and employers.

Understanding your employer’s responsibilities

Employers have a responsibility to keep their staff safe at work. According to health and safety law, employers must:

Assess risks to employees, customers and partners
Arrange for the effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of preventive and protective measures
Have a written health and safety policy if they employ five or more people
Ensure they have access to competent health and safety advice
Consult employees about their risks at work and existing preventative and protective measures

If employers don’t do the above, the company and individuals at the top can face fines, imprisonment and disqualification.

If an accident occurs at work, employers have a legal duty to investigate it, under the Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. Employers must also have a plan in place to investigate accidents, which should be made known to all relevant staff.

Trained staff should be selected and given instructions of the investigation process. Safety representatives should also be present during the investigation.

Say for example, an accident nearly happens and results in a near miss. Employees should report the incident to line managers. It’s then the job of the line managers to conduct investigations and ensure appropriate corrective measures are taken.

Employees’ responsibilities and rights

As an employee, you also have responsibilities to follow too.

You must:

Take reasonable care not to put other people – fellow employees and members of the public – at risk by what you do at work
Co-operate with your employer, making sure you get proper training
Understand and follow the company’s health and safety policies

But you also have rights too. Specifically to receive proper training, information and support to ensure your safety at work.

If any accidents occur during the working day, it’s your responsibility to report the incident in line with the health and safety policy set by your employer.

Can you be sacked after an accident at work?

The short answer is yes, you can. Here we’ll look at the reasons why you could be sacked after an accident at work, fault and if you can make a claim against your employer.

Section 94 of the Employment Rights Act

Under Section 94 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, an employer can’t dismiss an employee unreasonably.

They must provide adequate information as to why they have dismissed an employee. If they can’t provide this information, it opens up a potential case of unfair dismissal.

So, when would sacking an employee after an accident be seen as reasonable? Often, it comes down to fault.

If the accident was completely your fault

If you were 100% to blame for the accident, your employee can legally sack you. This will be done on the grounds of misconduct or negligence. If this were the case, it would be difficult to challenge the employer’s decision and bring a legal case against them for unfair dismissal.

If both you and your employer were to blame

If you both share some responsibility for the accident, it makes things a little more complicated for your employer.

Say for example, you didn’t follow the correct procedure when doing a task at work and it resulted in an accident. But your employer didn’t give you sufficient health and safety training. You would both bear some responsibility for the accident.

If you were sacked, you may be able to take your employer to an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal. This would hinge on whether their actions in sacking you would be seen as reasonable.

If you weren’t to blame at all

If the accident had nothing to do with you and you were completely innocent, yet your employer still sacked you, you would have a strong claim for unfair dismissal. Again, this will turn on whether their actions were reasonable.

Personal injury claims

If there was any fault on the side of the employer that caused the accident, you may also be able to bring a personal injury claim against your employer. You would need to show:

That your employer owed you a duty of care
That they breached this duty
That the breach caused the accident and injuries

Just be aware that if you were also at some fault for the accident you may still be able to bring a claim, but you won’t be able to claim as much in damages.

This is called contributory negligence and is shown in the courts as a percentage of the damages. If the court ruled you to be equally as responsible as your employer, they could cut the damages in half.

How can InjuryLawyers4U help you?

If you’ve been sacked after an accident at work, you may be able to bring an unfair dismissal claim against your employer. Plus, you may also be able to claim for personal injury if you were hurt in the accident too.