Working in a shop is generally quite a safe job but accidents can happen. If you’re a retail worker, your employer must take reasonable steps to keep the shop as safe as possible. If they don’t, and you are injured as a result, you could be awarded compensation for any suffering. This article about retail worker injury claims will explain what types of retail accidents could lead to a claim, what you should do following an accident at work and what any compensation might cover.

If you are a retail worker and are thinking of claiming, please get in touch. We offer a no-obligation consultation where your claim will be reviewed by a specialist and you’ll be given free advice about your next steps. If your claim has a fair chance of success, we’ll partner you with one of our personal injury solicitors. If they agree to work on your case, they’ll represent you on a No Win, No Fee basis. That means you don’t pay any legal fees unless your claim is won.

If you’ve been injured whilst working in a shop and would like to begin a claim right away, please call us on 0800 652 1345 today. Alternatively, please read on to learn more about retail worker injury claims.

What is a retailer’s duty of care to staff?

Legally, an employer has a duty of care to try and protect the “health, safety and welfare of persons at work”. This duty is established by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Obviously, no shop, supermarket or retail outlet will ever be completely safe but there are steps the retailer should take to try and reduce the risk of accidents happening. They include:

• Carrying out regular risk assessments to identify any hazards.
• Ensuring all equipment in the shop is regularly maintained and repaired when faulty.
• Training staff on the company’s health and safety procedures.
• Providing suitable Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) where needed.
• Allowing adequate rest breaks to prevent tiredness.
• Hiring security guards to protect staff in shops with high crime rates.

If you have been injured whilst working in retail because your employer was negligent in some way, you could be entitled to compensation for your suffering.

Can I claim compensation as a retail worker injured at work?

We believe that you stand a better chance of being compensated for retail injuries if you have a legal representative. Our team of personal injury lawyers have decades of experience and could represent you if:

• You had an accident whilst working in a retail environment; and
• The accident was caused by your employer’s negligence; and
• You sustained an injury during that accident.

In most cases, retail worker injury claims will be passed to your employer’s insurance company. They are unlikely to compensate you at all if you can’t provide proof to show how you were injured and why your employer was to blame. As such, we’ll explain what to do after an accident in a shop later on.

Can I make a compensation claim without being sacked?

If you work in retail and have had an accident at work, there’s nothing to stop you from claiming compensation if your employer’s negligence caused the accident. Legally, you cannot be sacked for making an honest claim. Furthermore, it is illegal for you to be disciplined, demoted or treated differently because you’ve decided to claim.

If any action is taken against you, there may well be grounds for a separate claim for unfair or constructive dismissal. Please get in touch if you’d like to know more.

Common accidents that cause injuries to retail staff

There is a large variety of accidents that can occur in a retail environment. We won’t list all of them here but we’ve added a few examples to give some idea about when a retail worker could be entitled to compensation. They include:

• Slips, trips and falls. If the shop floor is wet and you slip and injure yourself, you may be eligible to claim compensation. For example, you could have grounds to claim if the slip, trip and fall accident was caused by a leak or a spillage that was not cleared up quickly.
• Manual handling. Where your role requires you to move large, awkward or heavy loads, you should be given training on safe manual handling techniques. If you’re not and you pull a muscle in your back while pushing a cage full of stock, you could be entitled to compensation for manual handling injuries.
• Cuts and lacerations. A common example in this category is where you cut yourself on a damaged shelf while filling it with stock.
• Warehouse accidents. You could claim if an item of stock fell on you in the warehouse accident because the stock was piled too high on top of warehouse shelving or racking.
• Scalds or burns. You might be able to claim if you were burnt in the staff room because a faulty or poorly maintained water boiler splashed boiling water over you while you were making a drink.
• Falling objects. If an item of merchandising such as a hanging sign falls and strikes you in a supermarket, it may be possible to claim for any injuries.
• Warehouse cage accidents. Finally, you could claim if you were struck by a cage being pushed by a colleague because they couldn’t see you due to the amount of stock within the cage.

Don’t worry if you cannot see an accident similar to your own, we could still help you to begin a retail worker injury claim. Call us today and let us know what happened and we’ll review your chances of being compensated for free.

Common injuries to retail workers

Some of the common injuries to retail workers that could lead to a claim for compensation include:

• Back injuries.
• Cuts and lacerations.
• Broken bones.
• Head injuries.
• Soft tissue injuries.

Whether you were injured on the shop floor, warehouse, staff room or car park, we could help you begin a claim for your suffering. Please speak to an advisor today if you’d like more information.

How much compensation for a retail worker injury can I claim?

If you claim compensation for an accident in a shop as a retail worker, the amount you claim will be based on how you’ve suffered because of your injuries (general damages) and any expenses linked to your injuries (special damages).

Depending on the nature of your injuries, you might be able to claim compensation to cover:

• Your physical pain and suffering.
• Any distress, embarrassment, anxiety or other forms of psychiatric trauma resulting from the accident.
• Any income you lost while you were injured.
• The impact your injuries had on your usual hobbies and activities.
• The cost of repairing or replacing items damaged during the accident.
• Travel expenses such as parking fees for a hospital appointment.
• Private medical treatment or physiotherapy.
• Care costs where you needed to be looked after by a friend, family member or professional carer whilst injured.
• Home adaptations to improve your quality of life if you’ve been left disabled by your injuries.
• Future loss of earnings if your injuries will lower your earning capacity in the long term.

It is important to include everything in your retail worker injury claim as you can’t ask for further compensation after you’ve settled. If you make your claim with us, your solicitor will work hard to try and make sure that you are compensated fully.

Providing proof for a compensation claim

If you are injured while working in retail, there are several steps to follow that could improve your chances of being compensated for your suffering. They include:

• Report the accident. It is important to tell your supervisor that you’ve been injured. They should record what happened in the retailer’s accident report book. Your copy of the report will make it easier to prove when and where you were injured.
• Seek medical treatment. You should not rely on first aid alone following an accident in retail. Instead, you should visit your GP, a minor injuries unit or a hospital. After your injuries have been treated, you could obtain a copy of your medical records to prove how serious they were.
• Take photographs. You should try to take pictures of the accident scene as soon as possible. Ideally, they will capture the cause of the accident before it’s been removed, replaced or repaired.
• Speak to any witnesses. If any customers or colleagues saw your accident, ask them for their contact details. If necessary, your solicitor could ask them for a statement later on.
• Obtain CCTV footage. Most shops use CCTV systems to protect their stock and staff. As such, if your accident was captured on camera, ask for a copy of the relevant footage. You’re entitled to do so but be quick as it’s often deleted fairly quickly.

Additionally, it’s a good idea to write down as much as you can following the retail accident. Try to describe what happened and include dates and times. If you incur any costs because of your injuries, keep a record of these as well.

While these might be time-consuming, they could improve your chances of being awarded compensation.

Time limits for claiming compensation

If you decide to claim for injuries sustained while you were working in retail, you’ll need to abide by the 3-year time limit. In most cases, this will be 3 years from the date of the accident.

Although that is quite a long time, you will need time to collect proof and your solicitor will need to arrange for an independent medical assessment. For these reasons, we believe it’s better to begin your claim sooner rather than later.

Retail worker injury claims can be settled in as little as 6 months or so if the claim is straightforward, you’ve fully recovered and the retailer accepts liability for your accident and injuries. In more complex cases, claims can take over a year. This is more likely when the full extent of your injuries is not fully understood. However, in some cases, interim payments might be made by your employer to cover loss of earnings or medical costs while the case continues.

No Win, No Fee claims

We believe that if you’ve been injured as retail staff, you have a better chance of being compensated if you have a specialist solicitor on your side. The good news is that our solicitors offer a No Win, No Fee service which means you don’t need to pay legal fees upfront and you won’t pay them at all unless you are compensated.

The only time you’ll pay for your solicitor’s work is if the claim is won and a settlement is paid. When that happens, a percentage of your compensation (known as a success fee) will be deducted before it’s paid to you.

If your claim is accepted, you’ll receive a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) to explain the retail worker injury claims process in more detail. It will clearly show the success fee you’ll pay if your case is won. Legally, it is capped at 25% of your settlement amount.

To check if you could claim for a retail accident on a No Win, No Fee basis, please call today.

Start a retail worker injury claim today

If you’d like to find out your chances of being compensated for injuries sustained while working in retail, call our team on 0800 652 1345 today. During your initial consultation, your claim will be reviewed and you’ll be offered free legal advice from one of our specialists.

If your claim is taken on, your solicitor will handle all communication with your employer and fight your corner on a No Win, No Fee basis. The only time you’ll have to pay legal fees is if you are compensated for your injuries.

If you have further questions about retail worker injury claims, please use live chat or call our advice centre to ask them.