Factory Accident Claims

Factory and manufacturing workers — in food processing, engineering, packaging, chemicals, foundries and production lines — face machinery, forklifts, chemicals, noise and repetitive handling every shift. A claim doesn’t need a dramatic accident: a back injury from repetitive lifting on a line is as valid as a hand injury from an unguarded machine, if your employer’s failure caused it.

Common Factory Accidents

• Machinery — entanglement, crushing and cuts from unguarded or poorly maintained equipment (see machinery accident claims)
• Forklifts and vehicles — collisions with pedestrians, falling loads and overturns (see forklift claims)
• Chemicals — burns, dermatitis and respiratory illness from hazardous substances, dusts and fumes
• Slips and trips — wet production floors, poor drainage, trailing cables and poor lighting
• Manual handling — back, shoulder and neck injuries from lifting products and materials
• Falling objects — from racking, overhead conveyors and mezzanines
• Electrical accidents — contact with live equipment and arc flash
• Noise and repetitive work — industrial deafness and repetitive strain

The Regulations That Apply

• PUWER 1998 — machinery must be suitable, guarded, maintained, inspected and used only by trained workers
• COSHH 2002 — exposure to chemicals, dusts, fumes and biological agents must be assessed and controlled, with ventilation and suitable PPE
• Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 — avoid, assess and reduce hazardous lifting
• Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 — suitable PPE free of charge where other controls are not enough
• Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 — electrical systems maintained, and no live working except under strict control
• Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 — exposure above the action levels must be reduced and hearing protection provided

Who Is Liable?

Usually your direct employer. But a machinery manufacturer or supplier may share liability for inherently defective or unguarded equipment; a labour agency may be liable if you were placed as a temporary worker; and if you work on site as a contractor, the factory occupier may owe you a duty alongside your own employer. Agency and temporary workers have the same protection as permanent staff.

Industrial Deafness

Hearing loss or tinnitus from factory noise above the action levels in the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 is a recognised claim. Because it develops gradually, the three-year limit usually runs from when you knew, or should have known, that it was linked to work — see our noise-induced hearing loss guide.

Compensation

Under the Judicial College Guidelines (18th edition, April 2026), for example, a moderate back injury is valued at £16,520 to £51,230, severe complex regional pain syndrome at £69,360 to £110,990, and a below-knee amputation of one leg at £129,440 to £175,690. Lost earnings, treatment, rehabilitation and care are added on top — see how compensation is calculated.

Evidence That Helps

• Accident book entry and any RIDDOR report
• Photographs of the machine, the area and your injuries
• PUWER inspection and maintenance logs, and training records — obtainable even if the machine has since been removed
• COSHH assessments and safety data sheets for chemical injuries
• CCTV, witness names, and medical records stating the injury happened at work

How common are workplace injuries in factories?

Across all industries, an estimated 680,000 workers in Great Britain sustained a non-fatal injury at work in 2024/25, and employers reported 59,219 non-fatal injuries to employees under RIDDOR. Being struck by a moving object accounted for 10% of those reports and handling, lifting or carrying for 17%. Source: HSE, Non-fatal injuries at work in Great Britain.

What do real factory prosecutions show?

These published prosecutions show the kinds of failure that also support a compensation claim:

• Oldbury, West Midlands (December 2025) — FMP West Midlands Limited was fined £24,000 after an employee loading a tube polishing machine had his hand caught in unguarded cogs and chains, losing part of a finger and suffering crush injuries to two others. The company pleaded guilty to breaching PUWER regulation 11(1). Source: HSE press release
• Newbury (December 2025) — Power and Energy International Ltd was fined £187,600 after an 18-year-old apprentice was pulled into a radial-arm drill, suffering three broken ribs. HSE found inadequate guarding, inadequate training on the safety features and modifications that increased the risk. Source: HSE press release
• Langley Mill, Derbyshire (November 2025) — Reflex Flexible Packaging Ltd was fined £277,500 after a worker died when he became trapped in unguarded moving parts of a plastics conversion machine. HSE found no suitable risk assessment, no written safe system of work and no isolation procedure. Source: HSE press release

Fines are paid to the state, not to the injured worker. Compensation is a separate civil claim against the employer’s insurer, and evidence from an HSE investigation can help prove it.

What should I read before I claim?

• Accident at work claim time limits
• How the accident at work claims process works
• Accident at work claims in Birmingham
• Accident at work claims in Manchester
• Accident at work claims in Leeds

Frequently Asked Questions