Machinery Accident Claims

Machinery and work equipment cause some of the most serious workplace injuries — crush injuries, amputations, degloving, and hand and finger damage. The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) make employers responsible for equipment being suitable, guarded, maintained and used only by trained workers, whether it is a production line machine, a power tool or a simple hand tool.

What PUWER Requires

• Suitability — equipment must suit the task it is actually used for, in the conditions it is used in
• Maintenance — kept in efficient working order and good repair, with maintenance logs where appropriate
• Inspection — regularly, and after anything that could affect safety, such as a major repair or a period out of use
• Guarding — dangerous parts must have suitable guards or protection devices
• Controls — clearly identifiable, accessible start, stop and emergency stop controls
• Training — everyone using the equipment must have adequate information, instruction and training, and a written record is the usual way to show it

PUWER duties can also fall on whoever controls the equipment — an owner, a hirer, or a business supplying equipment for others’ workers — which matters on shared sites and with hired plant. Second-hand or old equipment must still meet the same standards.

Common Causes of Machinery Accidents

• Missing, removed, bypassed or inadequate machine guards
• Defective or missing emergency stops
• Machinery starting unexpectedly during maintenance or clearing a blockage because lock-out procedures were not followed
• Poorly maintained tools and equipment used beyond their service life
• Electrical tools with no inspection or testing
• Equipment unsuitable for the task, or used without training
• Being trapped between moving plant and a fixed structure

Defective Equipment

Your employer is responsible for making sure all work equipment is suitable and maintained, whoever supplied it. If the equipment was defective when it arrived, the manufacturer or supplier may also be liable, and your solicitor will identify everyone responsible. If you noticed a defect and used the equipment anyway, your compensation may be reduced for contributory negligence, but you can usually still claim where your employer should have taken it out of service.

Machinery accidents rarely happen in isolation, and the claim often crosses more than one category. Powered plant on a building site usually involves several contractors, and construction accident claims explain how liability is divided when the machine belongs to someone other than your employer. Where the same incident also involved lifting or moving a load by hand, the duty to assess that lift is a separate obligation, covered in manual handling injury claims. And where unguarded machinery or a failed guard caused a fall as well as the injury itself, fall from height claims set out the Work at Height Regulations 2005 duty.

Crush Injuries

A crush injury happens when part of the body is trapped or compressed between machinery, vehicles or heavy loads. It can damage skin, muscle, nerves, blood vessels and bone at the same time, and the full extent is often not visible at first. Serious complications include compartment syndrome (pressure building inside muscle that can cut off blood supply and may need emergency surgery), crush syndrome after prolonged compression, which can affect the kidneys and other organs, lasting nerve damage, and in the worst cases amputation. Close medical monitoring matters even when the injury first looks minor.

Hand and Finger Injuries

Hands are the body part most often injured by machinery and tools: lacerations and tendon damage, crush injuries and fractures, degloving, amputation of fingers or thumb, and lasting loss of grip and dexterity. Unguarded machinery, defective tools, unsafe systems of work and missing cut-resistant gloves are the usual causes. Medical evidence normally comes from a consultant orthopaedic or plastic surgeon, and compensation for an amputation reflects the digit lost, whether it is your dominant hand, and the effect on your work and daily life. Long-term vibration damage to the hands is covered in our hand-arm vibration syndrome guide.

Evidence That Helps

• Maintenance and inspection records for the equipment, or evidence none exist
• Photographs of the machine, especially any missing or inadequate guarding
• Training records showing what instruction you had before using it
• Reports of earlier faults or near misses with the same equipment
• Hospital and A&E records, including any surgery
• Witness accounts and the accident book entry

An HSE investigation does not stop your civil claim, and can sometimes produce useful evidence. In the most serious cases — amputation or permanent disability — special damages can include prosthetics, home adaptations, ongoing care and loss of future earnings, on top of general damages and any psychological injury.

Frequently Asked Questions