Assaults at work

Assaults at work – how to make a claim?

Assaults at work cases can occur in many ways. Some examples include:

An employer must provide a safe and secure work environment. They must take reasonable steps to reduce any risk of violence or harm whilst their employees are at work.

The employer will need to consider different risks depending upon the circumstances. Some groups of people may be at greater risk of workplace assault than others. If they work alone, or very early in the morning or late at night. Police officers or security staff are particularly at risk as sadly our emergency services staff often have to deal with quite difficult situations, domestic or neighbour disputes and often involving those who might be heavily intoxicated.

The prisons are a potentially dangerous place with intermittent violence and on occasion, very violent offenders. Hatch Brenner Chartered Legal Executive and Personal Injury specialist, Simon Bransby, has dealt with cases against the Ministry of Justice involving serious assaults on prison officers resulting in high-value claims.

Even if you cannot claim against your employer, you may have a Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) claim, a state-funded scheme allowing victims to recover compensation. The awards made under the CICA scheme are not as generous as a civil claim which might be made against either your employer or perhaps the perpetrator of the offence themselves.

The CICA can be run alongside any civil case against the employer or other perpetrator and should be lodged as soon as possible (not waiting for any criminal proceedings to be completed) as the time limits for such claims is two years rather than the usual three which applies to a civil claim. Any payments made by the CICA must be repaid to the state in the event of a successful civil claim.

If you’ve been injured through an assault at work, it’s important to understand your legal rights and options. In many cases, injured workers may be eligible to bring a personal injury claim if their employer failed to take reasonable steps to protect them from foreseeable harm. At Hatch Brenner, our experienced team of workplace injury solicitors can advise you on whether you have grounds for a civil claim against your employer or perpetrator, and also guide you through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) process where appropriate.

If you feel that you have a possible claim you would like to discuss, please contact us via simonbransby@hatchbrenner.co.uk or 01603 214 220. We can look into your possible claim and consider this on a no-win-no-fee basis after an initial risk assessment.

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