If you are a welder by occupation, or perform a significant amount of welding as part of your trade, you will be aware that health and safety regulations require employers to provide protective clothing, goggles, masks and good ventilation for the areas in which you are working.
When you are an underwater welder, the significance of following health and safety procedures is even more crucial, and where an employer fails to maintain protective equipment or fails to provide a safe environment in which to work, he is in breach of these regulations. Should you suffer an injury through your employer´s “lack of care”, you are entitled to make a welding injury compensation claim.
A welding injury compensation claim can result from a more severe injury than receiving a burn from welding equipment. In fact, burns from welding equipment are one of the least common reasons for a welding injury compensation claim – with more dangerous injuries being sustained from flying particles causing eye injuries and the inhalation of toxic fumes released from the materials being welded together. Indeed, the fumes may be the most menacing welding injury of all, with resultant illnesses including chronic bronchitis, occupational asthma, lung cancer and manganism – a disease resembling Parkinson’s, with symptoms such as slurred speech, impotency, loss of balance and walking problems.
If you suffered from a burn or had a particle of metal fly into your eye, it would be obvious that you would seek medical attention at the earliest possible opportunity. It is equally important that you speak with a doctor should you start experiencing breathing issues or feel permanently sluggish. There is no amount of money that can compensate for a long term health problem that could have been remedied by timely medical intervention and, when there is an element of fault by your employer which has contributed to your illnesses, you should also consult a solicitor in respect of making a welding injury compensation claim.
Making a Welding Injury Compensation Claim
When making a welding injury compensation claim, there are several factors which will influence the award that is made to you. The main consideration is the severity of your burn, eye injury or occupational disease. However, the amount of a welding injury compensation claim may be adjusted to account for your age, the effect that your welding injury has had on your quality of life, and any responsibility that you may have had for the injuries you sustained. To ensure that you receive a fair and adequate settlement for your welding injury compensation claim, it is in your best interests to use the services of a specialist personal injury* claims solicitor.
We have opened a free advice telephone service for anybody considering a welding injury compensation claim. The reason behind it is to advise people on their entitlement to make a claim and offer helpful information about what options are available to you. You may have many more questions that you would like to ask our solicitors, and are welcome to call between the hours of 8.00am to 10.00pm to speak with them directly.
Call us now or if you cannot speak now please fill in the form on the left and we will call you back.
What can I expect to happen?
Irrespective of the type of welding injury you have suffered, they are all painful and we understand that you may well have experienced a psychological trauma as well. So, we will treat you courteously throughout our conversation and explain everything clearly to you as we go along.
Our solicitors will need to know the circumstances surrounding your injury and where you believe your employer was to blame – even partially. We will make a preliminary assessment of your welding injury compensation claim and advise you if we feel that there is a case which is worth your while pursuing.
If so, we will be able to advise you on how long the process will take, the likelihood of your success and, in some circumstances, we will be able to give you a general idea of the level of compensation we would anticipate should be awarded to you.
You may have many questions of your own that you would like to ask, and you are free to do so. We end each conversation by offering you a list of options – none of which you are under any obligation to act on – and some suggestions on how you can move forward with a claim.
Frequently, clients will want a couple of days to absorb the information we have given or talk it over with family or friends, and you may want to call back with a further question or two which you had not considered during the initial call. All of which is perfectly okay.
However, in order to start the process, you should call our free advice telephone service at the earliest possible opportunity. Our lines are open between 8.00am and 10.00pm and we operate a call-back service, so if it is not convenient to call us right away, please leave your details in our contact box below, and one of our friendly and helpful team will be in touch shortly.