Accidents at Work and Employers liability Insurance

Each and every employer in Ireland is responsible for the health and safety of their employees. This is governed by statute and is a very clear and very obvious concept. The insurance is in place to cover the costs of any claims that will be made by an employee against an employer in the event of an accident that was caused by the negligence of the employer.

In recent times we have had the scenario where an employee has suffered an accident at work, only to find that the employer has no insurance. In such cases the only option is to pursue the case and hope that the employer has the financial means to cover the costs. Accident at work claims regularly go into six figure sums in Ireland. To pursue the case against an uninsured employer is usually a futile exercise, unless the employer has a very fat bank account.
Here is the shocking part. In 2017 post recession Ireland it is not compulsory for employers to have a policy of insurance to cover workplace accidents. As specialist accident at work Solicitors we pursue the rights of innocent victims of workplace accidents. If there is no insurance in place, tough luck. This is the current state of affairs. This is simply a joke.
In the unlikely event that any politician is reading this blog, we respectfully ask that this matter be looked into. The Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland was set up to compensate the victims of car accidents where the “at fault” driver is either uninsured or untraced. Do the victims of workplace accidents not deserve the same protection?
Here is a good example. You lost your finger in an accident on a building site, you cannot work again for the foreseeable future and have hefty hospital bills to pay, and your boss has no insurance. Tough luck. There is an inherent flaw in our justice system that this can happen. And it does happen. We recently has to tell a 19 year old electrician who suffered horrific and life changing burns injuries to forget about pursuing a case as his employer was uninsured. To do so would be a waste of time.
If you suffer a nasty workplace injury and your employer is not insured, it is highly likely that you will not be compensated. Such insurance is mandatory in other countries. In 2017 post recession Ireland this situation is completely unacceptable.

For more information on accidents at work compensation claims, please review our accidents at work page.