Burn injuries can have a severe impact on your physical and mental wellbeing. It’s essential to act quickly and speak to experienced solicitors’ like Garratts about your options to claim compensation. Our personal injury solicitors are highly qualified in handling burn injury claims with decades of experience supporting individuals and successfully claiming compensation for serious burns. Contact us for a free initial consultation on 0161 665 3502, or request a callback via our contact form to find out how we can help you with your claim.
What types of burn injuries are there?
There are four different types of burn as defined by the NHS;
- Superficial epidermal burns, i.e. damage to the outer skin layer (‘epidermis’) without blisters
- Superficial dermal burns, i.e. damage to the outer skin layer and the second skin layer (‘dermis’), which contains blood vessels, nerve endings etc. and often accompanied by the appearance of small blisters
- Deep dermal or partial-thickness burns, i.e. damage to the outer and second skin layer with the skin being swollen, blistered and feeling extremely painful
- Full-thickness burns, i.e. damage to all three skin layers: the epidermis, the dermis and the subcutis. Here the skin has been burnt completely and may appear pale or black, dry and leathery.
Causes for workplace burn injuries
Workplace burn injuries may occur as a result of the employers’ negligent behaviour in the following situations:
- Faulty, unsafe electrical equipment resulting in electrical burns -
Electrical burns can result from employees using hazardous electrical equipment or machinery, which then cause electrical burns through electric shocks because of negligence by an employer who fails to maintain and test equipment properly. You should ring 999 immediately following an electrical burn.
- Exposure to hot surfaces or handling of hot substances in the workplace
- Contact with harmful chemical substances or corrosive chemicals -
Sometimes employers fail to provide adequate safety equipment, protective clothing and training, resulting in highly painful and damaging acid and chemical burns, which will require immediate medical attention.
- Exposure to fires without safety equipment or clothing while at work
Consequences of serious burn injuries at work
Serious burn injuries can seriously affect victims’ lives and incomes due to a range of medium and long-term effects on their physical and mental health — the following list details common consequences resulting from burn injuries at work.
- Permanent facial and bodily scarring; victims may also have to undergo scar revision surgery or reconstructive surgery
- Psychological damage including prolonged episodes of anxiety, depression and even Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Muscle and ligament damage; some of which may require skin transplantations or skin grafts
- Infections including blood poisoning (sepsis) or toxic shock syndrome
- Impaired vision, including blindness
How much compensation can I get for my burn injury claim?
The level of compensation for your burn injury claim will vary on a case-by-case basis. It will also depend on the severity of your injury, loss of earnings, rehabilitative treatments required to help you recover from your injury and any expenses which may have occurred so far. You can rest assured that our solicitors will aim to get you the maximum compensation to cover any financial losses you may have experienced due to your injury.
What is the process for making a burn injury compensation claim?
To start the claims process, we advise you to contact us by calling 0161 665 3502 or leave us a message via our contact form. One of our personal injury solicitors will call you back and offer you a free initial consultation. Next, we will review your case and advise you on whether we think you can make a compensation claim.
Our team will then accrue all required evidence and inform any liable third parties. We will also arrange an independent medical examination report for you. Garratts will carry out all negotiations, and if required, we will represent you in court.
How long will the compensation claims process take?
In the UK, you have three years from the date your burn injury occurred to claim compensation. Contact our offices as soon as possible if your accident happened in the last three years.
