During the Pandemic, care and health workers were put under enormous pressure in their jobs to care for and treat patients suffering from COVID-19. As key workers they could not “stay home” and instead were forced to work in overwhelmed hospitals and care homes to look after those who were severely affected by the virus.

As a result, many care and health workers contracted COVID-19 where they otherwise would not have done. In some circumstances this lead to serious complications for these workers, including death.

COVID-19 which was likely contracted at work is an Industrial Disease.

If you or a family member contracted COVID-19 at work which had an adverse effect to health then you may be eligible to bring a claim against your employer.

Those who were vulnerable or at risk of suffering adversely from the virus are probably more likely to have a claim.

There is a 3 year time limit to pursue a claim for personal injury, so for many care and health workers affected, this 3 year time limit could be fast approaching.

Your Employer has a legal duty to protect you from foreseeable risk of injury. If you have been exposed to and contracted Covid-19 at work, with our without being provided with PPE, you may have a claim.

If you have read the above and feel that you may be suffering from long-term negative health effects as a result of exposure to COVID-19, call Oakwood Solicitors to speak to a member of our dedicated Industrial Disease team.

In order to run the majority of personal injury claims, you have to have started the claim within three years of the injury. However, with Industrial Disease claims it may be that the injury started over a period of time and was only diagnosed within the last three years. We will be able to clarify this for you.

The length of time for a case can vary, and can strongly depend on how Defendants and their insurers want to defend the action.

The case can take anywhere from 12 months, up to 3–4 years to reach a conclusion.

Our cases are brought on a ‘no-win, no-fee’ basis. If we accept your claim, as long as terms of the agreement are complied with by yourself – namely that you do not mislead and you co-operate – there will be no charge to you in the event of the case failing.

If the case succeeds, there will be a deduction to be made from the damages.

The value of the claim will solely be depending on the issues which are medically associated with your work exposure. We will instruct an appropriate expert with an expert field in respiratory medicine; it will be once a medical report has been produced that we will be able to properly assess the value of the claim.

The claims range for these types of cases can be from a few thousand pounds to hundreds of thousands of pounds.

If you are still working for the defendant, they cannot dismiss you for making or proposing to make a claim. If your employer does attempt to do so, you are likely able to make a successful unfair dismissal claim. In our experience, the majority of insurers understand their duties owed to you and the right you have to pursue a claim if this duty has been breached.

In most cases, the claim will normally be transferred from the Defendants directly to their insurers, and it will be the insurers who will deal with the defending of the action.

As well as common law duty to ensure a safe place of work and a safe system of work, your employer will have a number of duties set down by statute.

 Health and Safety at Work Act 1974

• Employers have a duty so far as is reasonably practicable to ensure the safety and welfare of their employees.

Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999

• Duty to undertake a reasonable risk assessment (Reg. 3)
• Requirement to undertake a health surveillance (Reg. 6)

Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992

• Ensure that suitable personal equipment is provided (Reg. 4)
• Ensure an assessment of any personal protective equipment is undertaken to determine whether it is suitable.

Control of Substances Hazardous to Health 2002

• Required to assess health risk where work is liable to expose employees to substances hazardous to health (Reg. 6)
• Ensure exposure to substances hazardous to health is either prevented, or where not reasonably practicable, adequately controlled (Reg. 7)
• Ensure any employee exposed to substances hazardous to health are monitored and under suitable health surveillance (Reg. 11)

Respiratory disease claims – Oakwood Solicitors

Oakwood Solicitors Ltd agrees to work on your industrial disease claim on a ‘no-win, no-fee’ basis. If your claim is unsuccessful, you will not be expected to pay us a penny.

If you are successful in your claim, we take a percentage of the compensation meaning that the only time we will receive money is if we have brought your claim to a fruitful conclusion.

You will have a dedicated advisor who will see your claim through from start to finish, assisting you in the event of any queries or issues you may have. If it is preferable to you, we are able to assign a female advisor to carry out your claim.

Your case handler will also continue to provide regular updates until the conclusion of your claim, ensuring the process is as stress-free and effortless as possible.