Public Administration and Defence — Claiming Employer Negligence
If you have been injured whilst working in the public administration or defence sector, and feel employer negligence is to blame, contact us now. We can help you claim compensation on a no win, no fee* basis. We offer a free claim assessment under no-obligation. Call 08082391859^ to start your claim.
UK Health & Safety in the Public Admin & Defence sector
Government-sector work perhaps wouldn’t be thought of as a high-risk type job; public administration, civil and criminal courts, tax agencies, foreign affairs — these workplaces are usually within an office environment. However, the public administration and defence sector has one of the highest rates of work-related ill-health, stress, anxiety and depression, and even workplace injuries of all UK sectors.
Whilst this sector does include public order and safety, usually in the form of the police force, as well as national defence, these occupations don’t exclusively explain the high rates of personal injury in employees. Violent physical and verbal assault make up about a fifth of reported injuries to the whole sector. Slips, trips and falls, combined with manual handling accidents, collectively make up close to half of all injuries to workers in public and government admin.
The government and public administration sector is widespread across the country, with numerous councils responsible for their regions’ occupants and employing large volumes of staff to do so. A saturation of government officials can be found in London, but other major governmental employers are dotted around the country. Head offices for HMRC are located in Grimsby, in the Yorkshire & the Humber region, as well as the Department of Health & Social Care in Leeds. Several MoD outfits are placed strategically across the country, like with Kineton in the West Midlands and the Royal Marine Base in Chivenor, to the South West. The sector employs around 7% of the entire UK working population.
The types of work one can do in the public administration and defence sector are polar opposite in nature, be it behind the desk or on the streets of the United Kingdom. However, employers have a duty of care to their staff regardless of their occupation. The tricky nature of this particular industry grouping is that both are directly tied to politics and domestic policy — workers are routinely experiencing changes that affect the capability and nature of their role. Government cutbacks, for example, can shrink public administration agencies in terms of workers, and that can put pressure on employees to perform. This goes in part to explain that 50% of cases of illness came in the form of mental health. Time pressures, job security, irregular hours and even poor employer communication have taken their toll on workers, and trends show the numbers of stress, depression, and anxiety cases for this sector to be on the rise.
What also makes this type of work difficult are customers, regarded as a “workplace risk” in 78% of establishments in public administration. Clearly, serving the public can problematic, and may also contribute to violence at work injuries, where officials are at risk of difficult customers as well as the police force and security forces. This industry encounters challenges from both ends of their operation, making daily duties stressful, and in turn contributing to such high injury and illness rates.
We hold employers to account when their policy and practices have caused you grief, pain, or suffering — we want to make sure that you are compensated accordingly. If you feel like you might have cause to seek employer negligence compensation, speak to our team of experts. We’ll be able to evaluate your claim free of charge, and if we feel you have a case, we’ll provide our services on a no win, no fee* basis. Call today on 08082391859^.
Claim compensation for an injury or illness from working in public administration and defence with our solicitors.
There has been an estimated annual average of 98,000 public admin employees suffering from work-related ill-health. There has been an estimated annual average of 43,000 employees sustaining injuries from accidents. In 2018/19 there were 2 fatalities of public administration workers, one of which due to falling from a height.
Whilst public defence has long been regarded as a risky occupation for employee well-being, public administration is also proving to be dangerous, despite being regarded in the opposite way. We seek to make sure employers are penalised for negligent practices that have you put you in harm’s way, especially if oversight or complacency has cost you your health.
Regardless of what public administration/defence job you have — or how you’ve suffered — speak to our team if the problem is a result of your employer or workplace. We can help you build a case for compensation on a no win, no fee* basis. Our team is available 24/7 on 08082391859^ and will give you a free claim assessment and guide you through your claim.
What are the most common causes of public administration and public defence accidents resulting in injury?
The requirement for personal protective equipment, hazard highlighting and mitigation and training contrast both subgroups of public admin and defence. For public order and security workers, the need for these are paramount, whist for typically office bound employees in governmental bodies, the need for this is perceived to be minimal. This might go far to explain how nearly half of all reported accidents are from lifting and carrying and slips, trips and falls. Clearly, effective training and workplace risks could be better handled to reduce the numbers of injury. The most common causes of injuries in public administration and defence are:
- Slipping, tripping and falling
- Acts of violence
- Handling, lifting or carrying things
- Being struck by moving or falling objects
- Falls from heights
- Striking against something fixed of stationary
- Being hit by moving vehicles
- Exposure to harmful substances
- Contact with moving machinery
- Injuries from animals
- Becoming trapped by things collapsing or overturning
- Contact with electricity or electrical discharge
What occupational illnesses are typical in public administration and defence?
With one of the highest rates of employee ill-health of all UK industries, and yet one of the fewest in number of environmental and substance hazards, the sheer number of cases is very surprising. 53% of workers indicated that they were suffering from poor mental health, caused by working in public administration, or about 50,000 annually. Around 29% of workers suffering from an illness attributed to musculoskeletal disorders.
What’s interesting about this is that the number of annual cases of poor mental health has been climbing significantly since around 2014/15. This could be down to changes at a governmental level, in line with austerity measures taken in the last decade. It could also be down to better social awareness of what depression, anxiety, and stress actually manifest as, and how to deal with them. Whilst such mental health conditions might be downplayed in severity, there is estimated to be £807 million in costs attributed to ill-health in this sector, and 2.3 million working days lost. If, conservatively, 30% of this is due to stress, anxiety and depression, it equates to a lot of money and a lot of days lost to poor mental health alone.
The rate of musculoskeletal disorders suggests that around 1.5% of all public admin and defence workers were coping with some form of muscle, joint or skeletal pain. In office environments, especially those requiring a lot of typing, carpal tunnel syndrome and repetitive strain injury are quite common. But also, back pain and spine problems from manual handling and poor workplace comfort is also a regularity.
If you’ve experienced ongoing suffering because of working in public administration or defence, and it has impacted your ability to work and/or your quality of life — speak to our team of experts. We can offer friendly and empathetic guidance, assess whether you have a case for compensation, and help you make a claim if you have one. Call us on 08082391859^
Do public administration and defence workers experience any fatalities?
Fortunately, very few workplace deaths occur in this sector, but of all workplace fatalities recorded, it does still count for 1% of the total. It might also be worth mentioning that fatalities in the military aren’t reported to RIDDOR, the HSE has an agreement in place with the MOD. There is a separate system in place for dealing with such cases. We may or may not be able to help make claims, but it might be worth asking our team if this is at all something you’re unclear on.
If you’ve lost someone dear to you that was working in public administration, a governmental body or public defence, speak to our team. We will approach your case with the utmost empathy and help you seek compensation for the loss – we’re on 08082391859^ and available whenever it suits you.
What advantages do I have if I claim for employer negligence compensation against public sector bodies with Workplace Injury Claims?
- We have a team of technical qualifiers who can assess your claim for free. If they feel you have a case, we bring your claim to one of our panel solicitors — that way you don’t run up any legal fees by just asking questions.
- Our telephony team is open 24hrs a day, but you can leave them a message with our contact form, and they’ll get back to you within a few working days.
- Our panel of employer liability solicitors can work on a no win, no fee* basis, meaning again, you’re not drumming up expensive legal fees by claiming for your personal injury or illness.
- Our team covers the whole of the UK, and you’ll be assigned to a panel solicitor depending on if you’re in England and Wales, or Scotland.
- We have helped many people claim compensation who have worked in governmental agencies, public administration and defence.
- We can also help with rehabilitation; arranging physio or, in harsher situations, surgery and medical treatment. Furthermore, we offer a whole accident management package.
- We have a UK call centre, based in Manchester, and come from all walks of life.
- We fight for the maximum compensation for you, because ultimately your job is to make the company successful, and they should at least ensure your safety in exchange.
- When we calculate your claim amount, we factor in loss of earnings, general expenses and any ongoing costs incurred, so that you get the highest level of compensation due to you.
- We’re friendly, empathetic and here to help you however we can.
Get in touch with our employer negligence solicitors** today to find out if and how much compensation you could claim.
If you’ve suffered because of work in public administration and your employer is at fault, call our helpline today on 08082391859^ to start your claim — we’re here to help.
