Have you suffered a serious workplace injury that was the result of or involved your employer’s negligence? If so, you may have an entitlement to bring a claim for work injury damages against your employer.

Before you are entitled to bring a claim for work injury damages, two criteria must be satisfied:

1. Whole Person Impairment
   The first step is to satisfy the relevant workers compensation insurer that your degree of Whole Person Impairment (WPI) is 15% or more as a result of the subject injury or injuries (which can be physical or psychological in nature). We have written a separate article about WPI and the entitlement you might have to lump sum compensation.
2. Negligence
   Once your WPI is agreed or determined to be 15% or more, you may proceed with the claim for work injury damages against the employer for negligence. Three things have to be considered and ultimately proven to do so:
   • There was a foreseeable risk of injury associated with the work you were doing;
   • The employer failed to take reasonable steps to eliminate or minimise the risk of injury; and
   • The employer’s negligence caused or contributed to your loss.

The unique circumstances of your case have to be analysed by our experienced compensation team to determine whether the above criteria can be satisfied.

If it can be established your employer was negligent which led to your workplace injuries, you may proceed with a claim for work injury damages to recover from your employer damages for past and future economic loss. This means you may recover the actual wages you have lost or are likely to lose up to retirement age, and you are not restricted to the statutory figures payable by the workers compensation insurer for weekly benefits.

Any such payment of damages will be payable to you by way of lump sum compensation and would terminate any future workers compensation entitlements (for medical expenses AND weekly benefits) you would have otherwise received had you remained on the workers compensation system.

Depending on the circumstances of your case (and in particular your degree of Whole Person Impairment), pursuing a work injury damages claim may be more beneficial to you if there is a significant disparity between what you could have earned had you not been injured and the weekly benefits payable by the Insurer under the workers compensation regime.

Pursuing a work injury damages claim may present an opportunity for injured workers to convert a potential future weekly entitlement into a current lump sum figure and removes the significant risks inherent in remaining on workers compensation benefits on an ongoing basis.

Contact Kye Bruce or James Parkin today to discuss your potential work injury damages claim.

Authored by

Kye Bruce, Solicitor

James Parkin, Senior Associate