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This is a question that we are frequently asked, and in most cases the answer will be ‘yes,’ provided you can show that someone else was at least partly to blame for the accident in which you were hurt and that your injury was not simply down to your own reckless behavior.

Whether it is your employer that will be liable, or the organizer of the training or team-building event, the person who owns and operates the venue, or the individual who actually caused your injury, will depend on the circumstances. However, as Anna Rushton, head of our personal injury and accidents at work team, explains: 

“There will almost invariably be someone who can be held legally to account, and therefore it is always worth consulting a solicitor to see if a claim may be possible, and particularly where you have been hurt at an event, or while taking part in an activity, which your employer has either invited, encouraged or compelled you to attend or to participate in.” 

How common are training and team building accidents?

With people slowly returning to the office after the pandemic, an increasing number of businesses are looking to organize team-building events as a way to help new and old colleagues bond. Employees are being invited to do assault courses, high ropes and bungee jumps, sky diving, off-road quad biking, clay pigeon shooting and even cocktail making!

There are also businesses that have been busy recruiting new staff, and who are now being sent on training days – for example, to become police or security offices, couriers or delivery drivers, nightclub bouncers, or paramedics and healthcare assistants.

While the majority of these organized events take place without incident, there are some occasions where things go wrong and where accidents occur – usually because of poor planning or a failure to carry out a proper risk assessment, or to implement appropriate safeguards and to provide participants with guidance on expected standards of behavior.

Obligations of your employer

Your employer is responsible for your health and safety while you are at work, and also in most cases while you are engaged in activities away from work which your employer has organized, facilitated, sponsored or requested you to take part in. 

Where you suffer an injury that is at least partly due to your employer failing to meet their duty of care towards you, then it will usually be possible for you make a compensation claim, which will be settled under the terms of their Employers’ Liability Insurance. 

You may also be able to make a claim against your employer where you have been injured by a fellow employee, for example as a result of a prank that has gone wrong. This is under a legal rule known as employers’ vicarious liability. 

Obligations of the event organizer or host

Where a team-building event or staff training day has been organized to take place away from your usual place of work, for example at an outward-bound center or a local hotel, then the organizer of the event and/or the owner of the venue, may also be potentially liable to compensate you if anything they have done, or failed to do, has resulted or contributed to the accident occurring in which your injury was sustained.

Your obligations

While at work, or engaged in a work-related event, you also have a duty to do what you reasonably can to safeguard your health and safety, and also the health and safety of your colleagues. If you fail to do this, and are injured as a result of your own careless or reckless behavior, then it may be that compensation cannot be claimed or that, if it can, the amount you receive is lowered to reflect the part you had play in contributing to the accident occurring.

Examples of behavior that might affect your ability to make a claim, or affect the amount you receive, including having complete disregard for any health and safety measures that were in place, trying to play a joke on a colleague that you should have foreseen could have had dangerous consequences for you or for them, or taking drugs or consuming alcohol in such amounts that your judgment or ability to work or participate in an activity safely was impaired.

What to do if you have been injured

If you have been hurt in an accident at work, whether at your employer’s premises or somewhere else, then you should take legal advice as soon as you can to see whether a claim may be possible. This is something you should do even if you think the accident may have in some way been at least partly your fault. 

Do not be afraid of seeking legal advice. It is your right to claim compensation from your employer if they have failed in their duty of care towards you, and there are laws in place to prevent you from being disadvantaged if you do decide to make a claim – including specific laws to prevent you from being sacked, demoted or threatened with redundancy. 

Benefits of seeking early advice

By seeking legal advice promptly, you stand a better chance of being able to gather valuable evidence to support your claim – including photographs of the accident site and of your immediate injuries, together with statements from any witnesses who may have seen what happened. 

It will also mean that where you have suffered a serious injury, you will be able to tap into the various sources of support that a solicitor can quickly help to arrange  – including private treatment where NHS waiting lists are too long, specialist rehabilitation and counselling therapies, state-of-the-art mobility aids, vehicle and home adaptions, and home help services. 

How we can assist

We have significant experience in dealing with accident at work claims and have helped many injured employees to recover the compensation that they deserve. This includes a sum to reflect pain and suffering, adverse impact on quality of life, current and future loss of earnings, the payment of extra expenses, ongoing treatment costs and funding for future care. 

We can also help with practical things, like liaising with your employer to support you in making a gradual return to work where this is possible – including having you moved to lighter duties initially where the nature of your injuries mean that you are physically limited in what you can do. 

We offer a free first interview, a free translation service in Polish, Tamil, Sinhala or Malayalam if you need it, and if we think that your claim has reasonable prospects of success, we can also usually agree to act for you on a no win, no fee basis.

Examples of our work

We recently recovered £60,000 for a gentleman who hurt his back on a team-building day as a result of being pushed from behind while undertaking an obstacle course. In this case, it was the organizer of the event that was found to be liable because of their failure to ensure that participants were kept at a safe distance from one another and that the course was not too fast. 

We have also recently accepted instructions to act for someone who was injured while being trained to safely restrain people, and who was paired with a big and muscular partner who caused our client to hurt his back when he was thrown to the floor during a demonstration. 

Contact us

To find out more about our personal injury service, or to make an appointment to see one of our accident at work specialists, please call us now on 0800 195 6412.