When a tool, machine or piece of work equipment fails and injures you, UK law gives you more than one route to compensation - and in most cases a stronger route than ordinary negligence. The Employer's Liability (Defective Equipment) Act 1969 imposes strict liability on employers for injuries caused by defects in work equipment. The Consumer Protection Act 1987 imposes strict liability on the manufacturer or supplier of a defective product. Either route means you don't have to prove someone was careless - just that the equipment was defective and caused the injury.
When a tool, machine or piece of work equipment fails and injures you, UK law gives you more than one route to compensation - and in most cases a stronger route than ordinary negligence. The Employer's Liability (Defective Equipment) Act 1969 imposes strict liability on employers for injuries caused by defects in work equipment. The Consumer Protection Act 1987 imposes strict liability on the manufacturer or supplier of a defective product. Either route means you don't have to prove someone was careless - just that the equipment was defective and caused the injury.
The three claim routes
1. Employer's Liability (Defective Equipment) Act 1969 - strict liability against the employer
Section 1 of the ELDEA 1969 states that where an employee suffers personal injury in the course of employment as a result of a defect in equipment provided by the employer, the injury is deemed to be attributable to the employer's negligence - even where the actual fault was in the manufacturer or supplier.
In practical terms:
- You don't have to prove your employer was careless in buying, maintaining or inspecting the equipment.
2. Consumer Protection Act 1987 - strict liability against the producer
Part I of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 imposes strict liability on the 'producer' of defective products - typically the manufacturer, own-brander, or importer into the UK. Section 3 defines a product as 'defective' if its safety is not such as persons generally are entitled to expect.
Claim features:
- Strict liability - no need to prove carelessness.
3. Common-law negligence
An employer must take reasonable care to provide safe equipment, maintained in safe condition. A manufacturer owes a duty of care to end users (the Donoghue v Stevenson line).
A note on PUWER after 2013
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 used to create automatic civil liability for breach. Section 69 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 changed that - since October 2013, a breach of PUWER doesn't automatically give rise to civil liability. Instead, PUWER breaches are used as evidence of common-law negligence.
What counts as 'defective'?
Manufacturing defects - The specific item was faulty at the point of manufacture.
Design defects - The product is unsafe in design.
Warning / instruction defects - The product is safe in itself but was sold without adequate warnings.
Maintenance-related defects - The equipment was safe when supplied but has become defective through poor maintenance.
Common defective-equipment scenarios
Hand tools - Hammers with loose heads; saws with faulty blade guards; wrenches that slip.
Power tools - Grinders with malfunctioning discs; drills with electrical faults; circular saws with defective blade guards; nail guns misfiring.
Heavy machinery - Forklifts with brake failures; presses with failed emergency stops; conveyors with faulty guards. See factory accident claims.
Vehicles - Company cars / vans with brake failures, steering faults, tyre blowouts. See car accident claims.
Personal protective equipment - Helmets that fracture below rated specification; harnesses that fail; safety boots without promised steel toe-cap.
Scaffolding and access equipment - Ladders with structural failures; scaffold components with hidden cracks; MEWP components failing.
Lifting equipment - Hoists, cranes, slings, chains. LOLER-inspected, but inspections can miss defects.
Chemical products - Solvents, cleaning products, paints.
Office equipment - See office accident claims.
Who is the defendant?
- For ELDEA 1969 claims - your employer (via EL insurance).
Time limits
- Standard personal injury: three years from the accident or date of knowledge.
See time limits.
Evidence
- The equipment itself - preserve it. Photograph it immediately.
Funding - no win, no fee
Every defective equipment claim we handle runs on a Conditional Fee Agreement. See no win no fee explained.
