Factory and manufacturing work involves machines that can cause catastrophic injuries in a fraction of a second - presses, guillotines, conveyors, blenders, robotic arms, CNC machinery, rollers, compressors. UK regulations require employers to prevent workers coming into contact with dangerous parts of machinery (PUWER 1998, Regulation 11), to maintain safe systems of work, and to provide the protective equipment and training the job requires.
Factory and manufacturing work involves machines that can cause catastrophic injuries in a fraction of a second - presses, guillotines, conveyors, blenders, robotic arms, CNC machinery, rollers, compressors. UK regulations require employers to prevent workers coming into contact with dangerous parts of machinery (PUWER 1998, Regulation 11), to maintain safe systems of work, and to provide the protective equipment and training the job requires.
This page explains how UK factory accident claims work: the PUWER Reg 11 machine-guarding duty, the lock-out / tag-out framework, the machinery types and scenarios we see most often, the overlap with industrial disease, and what compensation can reach in serious cases (six and seven figures).
PUWER 1998 Reg 11 - the machine-guarding duty
Regulation 11 of PUWER 1998 is the cornerstone of factory safety. It requires every employer to take measures to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery - or, where that's not possible, to stop the movement before any part of a person reaches the danger zone. The hierarchy of control:
- Fixed guards that prevent physical access to the danger.
A claim succeeds where any of these measures was missing or inadequate.
Lock-out / tag-out - the maintenance angle
Many factory accidents happen during cleaning, maintenance or machine set-up - not during normal production. LOTO (lock-out / tag-out) isolates the machine from all energy sources before any work takes place on moving parts. LOTO failures are a recurring source of factory claims.
The common factory accident scenarios
Crush injuries and amputations - Fingers, hands, arms caught in moving parts - most commonly in presses, guillotines, rollers, conveyors, blenders. Consequences often life-changing. See amputation claims.
Entanglement - Loose clothing, hair, gloves or body parts pulled into rotating shafts, couplings, belts or conveyors. Life-threatening risk.
Cuts and lacerations - From blades, guillotines, press-tooling, sharp edges. Serious lacerations (nerve, tendon, vascular damage) can be high-value.
Burns and chemical exposures - Steam, hot liquids, hot metal, electrical flashovers, chemical splashes. Covered also by COSHH 2002.
Explosions and thermal events - Industrial furnace incidents, dust-cloud explosions (flour, sugar, wood, metal dust), pressure vessel failures.
Struck-by injuries - Flying debris from machines, falling objects, vehicle impacts, swinging or lifted loads.
Falls from height - Mezzanine edges, access platforms, maintenance tasks at height. Work at Height Regulations 2005 apply.
Slips, trips and falls - Wet / oily factory floors, trailing cables, damaged flooring.
Electrical injuries - Contact with live conductors, arc flash, electrical burns. Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.
Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) - Cumulative exposure to loud machinery. See industrial deafness claims.
HAVS / vibration injuries - See vibration white finger claims.
Dust and fume exposure - Metal fume, silica, flour dust, wood dust, asbestos, isocyanates. Long-latency claims overlap with industrial disease.
Occupational dermatitis - See occupational dermatitis claims.
What you can claim for
- Amputation of one or more fingers: £11,300 - £85,170 depending on severity
Total settlements for serious factory injuries routinely reach £100,000-£500,000+; catastrophic-injury cases well into seven figures.
Who is the defendant?
Typically the employer (via their Employer's Liability insurance). Where the machine was defective by design or manufacture, a parallel claim against the manufacturer / supplier under the Consumer Protection Act 1987.
Evidence
- Accident book entry.
Interim payments for serious cases
Factory amputation / crush injury claims commonly attract early interim payments once liability is admitted. See interim payments.
Funding - no win, no fee
Every factory accident claim we handle runs on a Conditional Fee Agreement. See no win no fee explained.
Will my job be at risk?
No. Section 104 Employment Rights Act 1996 automatic-unfair-dismissal protection applies.
Time limits
Three years from the accident or date of knowledge. For cumulative occupational disease, the clock runs from date of knowledge. See time limits.
