A guide for employees injured at work
Introduction
An accident at work engages a distinct set of rights and obligations. The employer owes statutory duties of safety, must record and in some cases report the accident, and is prohibited from penalising an employee who pursues a claim. The employee may be entitled to State benefits specific to occupational injury, and the claim itself follows the general personal injuries process through the Injuries Resolution Board.
This guide sets out what an injured employee needs to know about each of those elements, and the practical steps that protect both the claim and the employment.
The Law
The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 requires every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of its employees. That includes providing a safe place and system of work, safe plant and equipment, adequate information, instruction, training and supervision, and personal protective equipment where risks cannot otherwise be eliminated. The employer must carry out risk assessments and prepare a safety statement. A breach of these duties which causes injury may give rise to liability, though as the High Court confirmed in Walsh v Juniper Orthodontics Ltd [2026] IEHC 99, the duty is one of reasonable care, not a guarantee against every accident.
Under the 2016 reporting regulations, an employer must report to the Health and Safety Authority any workplace accident which prevents the employee from performing normal duties for more than three consecutive days, excluding the day of the accident, using the IR1 form within ten working days. Failure to report is an offence. Section 27 of the 2005 Act prohibits an employer from penalising an employee, by dismissal, demotion, loss of hours or any other detriment, for making a complaint about safety or for pursuing a claim; a complaint of penalisation may be brought to the Workplace Relations Commission, and a dismissal for that reason is an unfair dismissal.
The claim itself is subject to the section 8 notice requirement, the two-year limitation period and the requirement to apply to the Injuries Resolution Board. A finding of contributory negligence, where the employee’s own carelessness contributed to the accident, reduces the compensation proportionately but does not defeat the claim.
Practical Steps
Obtain medical attention and ensure the doctor records that the injury occurred at work and how. Report the accident to a manager on the day, and ensure it is entered in the accident book; ask for a copy of the entry or make your own written record of the report by email.
Photograph the location, the equipment and any hazard before it is repaired, moved or cleaned. Identify witnesses. Note whether training was given for the task, whether protective equipment was provided, and whether the hazard had been reported before. These matters go to the heart of the claim and are best recorded while fresh.
Check your contract for sick pay and apply for the State supports described in our separate guide: statutory sick pay, Injury Benefit under the Occupational Injuries Scheme, and the Medical Care Scheme.
Send the section 8 letter within a month, and instruct a solicitor to submit the application to the Board with a medical report from your treating doctor. Documents held by the employer, including the risk assessment, safety statement, training records and maintenance logs, can be obtained through discovery if proceedings follow, and their absence is itself telling.
Keep working relationships professional. A claim is a legal process between the employee and the employer’s insurer; it does not require confrontation, and the employer has no lawful basis to treat the employee differently because of it.
Takeaway
An employee injured at work through the employer’s failure to provide a safe system of work is entitled to compensation, and the law protects that employee from retaliation. The claim succeeds or fails on evidence of what the employer did and did not do to prevent the accident, and the employee is usually the best placed person to gather that evidence in the days that follow.
Two cautions apply. The first is that the duty is one of reasonable care: an accident in the course of an ordinary task, in a system of work that was not unsafe, will not found a claim. The second is that contributory negligence is the most common defence, and an honest account of the employee’s own actions, given from the outset, is far more persuasive than one that emerges under cross-examination.
Further information
This article was prepared for informational purposes only. For further advice, please email workclaim@crushell.ie or contact the offices of Crushell & Co Solicitors.
About Crushell & Co
Crushell & Co is a specialist firm advising on the application of law in the Irish workplace.
Our Dublin-based solicitors have particular expertise in workplace injury litigation, regularly acting on behalf of employees who have suffered injuries arising from unsafe systems of work, inadequate training, or failures in workplace safety procedures.
We understand that a workplace injury can have serious consequences for an individual’s health, livelihood, and financial security. We work closely with our clients to identify the root causes of workplace accidents, gather the necessary evidence, and advance strong, well-supported claims for compensation.
We are experienced in pursuing workplace injury claims through the Courts and achieving meaningful outcomes for injured workers, while providing clear and practical guidance at every stage of the process.
We translate complex legal issues into practical legal options, adapting our strategy to meet each client’s specific circumstances and objectives.
Connect: @CrushellLaw or www.crushell.ie
