Every employee has the right to work in a safe, healthy environment. That is well understood, although judging by the number serious accidents that still occur in British workplaces every year and the number of successful injury claims arising from them, some employers still need to do more to fulfil their legal duty of care requirements.
Just as every adult has the right to feel safe at work, every child has the right to feel safe at school. However, schools are not all 100% safe and accidents do happen with disturbing frequency. Some are relatively minor playground incidences like skinned knees, but some are more serious and every accident, no matter how minor, should be carefully recorded investigated by the school. A small accident may foreshadow a larger one which could have been prevented.
Where a school is suspected of not fulfilling its duty of care to a child, the child’s parents or guardians can look into injury claims just as they would be entitled to do if they themselves were injured at work in a preventable accident. If anything the duty of care to children is greater than that to adults, as children cannot be reasonably expected to display the same level of caution and judgement. As with accidents at work, misadventure or injuries at school may be the basis of no win no fee claims so it may not be necessary for parents to pay legal fees up front.
Any parent or guardian with a child who has been injured at school is free to consult a no win no fee claims solicitor. They may be eligible for compensation, and there can be other benefits too- a school with improved safety standards is a positive outcome for the family in question and all the other pupils and teachers who go there.