Injuries at work
Injured because of a colleague’s mistake: who should handle the claim?
A colleague may have caused the immediate accident, but the employer’s responsibilities and insurance can still be central.
Separate the immediate cause from legal responsibility
A forklift driver may reverse without seeing you, a colleague may activate equipment or materials may be dropped during shared work. Those facts describe the event. The legal assessment also asks who organised the work, what safeguards were required and whether the action was connected to the colleague’s duties.
Several liability rules may be relevant. A claim should therefore be directed after assessing the relationship and accident, not simply at the person standing nearest when it happened.
Preserve a neutral account
Record positions, tasks, communications and any warnings. Identify witnesses who saw the sequence rather than only its aftermath. Ask for relevant camera footage and internal reports to be preserved. Avoid pressuring colleagues to agree with a version of events; their independent account is more valuable.
If the incident involved a machine, include its condition and the procedure for starting or stopping it. See injury involving workplace machinery.
You do not need to resolve the insurance dispute yourself
An employer and insurer may discuss cover or responsibility between themselves. That does not eliminate the need to investigate your legal claim. Ask who is handling the case and request written acknowledgement of the report.
For agency workers or mixed contractor teams, identify all businesses involved. The agency worker guide explains why the formal employer and host business should both be recorded.
Keep the working relationship and injury claim distinct
You may feel uncomfortable making a claim while colleagues are friends or while you intend to return to work. Factual, written communication can help keep the process focused on the accident and its consequences. Do not assume either that insurance guarantees payment or that claiming necessarily means suing a colleague personally.
Our work injury service can assess the legal route. Meanwhile, keep treatment and expense records, and record any help needed at home because of the injury.
What to keep or ask for
- Names, roles and employers of the people involved.
- The task, instructions and sequence of events.
- Witness contacts and footage preservation requests.
- Written claim correspondence and recovery records.
Questions you may still have
Must the colleague admit fault before I can seek help?
No. Liability can be investigated using the available evidence even if the colleague disagrees. An admission may be relevant but is not the only possible evidence.
What if the colleague worked for another business?
The other business, your own employer and their respective roles may need to be examined. Record the working arrangements rather than assuming only one party can be relevant.
Sources and legal context
General information about Dutch personal injury claims. Some source material is in Dutch. Your circumstances may require a different assessment.
This guide explains general principles. It is not a decision on liability or the value of an individual claim.