Can I claim for a fall in a car park at work?

Is a workplace car park covered by the same duties as the rest of the site?

Whether you can claim for an injury in a workplace car park depends on two things: who controls the car park, and whether the injury is properly connected to your work. Both are questions a solicitor will look at closely at the outset, because they decide which legal route applies and who the claim is brought against.

If your employer owns, leases or otherwise controls the car park, the ordinary workplace duties travel out of the building and cover the car park too. The employer's general duty of care under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 is not limited to the shop floor or the office. It extends to all parts of the premises staff are expected to use, including the areas where you park, walk to and from your vehicle, or load and unload.

On top of that general duty, the employer will usually be the "occupier" of the car park in law. Under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957 an occupier owes a "common duty of care" to lawful visitors — to take such care as in all the circumstances is reasonable to see that the visitor is reasonably safe in using the premises for the purposes for which they are invited. Staff arriving for a shift are plainly lawful visitors. So are contractors and delivery drivers coming on site to work.

Which hazards typically cause car park injuries?

The hazards that produce most car park injuries are unglamorous and well known: ice and untreated frost in winter, potholes and uneven tarmac, broken kerbs, poor or failing lighting, standing water that freezes overnight, and obstructions left in walkways or across marked pedestrian routes. Because these hazards are so predictable, tribunals and courts expect employers to have thought about them in advance rather than to react only after an accident.

Reasonable steps will vary with the size and use of the car park, but common examples include a gritting or salting regime during cold months with a written record kept, prompt repair of paving defects, planned lighting maintenance, clear separation of vehicles and pedestrians, and safe walking routes from the parking area to the entrance. Where an employer has none of this in place and a foreseeable hazard causes an injury, the argument that they took reasonable care becomes very difficult to run. See our guide on slip trip and fall claims for how these principles play out in practice.

What if the car park is controlled by someone else?

Many workplaces sit inside business parks, retail estates or leased premises where the car park is looked after by a landlord, a facilities management company, or a shared-service arrangement. In that situation the occupier under the 1957 Act may not be your employer at all — it may be whoever actually controls the state of the car park.

That does not necessarily leave you without a claim. It just changes who the claim is brought against, and sometimes it means there are two potential defendants. Your employer still has to think about the risks of sending you to work at that location; the occupier is responsible for the physical state of the premises. Establishing who controls a car park is usually straightforward, but it is one of the first things a solicitor will investigate.

Does it matter whether the accident was "in the course of employment"?

Whether the accident counts as being "in the course of employment" can shift which legal route fits best. An injury that happens as you arrive for your shift, cross the employer's car park to get to the entrance, or return to your vehicle at the end of the day will normally be treated as connected to your work — especially where using the car park is a practical requirement of the job. An injury during a purely personal errand off site, or well before or after your working day, is less clear.

The point matters because it can affect reporting obligations (for example RIDDOR), the availability of statutory sick pay, and how the claim is framed. A clear factual account of what you were doing, and why you were where you were, is usually enough to resolve the question. Our overview of employer responsibilities sets out the wider duties that come into play.

What evidence helps a car park injury claim?

Because these accidents happen outside, evidence disappears quickly. Ice melts, potholes get patched, and lighting gets replaced. Practical steps that make a real difference are:

• Take photographs of the hazard and the surrounding area as soon as it is safe to do so, ideally the same day.
• Note the exact location — a photograph of the wider scene showing landmarks is useful.
• Record the weather, the time and the lighting conditions.
• Report the accident through your employer's accident book and keep a copy.
• Get medical attention promptly, so the injury and its likely cause are documented.
• Ask whether there is CCTV covering the area, and ask (in writing) for it to be preserved.
• Keep a note of anyone who saw what happened, or who has slipped or tripped there before.

Read our overview of how claims work for the wider process once these steps are in hand.