Pages On: Workplace Injuries

Norfolk road worker forced to leave his job after contracting HAVS

Posted: 26 April 2016

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Industrial Deafness and Disease, Workplace Injuries

A 25-year-old road worker has been forced to quit his job after contracting Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) whilst working for Norfolk city council. Adrian Bideau contracted HAVS and Carpel Tunnel Syndrome after prolonged use of vibrating tools such as whacker plates, saws and breaker packs. It has been claimed that the council were liable due to their bonus scheme programme that encouraged staff to work more hazardously. Mr Bideau described how he now has great difficulty working outside and finds that his condition gets much worse in cold weather. Despite having decompression…

Escaped cow injures meat inspector

Posted: 21 April 2016

Posted in: Animal Attacks, Neck Injuries, Shoulder Injuries, Spine & Back Injuries, Workplace Injuries

A meat hygiene inspector from Surrey has been awarded £6,000 in damages following being landed on by a cow who jumped over the top of her stunning pen. The inspector was passing along a narrow path in front of the pens when the cow made her escape. She landed on the inspector, Mr Melvyn Treen from Camberley in Surrey, causing him injury to his back, neck and shoulder. The accident occurred at the Chitty Wholesale Abbattoir at Slyfield Industrial Estate in Guilford.  Totally avoidable The 62-year-old described the incident: “The cow was being…

Woman wins £6,000 for fractured pelvis caused by work accident

Posted: 12 April 2016

Posted in: Hip Injuries, Workplace Injuries, Workplace Slip

A 26-year-old woman from Basildon, Essex has received compensation of £6,000 after fracturing her pelvis at her place of work. The victim had been working as a waitress at the Outback Steakhouse in Yardley Business Park in Basildon when she slipped on a puddle of water next to the dishwasher. The waitress, who was working her notice at the restaurant, was coming to the end of her shift and was putting her takings into the till, when she slipped and fell very heavily causing the fractures to her pelvis. The young woman had…

Building & Construction Site Accidents

Posted in: Workplace Injuries

Building and construction sites are full of potential hazards that can result in injury. From falling scaffolding to inadequately maintained equipment, the chances of accidents occurring and causing an injury to workers, contractors and site visitors are high. Because of the inherent risks to safety involved, firms and organisations responsible for building sites are under a legal duty to protect the people on their sites from suffering avoidable harm. If they or one of their employees fail to do this, and you suffer an injury as a result, then it…

Flight cabin crews being exposed to air toxins

Posted: 22 March 2016

Posted in: Industrial Deafness and Disease, Workplace Injuries

Researchers at the University of Gottingen in Germany have found that cabin crews and passengers can be subject to exposure to air toxins. In its study, the researchers found that toxins can be leaking into cabins from substances such as antifreeze, engine fuel or oil. Volatile organic compounds and organophosphates were found in the blood and urine tested in 140 patients, many of whom were flight attendants. The result of this can lead to nausea and dizziness, and more seriously, affect the central nervous system, respiratory tracts and blood circulation. ‘aerotoxic syndrome’ Although…

Dangers of Working in the Construction Industry: Making a Personal Injury Claim

Posted: 10 February 2016

Posted in: Falls from Heights, Industrial Deafness and Disease, Workplace Injuries, Workplace Slip

There have been a number of initiatives attempting to improve workplace safety and prevent serious injury through accidents, however, despite this, the construction industry remains one of the most common places for someone to sustain a serious injury. There were more injuries and fatalities in the workplace in 2014/15 than there were in the previous twelve months indicating that, despite efforts to lower the number of workplace accidents, they are still exceptionally common. The two most common areas for accidents to occur were in agriculture and once again, construction, which…

Three companies charged after four men crushed to death on building site

Posted: 31 January 2016

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death

Following the death of four men on a building site five years ago, charges were pressed against three companies and a company director for breaches of safety regulations. The defendants, Claxton Engineering Services Ltd of Norwich, Encompass Project Management Ltd of Thetford, Hazegood Construction Ltd of Stowmarket and David Groucott, Director of Encompass Project Management Ltd were all charged under different sections of the Health and Safety at Work Act of 1974. The four who perished in the accident were Daniel Hazelton aged 30, his brother 26-year-old Thomas Hazelton, Adam Taylor, 28…

Crane hire firm fined £700,000 after employee death

Posted: 28 December 2015

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death

Baldwins Crane Hire has been fined £700,000 after health and safety failings led to the death of one of its employees. 49-year-old Lindsay Easton, from Sowerby Bridge in Yorkshire, was killed while driving a crane at Scout Moor quarry in Lancashire. It was heard that the brakes failed on the 130-tonne vehicle while Mr Easton was driving the crane on a steep slope. He lost control of the vehicle and it crashed into an earth bank. The crash left him with such severe injuries that he subsequently died. The accident…

Paralysed soldier able to walk again

Posted: 2 November 2015

Posted in: Armed Forces Injuries, Hip Injuries, Workplace Injuries

A soldier that was left paralysed by an accidental shooting has been able to walk again with the help of a bionic motorised walking suit. 36-year-old Dale Messenger had been a bomb disposal expert and was accidentally blasted in the hip during a live ammunition training exercise in the Falkland Islands. The injury left him wheelchair bound, until he discovered the exoskeleton suit. Mr Messenger in 2009 was accidentally shot by another soldier during the training exercise. Two years after the accident, he had failed to make any progress with…

Sheffield schools see £2.2million in personal injury claims

Posted: 6 July 2015

Posted in: Public Place Accidents, School Accidents, Workplace Injuries, Workplace Slip

Recently released figures have revealed that schools across Sheffield have received compensation claims totaling £2.2million from injured pupils and teachers in a five-year window. Of this total, £1m was actually paid out, with £54,000 going to a staff member who slipped, and £17,900 to a pupil who was exposed to chemical fumes.   The claims were logged between 2009 and 2014, with Ecclesfield School having the most claims (10 claims, at a total value of £155,275). City School had the second highest number of claims, with nine claims totaling £116,807,…

Nuclear submarine base warned over staff safety

Posted: 9 June 2015

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Workplace Injuries

A naval base has been threatened with legal action over a number of safety breaches, including a worker receiving a dose of radiation. Devonport naval base is responsible for refitting Britain’s nuclear submarines, but has been found to be “below standard” for its safety procedures, according to a recent report by the Office of Nuclear Regulation (ONR). Last year the ONR issued the Devonport naval base with a legal warning after a worker was contaminated with radiation. According to the ONR, the dose was “very small” but did underline the…

Firefighter secures compensation after ladder breakage destroys his arms

Posted: 26 March 2015

Posted in: Arm Injury, Foot Injuries, Workplace Injuries

A firefighter who was forced to medically retire after an incident during a training exercise has been awarded a six-figure compensation package. Michael Hollings suffered the life-changing injury at Ilkley Fire Station when the ladder he was on cracked and fell to the ground, leaving him suspended at six inches above the floor. He suffered a severe fracture and two dislocated elbows and forearms in the accident. He also fractured his right foot and suffered serious concussion. Medically retire Mr Hollings had been a firefighter for eight years prior to the…

Firm liable over helicopter death

Posted: 20 January 2015

Posted in: Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death

The widow of a recently deceased businessman has won a High Court claim against his employers following a helicopter crash that cost him his life. 37-year-old Tomas Dusek, from Buckinghamshire, worked for StormHarbour Securities when the accident happened. He had been placed on duty for the independent global markets and financial advice service firm when the helicopter crashed. The Sikorsky helicopter firm leased a helicopter for the trip in the Andes Mountains in Peru in June 2012. All fourteen members of crew were killed in the accident. Mr Justice Hamblen ruled at the…

Bank worker refused compensation for heavy lifting

Posted: 31 December 2014

Posted in: Workplace Injuries

A bank worker who claimed that heavy lifting at work condemned her to a life of constant pain has been refused compensation. 32-year-old Shilpa Pattani sued the exclusive Knightsbridge bank for £1.5million due to “unbearable pain” caused by moving heavy boxes of promotional material while working for the international private bank. In court she accused the ICICI Bank UK Plc of failing to protect her from foreseeable risk of injury by giving her too much heavily lifting to do between 2007 and 2009. Judge Justice Phillips said that the chronic pain…

Paralysed stage manager wins £3.7 million in compensation

Posted: 19 December 2014

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Spine & Back Injuries, Workplace Injuries

A former stage manager has been awarded £3.7 million in compensation after she was left paralysed following an accident at the Soho Theatre. Rachael Presdee was the stage manager on Headlong Theatre Company’s production of Boys in 2012 when the accident happened. It was heard that she fell through an unguarded backstage door and dropped three metres to the open stage below. The fall left her with a very severe and permanent injury to her spine, and she is now paralysed and in a wheelchair.  The compensation was granted earlier this…

Nine rail workers had a ‘near-miss’ with passenger train

Posted: 24 October 2014

Posted in: Public Transport Accidents, Workplace Injuries

Nine track workers were very nearly hit by an passenger train going 80mph last month, accident investigators have reported. The rail workers had been operating on a small bridge that required repairs on the West Coast main line near Hest Bank when they were nearly hit by the train on the 22nd of September. The workers received no advance warning that a train was approaching, which could have cost them their lives. The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) said that the workers depended on warnings from the service about approaching trains. However…

Worker's crushing death ruled as ‘accidental’

Posted: 14 October 2014

Posted in: Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death

An inquest jury has deemed the death of a labourer ‘accidental’ following this week’s hearing. 24-year-old Callum Osborne had been working as a pipe layer on a building site in Whitstable, Kent, when the trench he was working in collapsed and subsequently buried him alive. The father-to-be had only been working on the site for two days when the accident happened in April 2011.  It was heard that Mr Osborne had been continuously contacting the building firm Cooper Services Ltd for work for weeks prior to the accident. They had eventually agreed to…

Council pays out over £330,000 in school injury compensation

Posted: 18 June 2014

Posted in: Finger Injuries, Foot Injuries, Public Place Accidents, School Accidents, Workplace Injuries, Workplace Slip

A recent report has found that Lincolnshire County Council has paid out over £330,000 in compensation to those injured at school. With claims ranging from a trapped thumb to a book falling on a child’s foot, the “compensation culture” argument has been raised in relation to many of the council’s payouts. The figures were released as part of a BBC Freedom of Information request which looked at the figures from 2008 to 2014. One teacher was awarded with £4,000 after they “almost fell” when a stool broke. Other successful claimants included…

Food company fined £35k for multiple workplace safety failings

Posted: 29 May 2014

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Faulty Work Equipment, Finger Injuries, Workplace Injuries

Kent-based rice processor ‘Veetee Foods’ has been fined £35,000 for safety failings for the second time this month. The firm was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after a member of staff crushed three of their fingers in unguarded machinery. The member of staff, Khalil Ahmed, had been working on a machine whose guard had been intentionally removed, allowing staff to get too close to the moving parts. The factory on the Medway City Estate in Rochester was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay £5,492 in costs after admitting…

Majority of injured workers not compensated

Posted: 5 May 2014

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Workplace Injuries

Despite speculation that a ‘compensation culture’ is developing in the UK, figures suggest otherwise – showing that the majority of the country’s injured workers are not compensated at all. Figures show that over 600,000 people a year report a work-related illness or injury, with 25,000 forced to give up work as a result. The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers is trying to tackle the ‘myth’ that workplace accidents automatically result in big compensation claims. One personal injury lawyer said the he was frustrated by the common perception of how personal injury claims…

Workplace compensation claims dropped by 50% in last 10 years

Posted: 22 April 2014

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Industrial Deafness and Disease, Repetitive Strain Injury, Spine & Back Injuries, Workplace Injuries, Workplace Slip

A report recently released by TUC has found that compensation cases related to workplace injuries and illness have fallen by around 50% in the last decade. The figures revealed that compensation claims have fallen from 183,342 in 2002/03, to 91,115 in 2012/13. Despite there being a promising decline in cases, this could be due to the government making it increasingly difficult for workers to pursue claims of employer negligence.  The report found that around 6 out of 7 workers who are injured or made ill at work (85.7%) receive no compensation whatsoever. This…

Gym staff member injured by angry weightlifter

Posted: 31 March 2014

Posted in: Criminal Injury and Assault, Gym & Leisure Centre Accidents, Leg Injuries, Public Place Accidents, Workplace Injuries

A member of staff at Nuffield Health gym was injured on the leg after a man threw down his dumbbell when closing time was announced. Lee Maxwell had been doing bicep curls when staff-member Donald Brown announced to the gym that it was due to close. Mr Maxwell was holding a 60kg dumbbell before throwing it down in anger, hitting Mr Brown on the shin and causing him serious injury. The case was taken to Somerset Magistrates Court where Mr Maxwell defended his case, arguing that he did not intent to hit…

Teacher slips on ketchup sachet and suffers serious personal injuries

Posted: 16 March 2014

Posted in: School Accidents, Workplace Injuries

A teacher has been awarded £230,000 after slipping on a tomato ketchup sachet in a school corridor. The Essex high school teacher suffered serious personal injuries after the fall in March 2008. He only claimed for the accident in March 2011 — eight days before the three-year time limit on making a personal injury claim. The teacher’s payout was part of the £1m paid-out in compensation to teachers injured between 2011 and 2013. A Freedom of Information request found that Essex County Council agreed on a settlement of £230,000 in April last…

Schoolboy awarded £15,000 in compensation

Posted: 12 March 2014

Posted in: Hip Injuries, Public Place Accidents, School Accidents, Workplace Injuries

An Essex schoolboy has been awarded £15,197 worth of compensation after a teacher threw a DVD case in the classroom and cut his eyebrow. The plastic DVD cover accidently hit the boy, causing him to sustain a “tiny cut to the eyebrow”. The boy’s family succeeded in securing a five-figure pay-out from Essex County Council. The council said that the teacher had not meant to throw the case with such force, and had only been trying to pass the DVD to a pupil but “unintentionally threw it with more force than expected and…

Police payout £144,000 to officers injured on duty

Posted: 3 March 2014

Posted in: Finger Injuries, Knee Injury, Workplace Injuries

South Yorkshire Police Force has paid out a total of £144,000 in compensation to officers injured while on duty. A total of 31 financial settlements were made by the force in only four years, (between 2008-2012) with payouts ranging from insect bites to knee injuries. As a result, the force has been urged to crackdown on officers who are ‘playing the system’ as personal injury compensation claims continue to become increasingly trivial. Compensation payouts included: £30,000 to an officer who tore a ligament in his knee while training£18,000 to an officer who…

Firm fined for 19-year-old who died from being crushed at work

Posted: 22 January 2014

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death

A firm has been fined £75,000 after an apprentice was crushed to death while working with machinery weighing almost a tonne. 19-year-old Jason Burden from South Shields was killed while reassembling the machine on a workbench when it fell onto his torso and left leg, causing his subsequent death. Mr Burden had been working at Tyne Slipway & Engineering Co Ltd (TSECL) at South Dock in Sunderland when the 970kg (150 stone) ship tunnel thruster landed on him. The accident occurred in December 2011, with his father Trevor Burden saying: “His…

Industrial ‘Oven death’ ruled accidental

Posted: 15 December 2013

Posted in: Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death

After the body of a man was found in an industrial oven at a tyre factory in Cumbria, the inquest jury found the death to be an accident. 48-year-old George Falder died at the Pirelli site in Carlisle in September of last year, having worked at the factory for many years. The machine in which he was killed could reach staggering temperatures of 145C (293F).  The family of Mr Falder said that if someone had properly checked the oven with a torch before closing the door, his death could have…

Compensation for quad bike crash victim

Posted: 21 October 2013

Posted in: Head and Brain Injuries, Workplace Injuries

Holly Raper, from Chorley in Lancashire, has been awarded with £175,000 in compensation after she suffered a serious head injury in a quad biking incident in Australia. Ms Raper had been working on a farm in Tasmania when she crashed the quad bike in December of 2011. She currently requires 24/7 care, which is being provided by her mother and a group of professional carers; doctors say that she will need this for the rest of her life. It has been heard that at the time of the accident, Ms…

Chemical firm fined after three injured in explosion

Posted: 8 October 2013

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Workplace Injuries

A chemical firm based at Burscough industrial estate has been fined £150,000 after three members of their staff were severely injured in an explosion on site. Personnel Hygiene Services (PHS) Ltd were found to be breaching many health and safety procedures, following an investigation, resulting in the explosion that caused three of their staff members to sustain serious burns. The explosion occurred on the site after 150 aerosol cans went through a shredder, which were later found to have contained highly flammable substances. PHS has pleaded guilty to the health and safety…

Building company fined after death

Posted: 7 September 2013

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Falls from Heights, Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death

Building company ‘Chestnut Homes’ has been fined a total of £40,000 after Justin Gillman (26) fell from scaffolding in 2010, resulting in his death. The judge described the death of the bricklayer as an “accident waiting to happen” after an HSE investigation found that the scaffolding had been built by two untrained workmen and was considered extremely dangerous. Mr. Gillman fell from the construction while pulling a trolley full of bricks. He stumbled off of the scaffolding, as no guardrail was in place, and was crushed by the trolley’s contents. Sentence is…

Funding for servicemen that struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder

Posted: 17 August 2013

Posted in: Armed Forces Injuries

£30,000 of funding has been given to a charity that supports Wiltshire servicemen who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The charity provides support to those who are injured, wounded or sick as a result of their service. They assist the service personnel, veterans and their families, who are enduring post trauma recovery. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a condition that develops after witnessing, or suffering, a traumatic event. The disorder usually involves recurring memories, flashbacks and other symptoms that trigger recollections of the occurrence. PTSD can develop almost immediately after a traumatic experience,…

Asbestos delays Tyne pedestrian tunnel revamp

Posted: 23 July 2013

Posted in: Asbestos Exposure, Industrial Deafness and Disease, Mesothelioma

A major revamp of the Tyne pedestrian and cycle tunnel has been delayed as asbestos must be urgently removed from the ceiling of the tunnels.  The Grade 2 listed structure closed in May for what was believed to be a year-long project, which will now take longer.  Despite the fact that engineers were aware of asbestos in the ceiling of the £4.9m-revamp structure, it was thought that work could continue around its presence – but this was proven not to be the case. Alarms have been raised surrounding the dangers…

Builder prosecuted after putting his son at risk

Posted: 17 July 2013

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Workplace Injuries

A builder has been prosecuted after he took his 10-year-old son onto unsafe scaffolding when working on a property in Merseyside. The 51-year-old man – who cannot be identified – has been prosecuted with community service following the incident. The Health and Safety Executive witnessed the incident, photographed it and raised it as a case. After the passing HSE inspector witnessed the young boy on the scaffolding in February, six meters off the ground, the inspector ordered the builder to dismantle the scaffolding and then took the case to court. Magistrates ordered the…

Boy falls through roof of Rank Hovis Mill factory

Posted: 28 June 2013

Posted in: Falls from Heights, Personal Injury, Public Place Accidents

A teenage boy fell through the roof of a disused Rank Hovis Mill factory in Ramsgate yesterday, and is now critically ill in hospital. Thought to be 13 years old, the boy and his friend had been playing on the roof of the disused building when the roof gave way under his feet. He was taken by air ambulance to the Royal London Hospital, where he is now being treated for rather severe injuries. A spokesman from the Kent Fire and Rescue Service said that the boy had fallen around 20ft…

Food company are prosecuted as worker severs fingertip

Posted: 30 May 2013

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Faulty Work Equipment, Finger Injuries, Workplace Injuries

A mincing machine has caused unnamed worker of an Ilkeston food company to severely sever his fingertip. When trying to remove meat from the machine, at Chilled Foods Limited’s Grange Farm factory in Loscoe, the worker managed to bring his hand into contact with the machine’s still-moving blade. Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court was told earlier this month, 8 May, that the machine had been switched off yet the blade was still slowing down. As the employee was collecting produce from the end of the production line, he realised that something…

Firm admits neglecting safety after three workers injure their hands

Posted: 25 April 2013

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Faulty Work Equipment, Finger Injuries, Hand Injuries, Workplace Injuries

A Lincolnshire firm that makes disposable paper products has been ordered to pay more than £116,000 in fines and costs after three workers suffered hand injuries using unguarded machines. One man had to have his left thumb amputated after getting it crushed in unguarded machinery on a production line on 26th July 2011. He was off work for several months but has now returned to the company to work on other duties. A month later an agency worker cut her finger on the blade of a napkin folding machine, while…

Building firm sentenced after employee falls to death

Posted: 9 April 2013

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Falls from Heights, Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death

A building firm and one of its directors have been sentenced after an employee fell 15 metres to his death in an empty water storage tank in Macclesfield. Liverpool Crown Court heard that the 45-year-old from Liverpool and a colleague had started work at the farm three days earlier. They had been constructing brick manhole chambers above the circular tank, approximately 7.5 metres in diameter, which had been installed to collect flood water. An HSE investigation found they had not been given sufficient information or a risk assessment for the…

Enforcement action taken at many construction sites

Posted: 26 March 2013

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Falls from Heights, Workplace Injuries

Nearly one in five construction sites visited across Britain have been subject to enforcement action after failing safety checks. In a month long initiative, inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) visited a total of 2363 sites where refurbishment or repair work was taking place and saw 2976 contractors. Around 631 enforcement notices were served across 433 sites for poor practices that could put workers at risk, with 451 notices ordering that work stop immediately until the situation was put right. Between 18th February and 15th March HSE inspectors…

The inherent dangers of working at height

Posted: 13 March 2013

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Falls from Heights, Shoulder Injuries, Spine & Back Injuries, Workplace Injuries

Workers across Britain are continuing to suffer serious injury and even death as a result of employers failing to ensure they are sufficiently protected when working at height. Life-changing injuries In London a worker suffered severe injuries when he fell through a roof light at a construction site. He was employed by an interior fit-out company, and was carrying out insulation work on a property redevelopment project when he fell through the roof light and landed on the ground six metres below. He sustained life-changing injuries, including breaks to three…

Food company in court over worker's hand injury

Posted: 12 March 2013

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Faulty Work Equipment, Finger Injuries, Workplace Injuries

A Leeds-based food company has been fined for safety failings after an agency worker had two fingers crushed by hydraulic rams in a sausage roll machine which had a broken guard. The 26-year-old worker was removing filling for pasties from a hopper on the machine when his fingers came into contact with dangerous moving parts. Two fingers on his right hand were badly injured. The middle finger has been left with no nerve sensation and his third finger, which had to be stitched back on, has only partial sensation. He…

Brick firm breaks safety law causing worker to severely injure hand

Posted: 26 February 2013

Posted in: Faulty Work Equipment, Finger Injuries, Hand Injuries, Workplace Injuries

A West Yorkshire brick making firm has been prosecuted after safety failings at its factory led to a worker losing a thumb and having his hand almost severed in a poorly-guarded press machine. Surgeons managed to reattach the hand where it had been partially separated using nerve and tissue from his legs. The worker also had to undergo skin grafts and several other restorative operations. He has not been able to return to work. The court was told that the worker, a machine operative, had started to run a double…

Court fines company over worker injury

Posted: 12 February 2013

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Finger Injuries, Workplace Injuries

A glass-making company in Leeds has been prosecuted for neglecting the safety of its workers after an employee was injured using an industrial high-pressure jet washer to clean a production line. The employee suffered a severe cut to the base of his left index finger when the lance of the 1500-bar jet washer fell from his grip. He had to undergo an operation to remove air that had been injected into the finger and to repair nerve damage. Leeds Magistrates’ Court was told that the company had not provided the…

Company fined for worker fall

Posted: 29 January 2013

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Falls from Heights, Spine & Back Injuries, Workplace Injuries

A Kent renovation company has been fined for safety failings after an unsupervised labourer fell more than four metres from a poorly constructed scaffold tower whilst stripping out a basement gym in central London. The man fractured two vertebrae and broke five ribs in the fall in April 2011. He was part of a crew of labourers working to remove ventilation ducting from a two-storey gym in the basement. A scaffold tower was erected to support the work and was being used by the worker to access ducting from a…

Enterprise Bill unfair to injured workers

Posted: 15 January 2013

Posted in: Workplace Injuries

The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) has spoken out against Government plans to change workplace law, claiming that they are a license for rogue bosses to let safety standards fall. The criticism comes as the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill is debated in the House of Lords. A new clause was introduced to the Bill as it went into its final stages in the House of Commons, which effectively waters down workplace health and safety regulations across the board, claims APIL, which is lobbying for the clause to be…

Employer Negligence

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Workplace Injuries

Employers must provide a safe working environment for their employees. If your employer fails to meet the required safety standard and you suffer an accident as a result of their negligence, you might be able to make a claim against them. Contact our expert personal injury lawyers today to claim the compensation you deserve. What you Should Do if You Are Involved in an Accident The Royal Society for the Protection of Accidents has reported that as many as 246,000 reportable workplace injuries occurred last year and 29.3 million working…

Vibration White Finger Compensation

Posted in: Industrial Deafness and Disease, Workplace Injuries

Vibration white finger is an injury caused by the constant use of operating vibrating machinery such as large drills, chainsaws, trimmers, concrete breakers or other types of pneumatic drilling systems. If you suffer from vibration white finger then you should contact one of our personal injury solicitors** in Sheffield who will be able to help you make a compensation claim. You can make a claim for vibration white finger if you suffer from the following symptoms (especially in the cold): numb fingers, throbbing fingers, changes to your sense of touch,…

Oil Rig Injury

Posted in: Workplace Injuries

Oil rigs are dangerous places; there is no doubt about that. They are dangerous due to a number of obvious factors. Firstly because of the substances on board the oil rigs, from the oil itself to other harmful and flammable substances. Oil rigs are also dangerous because of the heavy machinery on board (such as drills and cranes) and also because they are out at sea and are far from hospitals and urgent / specialist medical attention that may not be available on board the rig. In addition, oil rigs…

Work Injury Compensation Lawyers Sheffield

Posted in: Workplace Injuries

If you are injured in your place of work, you may be entitled to claim compensation. Our solicitors** in Sheffield have extensive experience of dealing with this type of personal injury case and will be able to examine your circumstances and guide you on whether or not you can make a claim. Injuries could include physical harm, psychological damage, or illnesses or diseases caused by your place of work or working environment. For example, you may have developed a lung condition due to working with asbestos. You may suffer from…

Lung Disease Compensation

Posted in: Asbestos Exposure, Mesothelioma, Workplace Injuries

Lung disease is, sadly, a common occupational illness and can be caused by different types of dust, gas or chemicals that some people may encounter in the workplace. Your employer may be liable for a disease that you contracted at work. If you approach our specialist Sheffield solicitors** with your case, they will inform you of the possibility of claiming compensation against your current or former employer. Lung Disease Injury Claims Solicitors Financial compensation can help in many ways. You may have immediate financial needs, as lung disease may mean…

Industrial Injuries

Posted in: Workplace Injuries

If you have been the victim of an industrial accident and suffered injuries as a result then you should consider making a compensation claim with the assistance of one of our personal injury solicitors** in Sheffield. They are experienced in dealing with industrial injury compensation claims and will deal with your case on a no win no fee* basis. Industrial Injury Claims Solicitors You could be entitled to make a compensation claim because your employer owes you a duty of care to ensure that you are safe whilst at work.…

Asbestos and Mesothelioma Compensation

Posted in: Asbestos Exposure, Mesothelioma, Workplace Injuries

Asbestos was used as a building material for many years until the danger of this substance was realised. It becomes a danger when the fibres are damaged and float in the air, and may enter the lungs. Diseases such as asbestosis and mesothelioma are caused by asbestos exposure, and if you are in this situation, you may be able to claim compensation. You may be entitled to make a claim however long ago the exposure took place, whether or not you still work for the employer or if there were…