Archive for June, 2008

Insurers for employers are recommending more staff training as part of a safety campaign to help prevent transport accidents in the workplace.

Figures provided by the Health and Safety Executive indicate that one quarter of all workplace transport incidents involve forklift trucks, and it is felt that additional training could help prevent a work accident from occurring.  In the event of an accident, if injuries are sustained, this could result in claims for personal injury compensation.

In the workplace forklift trucks can be particularly dangerous and can result in accidents involving workers being struck or run over, or being hit by something that has fallen from the vehicle.  Other accidents can happen when workers themselves fall from the vehicle, or when it is overturned.

Published in Truckstop News - June 2008.

In this month’s issue Steven Hinchliffe of the specialist Personal Injury firm Hinchliffes Solicitors examines instances of “WORK RELATED ILLNESSES AND DISEASES”.

It is quite common for workers to develop an illness or disease after coming into contact with harmful substances in their workplace.  If this situation arises, the employer who exposed the worker to such substances may have to pay compensation.

Where a worker’s job might bring them into contact with dangerous substances, their employer should investigate the possibility of replacing the substances with something less harmful.  However, if it is decided that contact with the substances is unavoidable, the employer should provide appropriate protective clothing and equipment, to minimise the risks.