Archive for the 'Trips and slips' Category

The Health and Safety Executive’s recent statistics show that for 2007/2008 there has been a reduction in the number of people who have been killed, injured or made ill by accidents at work.

Figures suggest that the incidents of work accident injury have fallen by approximately 9% since 2000, and that this trend is continuing.  Fatal workplace accidents have also reduced by around 5%.  The number of reported work related diseases appears to have also fallen, however there has been an increase in asbestos related diseases, such as Mesothelioma.

A rambler who suffered injuries when walking on a rickety footbridge has won £3,000 in her accident compensation claim.  Mrs B Green was walking along a public footpath at Combe Haven Valley Nature Reserve, and as she went over a wooden bridge a section of the planking collapsed.

As a result of the accident Mrs Green suffered factures to her 2^nd and 3^rd metatarsals, cuts to her shin and bruising to her groin.

The local council defended the accident claim, stating that she should have seen the defect and stepped over it.  However, they admitted having no formal inspection regime for the bridge as it was in a rural location.

A couple who on 8 May 2008 were found liable to pay injury compensation after an accident on a bouncy castle hired by them for a party, that left a boy brain damaged, have had that decision overturned by the Court of Appeal.

Samuel Harris suffered the injury in 2005 while playing on the bouncy castle when a larger, older boy performed a somersault and accidently struck his forehead.  Samuel suffered a depressed skull fracture and a subdural haematoma in the left frontal parietal lobe, and has been left with severe problems.  The initial decision was based on the allegation that no adult was actively supervising the children on the bouncy castle at the time the accident occurred.

A householder in Leeds, Joe Spink, has recently received an accident compensation claim from a postwoman who slipped on the step outside his house when delivering his mail on a rainy day, and as a result suffered an injury to her leg.

The postwoman claims that because the step was painted it became slippery in wet weather and Mr Spink is therefore in breach of the Occupiers Liability Act, which imposes a duty on occupiers of land and buildings to ensure that they are reasonably safe for visitors.

The first time Mr Spink became aware of the accident was when he received a letter from the postwoman’s solicitors, and the matter is now being dealt with by his home insurers.

COMMENT:-

New research by Help the Aged claims that local councils are setting aside at least £16 million to cover accident compensation claims where pavement falls cause injuries.

The research suggests that some councils who fear the consequences of legal action are actually setting aside more funds to deal with potential claims than they make available to deal with pavement repairs, even though they have a legal duty to keep safe the areas that the public have access to.

For those aged 75 plus a fall could be fatal.  However, even though the effects of a fall on their physical and mental health might be devastating, that age group is less likely to seek compensation than younger people.

Published in Truckstop News - July 2008.

In this month’s issue Steven Hinchliffe of the specialist Personal Injury firm Hinchliffes Solicitors considers the “HAZARDS INVOLVED WHEN LOADING AND UNLOADING LORRIES”.

Recent evidence suggests that each year around 60 workers are killed and 5,000 seriously injured while working in haulage and distribution.  A further 23,000 sustain injuries severe enough to keep them off work for several days.

Many of these injuries are due to accidents during the loading and unloading process, often caused by:-

Chiltern Flowers, a florist at Marylebone Station in Central London, was ordered by the Court to pay accident compensation to a commuter following his claims that the company was negligent after he slipped on flower petals and fell onto his right hand and then his right knee, resulting in injury.  The decision was appealed by the company, but the appeal was lost.

The original decision was made by the High Court last July.  The company was found to be negligent in failing to have a reasonably effective and safe system for dealing with the potential slipping hazard caused by fallen petals.

As a result of the decision being upheld on appeal, the company will have to pay injury compensation to the injured commuter, Mr Brian Piccolo; however the amount of personal injury compensation to be paid has not yet been assessed.

Employers’ misconceptions and general lack of knowledge about rehabilitation for injuries resulting from an accident at work or absence due to ill health could be costing them up to £610 million each year.

EEF (employers’ organisation) and Unum (disability insurer) have published “The Sickness Absence Report 2008″, which indicates that businesses actively providing rehabilitation for injured or sick employees have enjoyed a 0.7% lower absence rate as a result.

This equates to an extra 1.5 days’ work per employee each year, and in the manufacturing industry this means something in the region of 4.5 million working days.

Published in Truckstop News - March 2008.

In this month’s issue Steven Hinchliffe of the specialist Personal Injury firm Hinchliffes Solicitors considers the causes and consequences of “TRIPPING AND FALLING ACCIDENTS AT WORK”.   

Approximately 37% of all major accidents in the workplace are caused by slipping and tripping.  Of those, 95% result in broken bones or dislocated limbs.  A slip or trip could lead to even more serious consequences, such as falling from a height or colliding with a motor vehicle, and the possibility of falling into a machine or into a container of hot liquid or acid hardly bears thinking about.

A child who suffered brain damage when he was kicked in the head while playing on a bouncy castle has won his accident compensation claim against another child’s parents, who had hired the inflatable play area for a 10th birthday party in September 2005.

Sam Harris, who was aged 11 at the time, suffered the injury when a taller and heavier boy aged 15 was attempting a somersault, and he caught the left side of Sam’s head with his heel.

Sam’s skull was fractured, resulting in a very serious and traumatic brain injury, and he now needs 24 hour care.

The total compensation payment will be assessed at a later stage, but is likely to exceed £1m.  However, the parents have been given the right to appeal the decision.