The Court of Appeal have decided that when a player suffers an injury as a result of an “assault” by another player during the game, sports clubs may now have to pay injury compensation to the victim of the “assault”.

The decision involved a match between teams playing for Redruth Rugby Football Club and Halifax Rugby Football Club that took place in 2005.  During the match one of the Redruth players thumped a Halifax team member, Andrew Gravil, and he sustained injuries to his eye socket.

At the original trial of the personal injury claim, the Court made a distinction between full-time and semi-professional players.  However, the Court of Appeal found that it was fair and just for clubs to be held responsible in this situation whether or not the participants in the match were employed by the clubs on a full-time or part-time basis.

A recent study has discovered that two out of three employees suffer from work related repetitive strain injury (RSI).  This is thought to have cost employers more than £300m in lost working hours as well as leaving them wide open to work related personal injury compensation claims.

Computer giant Microsoft commissioned the research, which discovered that 68% of respondents were suffering or had suffered from back, wrist, hand or shoulder pain, all of which are key symptoms of repetitive strain injury.

Over the past 12 months cases have soared by 30%, with employers increasingly worried about additional overhead costs of temporary staff, lost man hours and injury compensation claims.

A firm has been prosecuted after a work accident in which one of its workers died.  The accident happened in January 2005 when a 60-year-old employee was crushed.

A forklift truck had been going round a corner when its driver performed an emergency stop in order to avoid hitting a staff member.  Due to the sudden braking, a steel coil situated on the forks became dislodged and fell on top of the man, pinning him to the ground.  He later died from his injuries.

As a result of this accident at work IP, a firm which is located in Uxbridge, was given a fine of £50,000 and ordered to pay £6,000 in costs at a hearing at Leeds Crown Court.  The company pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety regulations.

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.

Published in Truckstop News - May 2008.

In this month’s issue Steven Hinchliffe of the specialist Personal Injury firm Hinchliffes Solicitors considers the measures in place to prevent “ACCIDENTS THAT HAPPEN WHEN WORKING AT A HEIGHT”.

Falls from a height account for the majority of workplace accidents resulting in fatality or serious injury.  To combat this the Work at Height Regulations 2005 (amended 2007) were brought into force, placing more detailed and stringent requirements on employers and others who control work that is undertaken at a height.

The Regulations apply to all work at height where there is a risk of injury from falling, and also cover instances where an injury is caused by falling objects.  No minimum height is set; there simply has to be a risk of injury from falling.  Therefore the Regulations apply at ground level or even underground, if the accident was as a result of falling a distance likely to cause injury.

Published in Truckstop News - April 2008.

In this month’s issue Steven Hinchliffe of the specialist Personal Injury firm Hinchliffes Solicitors considers employers duty to minimise the risk of “ACCIDENTS CAUSED BY DEFECTIVE WORK EQUIPMENT”.  

Accidents and injuries at work are often caused by defective or faulty work equipment.  The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 apply to all work equipment.  If the employer has breached the duty to provide a safe working environment and/or a safe system of work and as a result the employee has suffered injury, the employer may be liable to pay compensation to the employee for his or her injuries and any financial losses, such as reduced earnings.

Published in Truckstop News - October 2007.

This article deals with the basic elements that need to exist for a claim for personal injury compensation to be made following an accident.

The accident must have happened because of the negligence or fault of another party, by whom you were owed a “duty of care”.  This means that there must be a sufficiently close relationship between you and the other party for them to be aware that their actions (or lack of action) may have an impact upon you.  This is normally the case when the other party is your employer, a company to whom you are delivering or another road user.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued a warning to Everest Ltd, after workers were repeatedly put at risk of falling while working at height.

The HSE inspected properties where roof refurbishment was being carried out by the company.  Its employees were working on mobile scaffolds and platforms without having suitable protection to prevent them from falling.  There was a lack of handrails and parts of the equipment were not properly set up.

At a hearing in the Luton Magistrates Court, the company pleaded guilty to breaching Health and Safety Law, including the Work at Height Regulations 2005, and was fined £6,000.  The company was also required to pay almost £16,000 in legal costs

In 2007 over half of the workers who died on construction sites were engaged in refurbishment work, with the number of fatal accidents increasing by 61%.  Also during that year working at height was a factor in the deaths of 23 construction workers.