Every year hundreds of thousands of people all over the world are killed or injured in accidents at work due to poor health and safety standards in the work place and the negligence of employers. Support for Workers Memorial Day has grown in recent years and is already recognized and supported by many other countries throughout the world. This year is the first in which the UK will officially recognize Workers Memorial Day and it is hoped that official recognition will increase awareness further and lead to greater improvements in health and safety standards in the workplace. A member of safety group Hazards Campaign stated that “every year more people are killed at work than in war. Most do not die of mystery ailments or in tragic accidents. They die because an employer decided their safety just wasn’t a priority”.
In comparison to other countries, the UK has one of the best health and safety records in the world however; in 2009 more than 200 people died in the work place and many more were injured. In one workplace accident reported by the BBC (source), an 18 year old man was killed in 2006 when a large pile of MDF sheets, weighing approximately 550kg, fell and crushed him to death. The man’s employer failed to provide him with adequate training, and then left him to work alone and unsupervised leading to the tragic death of a young man in the workplace that could and should have been avoided.
All employers owe their employees a duty of care and a duty to provide appropriate training and equipment to allow them to work without risk of suffering injury. Injuries suffered at work can and do have a huge effect on people’s lives and the lives of their families. If you are unfortunate enough to suffer and injury at work through no fault of your own then you are entitled to claim for compensation and it is important that you seek assistance from a specialist firm of personal injury lawyers, such as ourselves, who will fight hard to get you the compensation you deserve.