Do you know why we have such stringent health and safety laws here in the UK? The answer is simple – to protect our workforce from being injured in entirely preventable accidents.
Injuries can be serious or even fatal which is why health and safety in the workplace is such a vital thing to get right. We specialise in work accident claims and we have another happy client who has settled their claim for £5,000 due to an unsafe workplace and system of work. Read on for more!
There is a lot of nonsense in the media which portrays health and safety has gone too far, but I can tell you now that you can only claim where there is breach of the law. Some of the things that the media claim businesses and organisations are doing to prevent claims would have no chance at ever succeeding in a real claim for personal injury law.
When we win a claim because the place of work and the working practice is unsafe, it is because it is genuinely unsafe.
In this case, our client was moving boxes on a trolley with no handles or sides, as per the usual procedure. That means moving it using the weight of the boxes – clearly this is unsafe and the wrong type of work equipment had been provided. But what caused the accident was a protruding lip on the floor which she hit with the trolley and stack of boxes when trying to move them.
You can probably guess what happened next – she and the boxes came tumbling in to a collision which resulted in several bodily injuries.
We have legislation that states an employer must ensure that:
- The workplace is free from dangers on the floor
- Proper and safe work equipment is supplied and used
- Manual handling activities are risk assessed and safe to perform
No protrusion on the ground + proper trolleys with handles and sides to stop boxes falling = a safe system of work; and it would have helped if the manual handling task of moving the boxes had been properly risk assessed because this may well have identified the danger. A clear breach of health and safety law!
Sadly the opponent tried to deny liability and put up a fight so they could save themselves the money of having to pay out. We instructed an expert barrister and continued building evidence for the case and the solicitors eventually buckled and negotiated a settlement. Our client was pleased to accept the award of £5,000 for the injuries and losses caused.
Need our help for a work accident claim? Just call our free claims helpline on 0800 634 7575 today.
