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Many careers are obviously ones which entail working at a height; these include those in the building trade, TV aerial installers, or tree surgeons.  Working at heights, however, can cover any one of us – for example a receptionist being asked to change a light bulb at height or a librarian attempting to reach items high up on shelving.  So we can see that this type of situation can affect any one of us, so personal injuries resulting from working at height situations are becoming increasingly more common.

If an employer asks or expects their employee to work at a height then they must comply with the Working At Height Regulations 2005.  You do not need to know the full detail of this legislation, but it is useful to know a few key points.  Working at height should be properly supervised and planned – the correct safety gear and equipment should be checked prior to use and should then be used accordingly.

An employer that oversees employees working at height should know at least the minimum requirements of the Working At Height Regulations.  If these regulations are not followed correctly then there is a high chance that an accident could occur: the most common of these accidents being falling from ladders, falling from scaffolding, or falling from a roof.
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I imagine that some of those reading this blog may be aware of the case I am about to briefly outline.  It involves a cup of coffee purchased from a McDonald’s restaurant in America nearly two decades ago…

The Claimant, Ms Stella Liebeck, suffered very serious burns, in particular to her legs, as a result of her spilling a scalding hot cup of coffee on her lap.  In fact, Ms Liebeck was hospitalised for over a week, lost a fifth of her body mass, and required medical treatment for two years.  It was considered by the judge that the coffee was too hot and in fact far hotter than any coffee served by other food and drink outlets – and was inadequately labelled as to warn Ms Liebeck, and other coffee drinkers, of the potential hazard it posed.  While McDonalds stated that they purposely served their coffee extremely hot so that commuters who purchased the product would be able to drink it for longer, others have suggested that McDonalds ensured that their coffee was piping hot so that their customers could not drink it straight away in the restaurant and would therefore not gain a refill!  Either way, Ms Liebeck was awarded nearly $650,000 compensation.

Some may argue that coffee is obviously going to be hot, and that accordingly, the risk is clearly apparent.  Indeed, many have argued this and suggested that the case can only be described as ‘frivolous’ and ‘ridiculous’.  This blog, however, does not intend to argue the rights and wrongs of that case, but to raise awareness of the potential compensation you may be entitled to should you have suffered a personal injury as a result of a defective or dangerous product.
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The recent news of the death of former British boxing champion Gary Mason whilst he was cycling on the roads of South London, brings road safety whilst on bicycles, motorbikes, scooters and mopeds to the forefront of our minds.

Sadly, road accidents involving the vehicles named above are increasingly common.  This is due to the roads getting busier and the fact that vehicles such as motorbikes seem to appear out of nowhere.  Most accidents involving motorbikes happen due to traffic meeting at junctions, crossroads and roundabouts, bad weather conditions, or items being in the road.  It is also not a too uncommon sight whilst driving, especially around student areas, to see a bus pulling into a stop and narrowly missing a cyclist.

Statistics seem to suggest that motorbike accidents in the UK occur most prominently in males between the ages of 30-39.  This is a group of people who are most likely to be the main breadwinner, maybe supporting a family, and are coming towards the peak of their career.  It would therefore be imperative for anyone who has been involved in such an accident to contact a good personal injury lawyer with expertise in this area as soon as possible in order to get the claim underway, get liability admitted, and put forward an application for interim payments.  Interim payments are payments which can be obtained for victims of accidents before settlement of their case to ensure they are not suffering financially whilst waiting for their case to come to a conclusion.
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Most of us visit a supermarket maybe once a week to do the ‘big’ shop, as everything is conveniently under one roof, and we often save a lot of money doing all the shopping in one big go.  However, we don’t expect this convenience to come at a price to us and for us to have an accident in a store. 

It may come as a surprise but supermarket accidents are becoming one of the most common types of personal injury claims.  This can be due to items being poorly stacked on shelves and falling on you, slipping on a spillage, or tripping on an item left in the aisle.  If you have been involved in an accident in a supermarket then you may be entitled to make a claim for compensation for your injuries.  It is the duty of the supermarket to ensure the safety, as much as is reasonably possible, of their customers is maintained whilst shopping in store.  In order to avoid such an accident to one of their loyal customers, supermarket employers must make sure the necessary checks are carried out for trip and slip hazards, and to ensure to train employees fully in all key areas of health and safety.  The supermarkets must comply with all the Health and Safety standards.

If you have been involved in an accident whilst in a supermarket, and it was not your fault, here are some tips:
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Picture this. You are a footballer only days away from the greatest game of your career.  You go to work, carry out your normal duties, and end up with a groin injury that could prevent you from fulfilling your boyhood dreams.For Mark Peat, goalkeeper of lowly Berwick Rangers, this was somewhat of a reality. Just days from his mouth-watering clash with Scottish Premier giants Celtic, Mark ‘felt a wee pop in [his] groin’. The Daily Record reports that Mark, who works for Greggs the baker, was going about his usual daily tasks, which typically include loading and transportation duties, when he suffered a groin injury.  On this occasion it would seem that Mark was simply pushing a roll cage around a Greggs factory when the incident happened. For Mark, as I am sure many can imagine and sympathise, the timing of the injury could not have come at a worse time. Luckily for Mark however, the effects of his injury wore off in time for him to face Celtic. Sadly, on this occasion, Mark’s heroics were not enough to spare Berwick from defeat, losing, commendably, by only 2 goals to nil.

It just goes to show that injuries can occur at any time, and the workplace is just one arena in which incidents can happen. Fortunately in Mark’s case, his injury was relatively minor and he was able to resume normal activities in no time at all.  Moreover, it is not even to say that his injury was directly attributable to his working practice.  However, here at The Injury Lawyers we hear of accidents at work on a daily basis and we cannot stress how important it is, if you have been injured in your workplace, to the get the advice of a professional injury lawyer so that they can advise you as to whether you are entitled to make a claim for compensation.

It is important to understand that your employer owes you, as an employee, a duty of care. They must look out for your health and safety. – e.g. – ensuring that your workplace is safe by maintaining equipment or reducing your risk of injury by providing you with the correct clothing and equipment; by way of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, your employer must acknowledge your health and safety concerns.
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Many people believe that making a personal injury claim is a difficult and lengthy process, made worse by the likelihood that the other side will do everything possible to avoid admitting liability. As such many people have been put off making a claim for personal injury when in fact they are entitled to thousands of pounds in compensation. This guide has been created to assure those with genuine personal injury claims that your injury lawyers will do everything they can to settle your claim at the earliest opportunity. 

The process of making a personal injury claim has been made a great deal easier by the introduction of the Pre-Action Protocol for Personal Injury claims. This Protocol sets out a series of simple steps that are to be taken by both sides in order to settle your personal injury claim as soon as possible. We will firstly produce a Letter of Claim which outlines your accident, the injuries you have suffered and details of any financial losses you have incurred as a result of your injury. We always produce a thorough Letter of Claim to ensure investigations of your claim can begin straightaway. This Letter of Claim is sent to the other side who have a period of 21 days to acknowledge receipt. 

In most cases the other side will pass the Letter of Claim to their insurer or solicitor within the 21 day period.  As soon as the Defendant or his/her insurer or solicitor acknowledges the Letter of Claim they are allowed a period of three months to investigate your claim.  Importantly, this is not to say that these investigations will take three months, this is purely a deadline in which the other side must come back to us stating whether liability is admitted or denied.  During this three month period we will contact you fortnightly to make sure you are always up-to-date on the progress of claim.  We also regularly chase the other side for their position on liability.
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The “Big Freeze” is something which has no doubt affected each and every individual within the UK in one way or another. The overwhelming amount of snowfall appears to have hit the UK unexpectedly, bringing certain areas of the country to a standstill. Highway authorities have been criticised for being unprepared for these conditions, resulting in numerous road closures across the country. A number of unfortunate drivers were stranded on the motorway and had no other option but to sleep in their cars!

Considering the havoc and chaos which this mere snowfall has caused, taking into account the road closures, airport closures and business closures, it would seem that the only people who will have benefited from these adverse weather conditions would be the sledge suppliers!

Inevitably, as a result of these weather conditions, numerous people have been involved in unfortunate accidents and sustained injury. So where would those individuals who have personally suffered injury as a result of these conditions seek remedy? Questions of course would follow from this, such as – (1) who would be held accountable for this injury?; and (2)what type of injury was sustained?
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The use of seat belts when driving or being driven in a vehicle has always been a message sent out to people whenever a road accident has been reported. We all know that we have to wear them for our own safety as well as the safety of others in the car and it is something which the police look out for when on the roads. Many of us, however,do not realise the consequences of not wearing a seat belt when it comes to a personal injury claim as a result of a road traffic accident.

If you have been involved in a road accident and it was not your fault, you may be entitled to compensation.  However, if a seat belt was not worn at the time of the accident, the potential compensation you are entitled to can be reduced by up to 25%. Many people become careless when travelling in a taxi or coach and neglect to put their seat belt on; the recent news story of a coach overturning in Norfolk carrying 48 passengers, yet having no fatalities, was put down to the passengers wearing seat belts.

Just to reiterate, the rules surrounding the use of seat belts are that every individual over the age of 14 must wear an adult seat belt.  Children who are under the age of 14, depending on age and height, must wear a child restraint or an adult seat belt. There are exceptions to these rules and more in depth detail on the law in this area regarding the safety of children in the car is available at http://www.childcarseats.org.uk/index.htm.
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There are many jobs out there that require employees to work at height. It may be that you work for a maintenance team, that you’re a window cleaner or that you work in an office. Whatever your job role is, if you are required to work at height it is your employers responsibility to ensure that you are safe when doing so. There have been a number of accidents across Britain where employees have become injured because the necessary precautions weren’t carried out or because they were sent on a job alone when it required two people to do it.

Before many jobs in the workplace are carried out something that is called as risk check is done. This is where the job waiting to be done is seen as low, medium or high risk. If it is found to be medium or high risk staff responsible for conducting the task may then have to re-think certain things, or change the way it is done to make that task safer.

No matter what job role you have it is likely that you will be required to work at height at some point in you career. Working at height doesn’t necessarily mean working up a pair of ladders or on a building site. If a receptionist is asked to change a light bulb or uses a chair to reach for something high up, that is also classed as working at height. Whatever job it is you do it is important that it is done safely.
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There are many public facilities across Britain that allow us to take part in a variety of activities. Some of the activities available to us include swimming, athletics or open sports events such as netball, basketball and football. Whatever sport it is that we choose to take part in those responsible for the activity should make sure that all of the necessary health and safety precautions are put in order.

In order to do this those in charge of the event will need to carry out a number of risk assessments, along with moving any equipment that they think could be a hazard. Any sport that people take part in should have a qualified instructor or coach to assist those taking part. In the unlikely event that someone did become injured they could be the first person made of aware of this.

If you or your child has took part in such an activity and suffered an injury whilst doing so they may be able to make an injury compensation claim. In order for that claim to be successful the accident must have been caused by the negligence of somebody else, leading to the injuries they have suffered. After such an accident the first thing to do would be to report the incident to a member of staff on site. They would then be able to assess any injuries suffered and carry out the necessary actions in attending to them.
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