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Slips and Trips are common on a night out, usually caused by spilt drink, broken glass or loose carpets, which lead to both minor and major injuries.

Nightclubs and bars are obviously open to the public, and therefore give permission to the customers to be on the premises. As a result of this, a club or bar owe a duty of care to all its customers and therefore must ensure all reasonable steps have been taken to remove or minimise all potential hazards.

A busy nightclub or bar should have procedures in place to ensure that premises are kept safe. Any bar should have an inspection and cleaning procedure in place to ensure that premises are cleaned regularly, and that no spillages or breakages are left to become a hazard.
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Dermabrasion is the act of wearing away the top layer of skin with devices and methods such as wire brushes or salt crystals. This procedure is usually performed under a local anaesthetic and as it is quite invasive and should always be performed by a medical professional. Please note that dermabrasion is different to micro-dermabrasion which is a procedure that can be carried out by non-professionals and is often the type of treatment that is offered in local salons, for example.

Dermabrasion can leave the skin looking bright red, sensitive to sunlight and sometimes leave small scarring as essentially you are removing the top layer of skin. These are common and inherent risks with the surgery – as with all surgical intervention, they come with risks! This can be with the actual treatment or the anaesthesia that is used to perform the surgery. This can become a problem when looking to make a claim for compensation – if your injury is classed as an inherent risk rather than something that was caused by negligence you may not be able to claim at all.
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Ladder accidents result in around 14 fatalities and 1,200 major injuries in the UK each year. It is the duty of your employer to ensure that Ladders must be kept well maintained and must be replaced when damaged.

Accidents can occur due to the employee been given the wrong type of ladder to complete a task. Employers must provide employees with the correct type of ladder with regards to the task in hand, with employees being fully trained and instructed on how to use them. The employee must be able to make an informed decision about the correct ladder to use.

Risk assessments must be carried out regularly, by employers, to assess the risk of falling and the safety of the ladder. The ladder must be inspected for any defects and the employer must ensure that the ladder is fully fit for use. The ladder must not be dented or damaged in anyway, nor should the rubber feet be missing or damaged.
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Chair accidents are common in pubs, restaurants and cafes.  Chair accidents can happen for a number of reasons like a broken or faulty chair leg, chair backs being damaged or loose, chairs collapsing or something sticking out of the chair which shouldn’t be there.

Under the Occupiers Liability Act 1957, it is the duty of the occupier to make sure that the chair is safe for use and is free of defects. An occupier is normally the owner of the premises, and as such it is their responsibility to take all reasonable steps to prevent injury to any visitors to their premises. If an owner fails to meet this duty they could be considered negligent, and you may be able to claim for compensation.

Those with a duty have a legal responsibility, and therefore any chairs must be regularly inspected and maintained in order to prevent an accident happening. An inspection must make sure that a chair is stable, and has no present breaks or defects. Records should be kept.
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Most of us use stairs several times a day without even realising what we are doing; so when we suddenly find ourselves tumbling head first down them because we just put one foot in front of the other and didn’t see the step was broken it can be a bit of a shock! It can also be extremely painful – especially if the stairs are made out of materials such as concrete, metal or wood. So are you able to make a claim for falling on loose steps? The answer is probably yes.

Commonly these types of accidents come under something called The Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 unless it happened at work. The “Occupier” under this legislation is often thought to be the person who has sufficient degree of control over the premises who should realise that if something is not right, may result in somebody being injured. Therefore, the defendant in these cases is usually the person that is entrusted with the responsibility for maintaining the building and the steps.
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If you are injured on a bus, can you make a claim for personal injury compensation? Can the bus driver be held liable? When might they be held liable, and pave the way for you to make a successful injury claim? Here’s a little advice about it.

Bus drivers have a responsibly to pay due care and attention to avoid any passengers becoming injured whilst under their care. Ultimately the bus company will be responsible and will have to pay out, usually through insurers, in the event of making a claim. As a passenger in a collision, you pretty much have a guaranteed claim for compensation if you are injured.

So aside from the obvious avoidance of road accidents, i.e. if the bus driver is responsible for causing a road traffic collision, when else can they be held liable?
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A bit of a niche area of law here – what are you rights if you have an accident in a restaurant, or perhaps a bar or a cafe, because of a chair? Well, let’s look at the law and whether you may be entitled to make a claim for personal injury compensation.

Generally speaking, unless you work at the restaurant, the law that applies is the Occupiers Liability Act, and this vital piece of legislation dictates that the occupier of a premises, i.e. those in charge or responsible at the restaurant, have a duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent an injury occurring.

When it comes to chairs, what are classed as reasonable steps? Well a system of inspection would be a good start – checking to make sure that the structure of the chairs is stable and ensure there are no breaks or defects to make sure that the chair is not liable to break or collapse. A record of this should be kept as well.
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At work, your employer is under a pretty heavy duty to look after your health and safety, and make sure you are not injured whilst working. When I say heavy, I mean there are a lot of workplace rules and regulations that employers must abide by, and breaching any of these regulations can pave the way to you making a work injury claim for personal compensation.
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Highways agencies and local authorities have a duty to maintain highways. Slips, trips and falls on defective highways, streets, roads and pathways are very common.

Common defects can include potholes, cracked or broken paving slabs, missing manhole covers, uneven ground and no barriers or rails found on public walkways and stairs.

The Highways Act 1980 is the act for governing and maintaining the highways. Under S41 of the 1980 Act, the local authority have a duty to maintain the highways, and that duty ‘is to ensure as reasonably practicable’ that the public will have a safe passage along the highway.
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Damages are compensation to be paid to a claimant for a personal injury, which they have suffered, resulting in some form of loss. The aim of damages is to try and put the person back into the position they were in before the accident occurred.

There are two types of damages which can be awarded – general damages and special damages. General damages are commonly defined as damages which are awarded for pain, suffering and loss of amenity. Special damages are damages related to expenses and losses on your part.

Special damages are not simply awarded, they need to be evidenced and claimed for and the court may assess the figure to be awarded. All aspects of the injuries impact on the claimant’s daily life are to be considered.
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