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About 60 people suffered injury at a Christmas lights switch-on event in Birmingham.

According to the BBC, over 20,000 people went to Millennium Point in Birmingham to watch boy band, and X-Factor runners-up, JLS switch on the Christmas lights on Saturday.

However, organisers had only anticipated a quarter of that attendance, with just 15,000 being expected to turn up and see the event.

The event had to be stopped after the crowd surged to get in to the already packed square. Barriers gave way leaving four people in need of hospital treatment.
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The CICA (Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority) payout compensation to the victims of premeditated assaults and attacks construed as criminal activity.

The CICA as a government related body are strict on the cases they payout for. The BBC have reported of a rather unique case where the judge has awarded favour to the toddler who was attacked by another three year old boy whilst alone in a car (source).

Jay Jones was hit 11 times with a car jack by another three year old boy whilst they were alone in a car, resulting in the boy requiring stitches from a gash on the head and a visit to the nearby hospital for treatment following the attack in 2007.
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Maclaren have moved to provide new safety kits for their pushchairs after parents indicated their concerns that children were suffering injuries trapping their fingers in the hinges.

According to the BBC, the company had originally stated that despite issuing the kits in the US, they would not be following suit with a UK equivalent.  However, now the covers, which will be free, will be sent out to parents who request them.

Maclaren’s original decision was based on the fact that the number of injuries suffered in the UK was considerably lower than in the US.
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Two firemen killed by a blast at a fireworks depot might not have died if they had received relevant training, a jury has heard.

According to the BBC, firemen Geoff Wicker and Brian Wembridge died in an explosion at a farm in East Sussex in December 2006. The argument that the training received by the fire-fighters was insufficient was put forward by the defence lawyer for Alpha Fireworks boss Martin Winter and his son Nathan, both of whom denied the charge of manslaughter at Lewes Crown Court.
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Everybody thinks of the gym as a place to go to get fit and healthy. However, that wasn’t the case for an employee at a Fitness First gym in Bournemouth. Six fire engines and 30 fire fighters went to the gym in Queens Park South Drive where a male member of staff was overcome by fumes from a chemical leak. A further nine workers were treated at the scene and then taken to hospital.

According to the BBC, Dorset Fire and Rescue Service were at a loss to explain how 25 litres of a hypochloride solution, used to clean pools, had become mixed with sodium bisulphate. The mixture creates two gases, sulphur dioxide, and chlorine gas, the latter of which is toxic and is believed to have been responsible for the injury.
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Random attacks by strangers are at the highest level in more than a decade according to recent press reports, which has linked the figures to Labour’s time in government and  the introduction of the 24 hour drinking licenses.

The Daily Mirror reports that figures have indicated that a person is attacked by a random stranger every 30 seconds in Britain, and that there were 1,057,000 violent attacks by strangers last year; the equivalent to 2,895 every day or 120 per hour.

The report also indicates that only a third of violent crimes involved the victim not knowing the assailant when Labour came in to power which has jumped to half as random violence, fuelled by alcohol and round the clock drinking licenses, is on the rise.
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An Employee of the national supermarket chain, Morrisons has decided to take legal action after suffering severe injuries on their premises.

Mr Kevin Brookshaw suffered with serious facial injuries whilst at the car park of their Crewe store. As Mr Brookshaw proceeded through the car park barrier it swung back, straight through the windshield, hitting him in the face.

Mr Brookshaw’s wife told the Crewe Chronicle that his injuries were so severe that you could not recognize him and he was treated in the critical injuries unit. His wife described that his face was ‘literally split down the middle’.
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A teenager has been awarded £1.35million in compensation following a decision at the High court in London. Toby Wheeler, 15, suffered brain damage during his birth at an Essex hospital.

According to the BBC, Toby cannot walk or speak and needs 24 hour care due to oxygen deprivation suffered at the time of his birth in Colchester hospital.
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The UK’s biggest coal miner, UK Coal, has suspended production at one of its sites after the death of an employee. According to The Guardian, Mr Ian Cameron died after an equipment failure, the company said.

This comes hot on the heels of the Health and Safety Executive announcing that it intends to prosecute the company over three deaths which occurred at its Daw Mill site in Warwickshire and one at its Welbeck Colliery site in Mansfield.

This kind of safety record over the last three years highlights the importance of risk assessments in the workplace. Risk assessments are conducted with the intention of minimising the risks in the workplace, to protect workers from harm.
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Further to discussions in recent articles, the turn of the weather as the clocks go back, the skies go greyer, and the air gets colder sees an increase in accidents as a result of the winter weather.

And it’s not just the wetter roads and darker skies that lead to increases in all sorts of accidents.

According to a mirror.co.uk report, car owners have been warned that the autumn leaves, as pretty as they may be, are the cause of crashes due to the leaves affecting onboard computer systems that many modern cars are fitted with nowadays (source)
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