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Supermarkets can be dangerous places – so it would seem by the number of personal injury claims brought as a result of accidents in supermarkets. Not wanting to put people off going to the supermarket, accidents can happen anywhere at any place or time – not just in supermarkets.

Due to the number of people in a supermarkets and the number of potential hazards, accidents are bound to happen on occasion. So what type of accidents can happen in a supermarket?

The most obvious type of accident in a supermarket is when people slip on something that has been left on the floor. Perhaps something has been spilt on the floor such as a liquid drink or some other product which causes a slipping hazard for unsuspecting shoppers. Obviously as soon as a spill occurs the store should bring people’s attention to the hazard, by erecting a wet floor sign for example. However if no wet floor sign is erected then it is likely that shoppers are not aware of the hazard and in this scenario it could be difficult for the store to escape liability if they can prove their systems of inspection are up to standards.
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If you have sustained injury at work within the last 3 years then you may be entitled to make a claim for compensation.

If you sustained an injury in terms of an industrial disease, then you may be able to claim notwithstanding the 3 year rule. If you have sustained an injury at work then you should contact a Solicitor as soon as possible to see if you have a claim. In terms of general workplace accidents there is normally a 3 year limitation period in which you must issue Court Proceedings or settle your claim within 3 years of the date of the accident; otherwise you may lose your right to claim compensation.

In some cases such as for industrial diseases (for example vibration white finger and industrial deafness) the limitation period is somewhat different as, at the time, you may not have been aware that you sustained injury. A good example is with deafness; at the time of exposure to loud noise you may not notice a hearing deficiency, but later in life you may find that your hearing is not as good as it should be. In this scenario your hearing has been damaged by noise exposure and has meant that you experience hearing difficulties in advance of when otherwise expected.
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Tripping accident claims are probably one of the most common types of claims that personal injury Lawyers deal with.

We often see defects in the pavement and if such a defect causes you to trip and sustain injury, then it is your right to bring a claim for compensation. These claims have received a substantial amount of bad press but that should not prevent people from bringing a genuine claim. I guess the main difficulty is filtering out fraudulent claims but this applies to all claims, not just tripping claims.

In the past certain roads have become notorious as multiple claims have been made against the respective Council for accidents occurring on the same road. This can raise eyebrows as the respective Council would usually repair the defect and it appears more than coincidence when you are talking about a number of claims on the same area of pavement etc. Notwithstanding the above, a person should not be discouraged from bringing a genuine claim.
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Our society relies quite heavily on oil production, but it can be a dangerous industry for employees. There are a great number of day to day risks for oil workers whether it be cleaning up oil spills or working around refinement machinery. It is not actually oil itself that is the main danger it is more the environment in which oil workers work in, such as an offshore oil rig.

The machinery used to try and refine the oil can be dangerous. An oil rig is a dangerous place to be. Cleaning up oil spills can be dangerous as people could be exposed to toxins in the air and many of the dispersants used to clean up oil can be dangerous to humans. When used correctly dispersants can be an effect method of response to an oil spill. Dispersants are capable of removing large amounts of certain oil types from the sea, but that is a science in itself for which the details are quite technical.

Dispersants pose a risk to the health of humans as well as to the life of animals including fish, birds etc. One of the dispersants used at the BP oil spill was Corexit 9527A which contains the toxin 2 Butoxyethanol which can cause injury to red blood cells, kidney or the liver with repeated or excessive exposure. Past exposure to Corexit 9527A has led to health problems including blood in the urine and kidney/liver disorders. Unsurprisingly this has led to compensation claims.
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If you work in a commercial kitchen environment then you may be well aware of the dangers. There are dangers in the kitchen at home but in a commercial environment the risks are likely to be greater.

First of all, the risks in a commercial kitchen are likely to be greater due to the equipment and the scale or size of it. Knives for example are likely to be bigger and sharper in a commercial environment; ovens are likely to be bigger and hotter, there are likely to be numerous people in the kitchen meaning that people may bang into each other. At busy times people are likely to be rushing and this is another factor. These are just some of the reasons why a commercial kitchen may be more dangerous than a residential kitchen.

Knives are one of the most obvious dangers that could cause injury. However heat is another danger from ovens, deep fat fryers, boiling water etc. Burn injuries are common in the kitchen as are cuts and slices of the skin. Kitchen equipment can cause severe injuries. Only recently I was working on a case where the Claimant was burnt from boiling water from a large industrial kettle. Everything in a commercial kitchen is bigger and more powerful and the risk of serious injury is increased.
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Some people like them and others hate them; whatever we think, elevators can be a genuine cause of injuries and compensation claims.

I have to admit that elevators in a building containing numerous floors can be handy.

Imagine a multi story building without elevators. We would all have to take the old fashioned route of walking – how would we ever cope with that? Some people may enjoy the exercise but others would not. Perhaps for many workers who work on the top floor of a multi story building time is of the essence. Taking an elevator to the top floor would certainly save time as opposed to walking up flights of stairs. And of course we have to consider elderly and disabled people, people with prams etc. Taking it all into account, elevators are necessary.
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Slipping on a wet floor may seem to some people like a sketch from a slap-stick comedy film but for those people who have ever had the misfortune to be the victim of a fall on a wet floor, it is not a source of humour. In fact the instances where accidents of this type happen can be the cause of a lot more than embarrassment or bruised ego and can cause serious injuries.

If you are the visitor to a public place then the owners of the building in which you are visiting have certain responsibilities to keep you safe from harm under the Occupiers Liability Act. This includes not exposing you to the danger of being harmed – a good example of this danger would be a wet tiled floor on which you could slip and fall.

The Occupiers Liability Act says that building owners have to take proper measures to protect you from these risks – in the case of a dangerously wet floor you should expect to find warning signs, cones, cordons or other means designed to stop you walking across the surface of the floor until it was dry and safe to do so. Although a claim may be more difficult to progress if these measures were in place the fact that a sign was put up would not necessarily prevent you from claiming if for some reason it was not clearly visible to you or there was more that should have been done. In any event if you feel that the measures taken to protect your safety were not adequate you should contact The Injury Lawyers for expert personal injury advice.
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This is indeed a very important but tricky question. It is often best explained in the form of a scenario. Say for example you are in your local supermarket stocking up on those essential goods and you are unfortunate enough to slip on a wet floor.

Now, if there is a clearly visible wet floor sign in place which you should have seen, then it could be difficult to claim compensation for any injuries that you sustained. However, every case is unique and studied on its own facts. Say for example a wet floor sign was erected and was clearly visible but you failed to notice it because you were looking down at your mobile phone as you were walking. In this situation a Court would probably say that the store took all necessary precautions to warn you of the hazard and therefore there was no potentially negligence.
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A fall can occur in many different ways. So how can we ensure when you have suffered injury from a fall  that you get not only 100% of your compensation, but also the best amount of compensation?

Slipping and Falling

When you have fallen after slipping on something, you can of course sustain serious injuries. These types of cases are commonly covered by the Occupier’s Liability Act when they occur inside a public place. Under this, owners of premises are required to take reasonable steps to prevent this type of accident occurring. So for example; if you fall on some spilt liquid in a supermarket, the supermarket would have to prove that they have taken reasonable steps to prevent this from happening. This usually comes in the form of an inspection regime that can be proven through a signed sheet of paper confirming when the area has been cleaned last.
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The whole purpose of manhole covers is to allow access to something below the ground but also to keep the area safe when access is not required. Basically, it stops there being a big hole in the middle of the street, which of course is not going to end well if you walk in to it!

However, some manhole covers can be extremely old and as many are made from metal, over the years, they have rusted and become unstable and consequently lead to serious injuries.

There are three main types of accidents that are caused by manhole covers:
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