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In a workplace environment, there are strict rules in place that mean your employer must adhere to important health and safety legalisation to keep you safe in the workplace. The rules are vast, and they range from general workplace health and safety, covering traffic routes for example, to manual handling, protective equipment, general equipment, etc.

As specialist injury lawyers we deal with all sorts of personal injury claims. Accident at work claims are fairly common; especially ones involving slipping over in the workplace. As the title of this article suggests, we will be focusing on leaks at work that cause accidents.

Leaks in the workplace could arise from all sorts of things – water leaking from the roof, or leaks from faulty fridges, equipment, or anything like that. Normally a leak is a hazard that is easily picked up on. You notice some water accumulated on the floor, most people either investigate it or at least mention it to a manager or supervisor. Either way, as soon as your employer is made aware of a leak, an important duty is born for them to make sure that something is done about it!
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Accidents at work involving roll or stock cages are very common – we take on a lot of accident at work claims from defective cages and the like. One such example of these sorts of claims involves overfilled cages.

In today’s economic crisis, all businesses are trying to be as efficient as possible to cut costs and keep themselves afloat in these difficult times. You could say that a lot of Britons are somewhat overworked; I heard some statistics on the radio recently saying that we are one of the hardest working nations in the world, and we work much longer hours.

Sadly, with cost cutting comes corner cutting. Corner cutting can lead to health and safety breaches and subsequent injuries. As the topic of this article suggests, I’m discussing overfilled stock cages here. In these difficult times, packing as much stock on to one delivery lorry as oppose to two could save hundreds or thousands of pounds in the long run for a business.
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All manual handling activities at work require at least two key things: training, and risk assessments. Any employee who is instructed to undertake manual handling activities at work absolutely must receive quality training from the employer in safe and correct lifting techniques. On top of that, any activities must be fully risk assessed to make sure that the task is safe to carry out. These are legal requirements.

Even with proper training, if a task is not safe due to some form of other risk, then the task needs to be looked at carefully. Common examples are the size and weight of an object, obstacles on the route of the lift, and whether the objects are in a location that is safe to lift from. A classic example is that of the beer barrel deliveryman who in the past may have been subjected to lifting heavy kegs of alcohol in a basement whilst crouched down low due to a low lying roof. This can be a killer to your back!

Another example as the title of this article suggests, is that of stacked boxes or loads being on a shelf or at any other form of height. If you need to lift a box from stomach height, you can normally apply the manual handling regulations and safely lift the load so long as it is of a weight and size that is suitable to do so. However, if the box is above head height, you are at risk of injuring yourself as you try and lift the load from the height due to the position of your back.
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We deal with all types of personal injury claims including accidents at work. If you have slipped down stairs at work, sustaining injury as a result, then you may be able to claim compensation. People are often reluctant to pursue a claim against their employer and while this is certainly understandable, if you have sustained injury through an accident which was not your fault, it is your right to claim compensation. It is also important to note that the general rule is that you must issue Court Proceedings on a claim or settle the case within 3 years of the date of the accident. Therefore it is better to make a claim sooner rather than later!

There are many regulations in place which employers should comply with.

Employers are under a duty to keep employees safe and free from harm during the course of their employment. If you slipped down stairs at work then initially we would look at what caused you to slip. Did you slip because the floor was left wet? Did you slip or fall because there was a defect with the stairs? Did you slip because you were carrying something which impeded your view of the stairs? There are many possibilities but if one of the above happened then it is likely that you do have a claim against your employer.
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Manual handling is important to get right. Getting it wrong can result in serious injuries; so it’s key for employers to make sure that they deal with manual handling activities in the correct way.

The two key things are training and risk assessments. Anyone, no matter what industry or working environment you are in, must have manual handling training if manual handling tasks are encompassed in their role. This training is not just a one off thing; there must be ongoing training to ensure that people receive refreshed training on a continual basis.

The second key thing is risk assessing a task. An employer should fully risk assess a manual handling activity to look at things such as:
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This is probably more relevant for anyone working in a warehouse, an industrial site, and even those who work in offices (if boxes of files are being moved for archiving or something similar). Workplace regulations are numerous, and they’re there to protect employees from being injured in the line of duty.

When it comes to boxes, if these need to be stacked, then your employer is responsible to risk assess the process to make sure that any stacked boxes are done in a way that is safe to ensure they don’t fall over or cause anyone harm.

This ranges from what sorts of boxes can be stacked atop another, given weights and sizes, to where boxes should be stacked, and how high to ensure a stack is stable. At the same time, employees must be instructed in the correct procedure for stacking boxes safely.
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In today’s current economic climate, it isn’t easy to find a new job. When you do get a new job, you want to make sure you make a fantastic impression and go the extra mile so you pass the probationary period and settle in to a new career. But as with anything in life, things don’t always go the way you plan them.

Having an accident at work can be stressful enough – having one in a new job can be even worse. The thing is, your wellbeing is the responsibility of your employer, so when you start a new job, it’s your employers responsibility to make sure that you are quickly trained in all things health and safety, and that you are trained in how to use equipment and do your job without ending up injured.

Firms should have a health and safety induction. It’s not the most thrilling thing in the world to read through pages and pages of information that ranges from important manual handling training to how to wash your hands properly; but it has to be done. But what I want to focus on more, in this blog post, is starting a new job where there is a very real risk of being injured quite easily.
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We take on a lot of work accident claims, and a lot of them relate to workers injured on the back of the lorry they are either driving or working from. I’ll give you a few examples and explain a little about how the law works when it comes to who is at fault and how to make a claim for personal injury compensation.

First and foremost, a lorry is classed as work equipment – and under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations, your employer has a specific duty to inspect and maintain all work equipment to make sure no one comes to harm when using it. As it so happens, there are also some strict liability regulations that mean that if you are injured due to defective work equipment, you may have a very strong case. Say for example the shutters break and fall on you because a catch is broken, or they get stuck as you’re pushing them and cause you to badly jerk your back. Even if there was no way your employer could have stopped this from happening, you may still have a very good claim.
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If you sustained injury at work and it was not your fault, you may be eligible to claim for compensation as your employer is under a duty to keep you safe and free from harm.

Obviously there are a number of measures that should be taken to ensure that you are not injured at work. Employers should make sure that the working environment is as safe as possible – this could be done by reducing the risks.

In an office environment a potential tripping risk may exist, such as by tripping over bags, boxes, wires etc. The employer should put processes/procedures in place to reduce the risk – such as a policy that bags must be kept fully under desks where they do not pose a tripping hazard.
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At The Injury Lawyers we deal solely with personal injury claims. You can normally only make a personal injury claim if you have sustained an injury and it was not your fault. Therefore if your employer did not give you protective equipment, such as gloves or a hard hat, and as a result you have sustained an injury, then you may be able to claim compensation. However a failure to provide gloves in itself would not give rise to a successful claim. You can only claim if you have been injured as a result.

Depending on the nature of your job, gloves could be a form of personal protective equipment (PPE). PPE is designed to protect workers from harm or reduce the risk of injury occurring. Gloves could protect you from vibration, dangerous chemicals, sharp objects, or abrasions from rough materials for example. If you were not given gloves at work and you regularly used vibratory tools, you may develop injury as a result (such as vibration white finger). So if the failure to provide gloves causes or contributes to an injury, then it is likely that you do have a claim against your employer.
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