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Health and safety is of course vitally important. But it is also incredibly frustrating at times as well. We can all see that health and safety rules are necessary, such as in the workplace or at certain attractions (such as theme parks etc).

However health and safety rules sometimes seem ridiculous and this had lead to numerous people commenting that we are a society that has gone “health and safety mad”. When you contrast the workers of previous decades to the workers of today, you can see how things have changed. Obviously a lot of changes such as having protective clothing, hearing protection, hard hats etc have been welcomed and rightly so.

Health and safety rules have recently surfaced in the press again. In fact the BBC published an article on the 10^th September 2012 regarding ministers’ plans to exempt thousands of businesses from health and safety inspections.
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If you are suffering from Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) caused by your employment then you may be entitled to make a compensation claim. Note that HAVS is also commonly referred to as Vibration White Finger (VWF).

VWF can be caused by excessive exposure to the use of vibratory tools. The symptoms of VWF differ depending on the severity of the condition. Some symptoms can be quite severe, such as loss of grip strength, resulting in sufferers being unable to hold a cup for example. Sufferers also experience increased difficulty with cold weather including whiteness of the fingertips.
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The Government have recently advised that in April 2013 routine health and safety inspections are no longer to continue on business premises that are considered to be of low risks. This new suggestion is part of the Government’s plans to remove or change more than 3,000 of the current health and safety regulations.

In the reformed plans, businesses that are deemed as high risk such as construction sites and food productions, or businesses that have a poor track record, will still be inspected for the purposes of health and safety. It has been said that establishments such as pubs, clubs, shops and offices are no longer to be subject to the inspections.

The new plans have been backed by the business minister Vince Cable stating that the reforms to health and safety will allow businesses to focus on creating jobs and wealth rather than “being tied up in necessary red tap”.
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We all reply upon equipment to do our jobs; some more than others, depending on the type of work you do. One thing I can confidently say from personal perspective is that I personally cannot stand most equipment! We rely upon it to do our jobs, and then it never works right and always breaks! Yes computers – I’m looking at you!

I won’t pretend to know too much about computers, but what I do know is they love to crash, break, and cause an absolute nuisance to us guys who rely upon them! Although I must admit I’m currently sat at a colleagues desk with a huge chip on my shoulder, writing this blog because our server is having serious issues and it’s fallen upon my personal computer as the one that our techie server guys are using to try and resolve the problems.

But back to the point of work equipment claims – when I’m talking about compensation claims, I’m talking more about people being injured as a result of faulty or inappropriate work equipment; not the stress caused when your networks and servers go haywire! In many industries, work equipment can be very dangerous indeed; with exposed machinery, cutting tools, extremely hot heating machines, etc.
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The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations govern the standards required by all workplaces to ensure optimum health and safety in the workplace. Accidents at work are unfortunately more common than people think! They can occur in a variety of ways, depending on the type of work someone does and the area which they are based in. This article will mainly focus on office spaces.

Under the regulations a workplace is defined as “any premises or part of premises which are not domestic premises are made available to any person as a place of work“. The regulations also cover the means of getting to and from the designated area, for example: rooms, lobbies corridors and staircases.
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Starting any claim can be a daunting prospect for many people; but, there always seems to be more reluctance and fear surrounding accidents at work as many worry it will affect either their current employment or their employment in the future. Hopefully this blog will put some minds at ease. If you have been injured through no fault of your own in the workplace, your injuries may be extremely debilitating and lead to losses that you just can’t afford.

Making a claim may well be the only option to take…

Pursing an accident at work claim should NOT affect your employment status as the law does protect you for making a claim. In most cases, if the company is quite large, employers may encourage people to do get a lawyer and make a claim. This is because all employers are required to take out insurance to cover just this type of thing, and many big companies will have been sued several times over. The majority of the time it is not that person you work with everyday that will be pursued, as most places just pass the letter of claim across to their insurers and it is them that deals with the entire process.
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It is a question that many people want to know and a question which we are asked time and time again. In terms of how long a claim will take from us taking it on to you receiving a settlement cheque, it is always difficult to say as it depends on a number of factors.

We as a firm pride ourselves on being efficient; we move cases forward as quickly as possible. However, to an extent we do rely on others such as insurance companies, the courts, medical experts etc.

A claim is likely to go through quicker if liability is not an issue and if the symptoms are relatively minor so only one medical report is required. However every case is different and at the outset any time frames given by any Solicitor would be effectively a guess.
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Contributory negligence can be explained by a hypothetical scenario. Say Joe Bloggs sustained an accident at work whereby he caught his hand in machinery which should have been turned off but the off switch had jammed. Say it came to light that Joe Bloggs forgot to put down the safety screen which was company practice even if the machinery was turned off.

Joe Bloggs may still be able to recover compensation but in this scenario it is likely that the Defendant (i.e. the employer) would allege an amount of contributory negligence as it was Joe Bloggs who failed to put down the safety screen.

It could still be argued that it was not a safe system of work and that the machinery or the off switch was defective causing the accident. The Defendant may argue that Joe Bloggs was partly at fault for his own accident. Contributory negligence is often dealt with in terms of a percentage. The Defendant may argue that Joe Bloggs is 90% at fault for the accident whereas Joe Bloggs himself may suggest that his actions or failure to put down the safety screen meant he was 20% at fault for the accident. You can see that it all depends on the circumstances of the particular case.
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Your employer has a duty to keep you safe and free from harm. One potential hazard in the workplace is noise. Exposure to excessive levels of noise can cause deafness – deafness caused by industry or employment is often referred to as industrial deafness. As people’s hearing deteriorates with age, many people who have worked in industry may not be aware that they are suffering from industrial deafness. Noise is measured in decibels (dB).

If noise is a potential hazard in your workplace your employer should have carried out a noise assessment or noise survey. This would involve checking the noise levels at different places through the premises and checking the noise levels emitted from all the various types of machinery. Your employer may also evaluate the noise exposure of each individual employer. Noise exposure is averaged out over an 8 hour working day.

Deafness claims are historic in nature as they can involve bringing a claim against one or more of your former employers. In essence you would seek to bring a claim against each and every employer who exposed you to excessive levels of noise after 1963. You cannot bring a claim for exposure to noise where the exposure occurred before 1963. Noise exposure before 1963 may have caused damage to hearing but in law it is classed as non-negligent exposure as employers were not aware of the dangers of noise at that time. A publication in 1963 meant that employers can be held liable for exposure to noise where the exposure occurred after 1963.
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PPE (or Personal Protective Equipment) is of fundamental importance in the workplace to keep workers safe and to enable workers to do their job properly. PPE can include boots, overalls, high visibility vests, gloves, hearing protection, hard hats etc. Without PPE the chances of injury are undoubtedly increased. The purpose of PPE is to ensure workers are kept as safe as possible. The PPE relevant to you would depend on your role and the environment that you work in.

If you think of a building site, the typical PPE is usually hard hats, high visibility vests and boots. On a building site there may be loose bricks overhead so you can see why hard hats are required. High visibility vests are also useful as there may be vehicles coming in and out of the building site. Boots are also necessary and would help prevent injury if anything was dropped onto the workers foot.

If you think of an alternative environment, such as a train depot or power station, PPE should include hearing protection as noise levels may reach levels that could potentially be harmful. On a train depot you would also expect high visibility vests so people can be seen. If a person uses vibratory tools as part of their job, such as jack hammers, gloves may be necessary to help prevent hand arm vibration syndrome (also known as vibration white finger).
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