If you have fallen down a manhole or stepped on a manhole cover that was defective, sustaining injury, then you may be able to make a claim for compensation. Some people tend to walk around manhole covers for no apparent reason. Considering the number of claims we deal with involving manhole covers, this is probably not a bad idea. However at some time or other we have all walked over manhole covers. We expect the cover to be safe as it forms part of the pavement.

The companies responsible for the manhole cover are under a duty to ensure that the cover is safe. There is a duty to ensure that passers-by are not injured due to a defect or missing manhole cover. It is often the water board, electricity board or local council who is responsible. To ensure that the cover is safe and remains safe, a system of inspection should be in place. This means that the manhole cover should be inspected regularly and if necessary, repaired or replaced. As soon as a defect is found it should be repaired as soon as possible. Obviously if a defect is found and it cannot be rectified immediately, there should be some warning of the hazard. We would expect the manhole cover or manhole itself to be cordoned off.
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Most of us, at least those of us who drive, will have practised the emergency stop. Its part of learning to drive after all. But the question is when should it be applied and in what circumstances would it be unreasonable to perform an emergency stop?

Clearly an emergency stop is required and is reasonable in the case of an emergency, such as if a child or person ran out into the road.
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Claims for compensation are governed by rules and regulations. When we initiate a claim we proceed under something known as a protocol. A protocol is a set of guidelines or rules that should be followed both by the Claimant and the Defendant. In order to start the claims process we gather information from you (as the Claimant). We then prepare what is known as a “letter of claim”. This is a formal letter setting out the nature and circumstances of the claim. In the letter we detail the circumstances of the accident, allegations of negligence, funding arrangements, and important documents that should be disclosed if liability is not admitted etc.

The letter of claim is ordinarily sent directly to the Defendant. In some cases it could be sent to the Defendant’s insurers (for example if the Defendant was a dissolved company). Under the protocol (the set of rules) the Defendant then has a period of 21 days to acknowledge the Claimant’s letter of claim. This is simply an acknowledgement of the claim. It is also normal for the Defendant to pass the matter to their insurers. Following the 21 day period, the Defendant or their insurers have a period of 3 months to investigate the claim and provide a response. If no such response is provided in the allocated period, the Claimant (well, the Claimants solicitors normally) can consider making an application to Court for pre-action disclosure. This is known as a PAD application in short.
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It’s been a cold few months – and the roads are littered with defects and potholes. Common defects arise from the areas around drain covers, manhole covers, and similar such holes in the ground will often have defects around the edges due to adverse weather conditions. As soon as a cover like this gets sunken in to the ground, a tripping hazard ensues due to the surrounding sunken ground. That or just the general ground being rough and defective which causes instability and a hazard as equally as dangerous.

So the big question is this – can you make a claim for compensation if you end up injured due to sunken ground around a drain or manhole cover? It all depends on who has the responsibility and whether they have complied with the law.

Commonly its local councils who have the authority. If the hole in the ground is for utilities and therefore “privately owned” so to speak, then it is common that they allow the authority for it to rest with the council in any event. When it comes to the highways, whoever is responsible has a duty to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the highway is safe to use. Councils usually uphold this with regular systems of inspection and maintenance. If the company who owns the hole and the cover has a deal with the council to include their hole and cover within these inspections, then it may well fall within their responsibility.
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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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I’m not much of a fan of train stations. There are too many people rushing around to catch their train in time, and they’re way too cold in winter when you need to stand around and wait for your (probably late) train. As a specialist firm of personal injury lawyers, we’re used to dealing with a wide range of claims for compensation; accidents in a train station are fairly common.

When you break it down, there are some strikingly obvious reasons why they are so common:

• People are rushing around.
• There are no bins in train stations to prevent terrorist threats; means most litter ends up on the floor!
• Most stations are not fully covered; the floor can end up easily wet in periods of bad weather, or it can be walked in by rushing travellers.
• The sheer volume of people means there is a likely greater chance of spillages and floor hazards; baggage on the floor can be a tripping hazard as well!

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This is a common question that many people ask when they are first thinking about making a personal injury claim, as many people worry they do not have enough information or proof to build a case. Hopefully this blog will clear up this query and put some worrying minds at ease.

As there are different types of claims, there are inevitably different pieces of information that are required for different sorts of cases. Therefore I will address the main categories of: Occupiers Liability claims, Accidents at work claims and Road Traffic Accident claims.

Occupier’s or Public liability claims

Slips or trips in a public places / pothole trippers etc. These cases can be notoriously difficult and therefore evidence can be vital; key pieces include:
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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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In a claim for compensation you have a duty to do mitigate your losses. This means that you have a duty to keep your losses to a minimum. You can, of course, recover compensation for your injuries and for the losses you incurred as a result of the accident. Your losses could be anything from damaged clothing, requiring care and assistance, paying for medication etc. The duty to mitigate your losses also extends to your physical injury. If there is something that you could do to minimise or reduce the length of your injury, then you should do it; especially if it is offered to you.

This can be better explained by using physiotherapy as an example.

Say for example you are injured in a car crash that was not your fault. Another vehicle drove into the rear of your vehicle and as a result you sustained a whiplash type injury. It is likely that the other side will offer to pay for a course of physiotherapy treatment for you. If this is offered and you decline the treatment then the Defendant could (and most probably would) argue that you are failing to mitigate your losses. By having physiotherapy treatment the idea is that your injury may resolve earlier. For example with physiotherapy treatment you may make a full recovery from the injuries you sustained in the accident within 6 months. Without such physiotherapy treatment you may not recover from the injuries you sustained in the accident until 9 months after the accident.
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