There are so many workplace health and safety rules and regulations your employer must abide by. Risk assessments need to be completed, workplace areas need to be regularly inspected and maintained, and your employer has a duty to minimise risks to your health as far as is reasonably possible and practical.

So – what happens if your employer fails in this important duty they have for you, and you end up injured? You can make a claim for compensation from their insurance.

In any event, a regular system of inspection and maintenance should be carried out to make sure there are no slippery surfaces or defects on the floor waiting to trip you up. Any hazards spotted should be either rectified, or cordoned off and appropriate signage put in place to warn you of the hazard. If you are not advised of a hazard, or are unaware of its presence, you can make a claim.
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I fear that there are many potential claimants out there taking the decision to not follow through with their potential personal injury claim. This may be for fear of the hassle it would cause, or for fear or what it may cost you financially. Well, I am here to give you reasons why you should take the leap and begin your claim for personal injury compensation.

Claiming can be straight forward and hassle free

With the right firm on board, your claim can be entirely hassle free. Good law firms will have strict service standards in place; these standards should be checked before your decide to proceed with a law firm. Service standards can include regular client updates, such as every 14 days as a minimum, and returning calls and e-mails within a certain time frame; perhaps 24 hours maximum.  These service standards mean you are not chasing your solicitors for updates, and it’s your lawyers that are rightfully doing all the work; being kept ‘out of the loop’ on your case can often be a prime basis of stress for a claimant.
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Many potential claimants out there may be aware that they are entitled to compensation for their injuries – it may be advertising for personal injury claiming that is responsible for that, or just the increased awareness of your right to make a claim. However, many claimants that approach The Injury Lawyers remain unaware of the financial losses they may be entitled to claim as l a result of their accident.

In order to discover what losses you may be entitled to, the simplest question to ask your self is ‘if I had not had the accident, would I be in a better position financially?’ If the answer to this is yes then you should ask yourself why that is – I have set out below a few possible suggestions as to areas of loss you may have incurred due to your accident:

1. Loss of earnings – if you have been absent from work as a result of your accident, and been on reduced pay or been left unpaid, then you may have a claim for lost earnings.  Your loss of earnings claim is calculated from an average of 13 weeks pay slips prior to the date of the accident – so these would need to be kept safe or requested from your employer. If you are self- employed, the average is calculated from 3 years profit and loss accounts.

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When you’re in charge of around 10 tonnes worth of metal, seats, and engine, you’d like to think that the driver of the bus you’re in has the passenger’s health and safety at the forefront of their mind. Sadly, this is not always the case.

I am in no way slating all bus drivers – but even when I was learning to drive I was warned about taking extra care around them as the drivers can, on occasions, be a little unpredictable. In all honesty, we have taken on a huge number of claims involving buses that we have successfully won thousands of pounds in compensation for our clients.

So – did it come as any surprise when I myself ended up in a bus incident? Not particularly…
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Having an accident at work can be a traumatic event – especially when it was not your fault.  You may feel that you are entitled to bring a claim for compensation, but you are reluctant as you do not know what the reactions of the more senior colleagues at work would be. Well, this is why we are here to act on your behalf – and it should be borne in mind that employers should have insurance in place to deal with matters such as these.

Employers should also be appreciative that a matter of health and safety has been brought to their attention, giving them the chance to rectify it and so avoiding further accidents in the future.

Employers do have a duty to protect their employees from risks to their health and safety. Employers should take all reasonable steps to ensure compliance with strict health and safety standards. So, if you have had an accident at work that was not your fault, you may be entitled to compensation.
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Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE as it is more informally known, is equipment which you should wear or use to protect you from risks to your health and safety at work. PPE should only be used as a last resort where no other methods could protect you – for example, employers should not use PPE as a cheaper option in place of another method of safety which may protect you better.

There are strict regulations surrounding PPE in the workplace. Employers should not ask employees for payment for the PPE, or even for any contribution at all – the employer should cover the cost of the PPE in full.

PPE is an umbrella term which can cover a whole host of equipment ranging from safety goggles, to respirators, to safety boots. PPE not only protects from those one off accidents, such as a laceration to the finger, but it can also protect from long term risks to health which can build up over time and potentially cause life threatening diseases – an example of this would be respirators to prevent conditions such as asbestosis.  This serves to highlight the importance of PPE around the workplace.
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The Evening Gazette has reported that a lady from Redcar has received £6,000 in compensation having almost been killed in a road traffic accident when her car was negligently hit by an ambulance car at a speed of over 50mph.  In a recent court case, the North East Ambulance Service was found vicariously liable for their employee ambulance car driver’s negligence in colliding with Ms Lake’s car. 

It was heard that the ambulance car driver incorrectly thought that Ms Lake was going to pull in to the left hand side so as to allow the ambulance car to pass; this was despite Ms Lake’s indicating right.  As a result, the ambulance car ran into Ms Lake’s vehicle, causing her to sustain injuries to her back, and leaving her suffering from anxiety attacks.

Making the situation worse, Ms Lake’s daughter witnessed the whole episode.  She states that she thought that her mother had been ‘killed in front of her eyes’ having seen the ambulance car drive into her mum’s car.  Ms Lake had been making the car journey to pick her daughter up from work and her daughter witnessed the accident as she stood in the background.  All in all it would seem that Ms Lake had a lucky escape as she herself recognises, telling the Evening Gazette, ‘The car hit mine inches from the driver’s door and all the front of the car was wiped out and was halfway down the road.  If it had hit me, there’s no way I would have survived that at more than 50 miles per hour’.
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Prior to April 2010, if you had been involved in a road traffic accident and you were pursuing a claim for compensation, the other side were allowed a period of 21 days to acknowledge your claim, and a further three months in which to investigate it. 

What this meant was that a straightforward low value road traffic accident could potentially take 9 months or more, when in truth, it could be resolved far sooner – possibly within a month to 6 months.  The Ministry of Justice acknowledged this, and in April 2010, introduced a new system to deal with low value road traffic accident claims with a value below £10,000.  The new protocol means that the negligent third party’s insurer must now admit or deny liability within 15 days of you making your claim – once the final claim pack is submitted to the insurers, a period up to 35 days is the normal amount allowed for the claim to be settled.  Ultimately, claims that were taking up to 9 months to finalise can now be settled in around four to six.

A year on from the inception of this new protocol for low value personal injury claims, it has become apparent to us at The Injury Lawyers that we are seeing earlier admissions of liability and we have been able to settle our clients claims much more swiftly.  So, if you have been involved in a road traffic accident, this should be encouragement enough should you be having any doubts about making a claim for compensation.  Here is a brief guide to the process.
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Whiplash can be an extremely painful and frustrating condition. Sufferers can also have a lack of understanding from others – this may be due to the fact the condition is not so plain to see as a head injury or a broken bone. At The Injury Lawyers, however, our approach is entirely different as we talk to many of our clients on a daily basis and hear how the condition is affecting all areas of their life.

Whiplash is caused by a sudden jolting to the head, which causes the neck to move beyond its normal range – thus damaging tendons, nerves and/or muscles in the area.  We most commonly see whiplash injuries as a result of road traffic accidents; however, it can also be caused by falls, especially those from a height.

Symptoms
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The Exeter Express & Echo has reported that a 54 year old employee of the Dolphin Fish Bar in Exeter has been injured whilst at work having slipped on some oil which had seeped out of the container it was in.  The unfortunate victim, Ms Susan Risk, suffered burns to 20% of her body.  As a result of the accident, the owner of the fish and chip shop, Ding Choy Yau, was fined £10,000 having been found to be in breach of health and safety regulations that are in place to stop this kind of accident from happening. 

It was found at court that the container holding the oil was not fit for purpose, and that Ms Risk had not been provided with any training, as is required by law, so that she knew how to properly handle emptying the oil from the fryer.  Furthermore, it was found that the Dolphin Fish Bar had failed to provide Ms Risk with work equipment and clothing for the role – again something employers are required to provide by law.

It is important and well worth knowing that your employer is under several strict legal duties to ensure that when you go to work you are fully and properly prepared for any tasks you are required to carry out.  This means that you must be fully trained in your tasks and that you must be supplied with the right work equipment where necessary.  Your employer is also required to ensure you work environment is safe.  This means carrying out risk assessments and making sure that any defects highlighted are remedied as soon as possible.
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