Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE as it is known for short, is equipment provided by your employer to protect you against risks to your health and safety. It should be of note however that they should not give you PPE in place of doing something else better to protect you, but maybe more expensive to do –  PPE should be used as a last resort where there is no other way to protect the employee.

PPE can come in many forms, shapes and sizes – it may include safety gloves, safety boots, respirators, and safety goggles, depending on the risk to the employee. Employers have a duty to provide this equipment – this duty is encapsulated in regulations within the UK. Employers should not ask you to pay for your PPE or to make any contribution for it at all.

The duties placed on employers goes even further. It is no good an employer giving you PPE and not showing you how to use it – employers should issue proper instruction and training on the use of the PPE. They should also ensure that the PPE is properly maintained and stored so the PPE offers you the fullest protection it can. Employers may have policies and regular check systems in place to ensure that their duties are fully complied with.
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Many people today are aware that they are entitled to claim compensation for injuries that occurred as a result of an accident. What they may not be aware of is that there is also a claim for financial losses that have been suffered as a result of their accident. These losses in some cases can be fairly substantial and form a large part of a client’s claim.

A good personal injury lawyer will advise you of your potential claimable losses from the outset of your case. This is to ensure that you keep all necessary documentation in support of your losses claim in a safe place – this documentation can vary from receipts, to wage slips. Once all your losses are compiled, they are gathered in a document known as a Schedule of Loss, or a Schedule of Special Damages. This document is then later disclosed to the other side in order to invite offers form settlement.

I have listed some of the main items of loss that we commonly claim for as part of the claims process:
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Vibration White Finger is a condition known in the legal world as an industrial disease. This means that a person has incurred an injury as a result of prolonged activity at work over an amount of time. Vibration White Finger is a condition experienced by workers who have have a high degree of exposure to machinery which vibrates; such as drills, or chainsaws.

Vibration White Finger is also known as Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome as we now have more knowledge on the range of symptoms it may cause. Sufferers may not only get the so-called ‘white finger’ but could also experience tingling or numbness in the fingers and/or a general aching sensation which could extend through the fingers and up through the arms.  In more serious cases, it has also been reported that sufferers have lost all feeling in their fingers and even up through their hands.
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If you have been involved in a road traffic accident and you have sustained an injury due to a negligent driver that either drove off or has no insurance, you are still able to make a claim for compensation. The usual rule of thumb is that you are able to pursue the negligent drivers’ insurance company for your compensation.  If they drive away from the scene or turn out to have no insurance, they are not able to just ‘get away with it’.  If you have been injured as a result of a road traffic accident and the other driver is not insured or has driven off, you CAN still make a claim for compensation.  This is because of an organisation called the Motor Insurers’ Bureau.  By making a claim for compensation through them, you can obtain the compensation you would have been awarded had the negligent driver stuck around or had insurance.

In 1946, the Motor Insurers’ Bureau, or ‘MIB’ for short, was set up ‘to compensate the victims of negligent uninsured [and untraced]…motorists’.  The Road Traffic Act 1988 stipulates that each and every motor insurance company must make a contribution to the MIB to fund your potential claims for compensation.  In reality, what this means is that around £15-30 of your insurance premium will go towards funding the compensation fund of the MIB.  This is why you can still obtain compensation if the negligent driver is uninsured or untraced.  This is only right.  It simply cannot be the case that because of their illegal and immoral actions that you are left to fend for yourself.  The MIB has helped a significant number of motorists injured by negligent drivers.  In 2008, the MIB settled 64,000 claims.

It is also worth noting that where the negligent driver’s vehicle is foreign registered, a claim for compensation can similarly be made through the MIB’s Green Card system.
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There is little doubt that we have just faced one of the toughest winters in a long while.  Temperatures were lower than normal and the amount of snow we had was far greater than previous years.  As many of you reading this may well remember, Britain almost closed down for a couple of days at the end of November / start of December due to the severity of the weather conditions.  It was simply either impossible to get to work, or too dangerous to do so.  It was not only businesses that suffered, our roads also suffered from the after effects of these weather conditions.  Water filled into the cracks in our roads and then froze due to the cold temperatures.  What this meant was that when the weather conditions began to improve, the ice began to thaw, and the cracks it had left behind made themselves apparent. Thus – many potholes were born! And it does not appear that we have heard the end of this either.

Your local council is responsible for maintaining their highways.  They owe you a duty of care as a highway user, whether you are a pedestrian or a motorist, to ensure that the roads and pathways are safe to use.  What this has meant is that your councils have faced an uphill struggle to maintain their roads having seen the many number of potholes that have been formed.  Your council has to routinely inspect your roads – say, every three to six months – and where problems are highlighted they have to fix them.  Because of the huge amount of potholes that have cropped up, councils across England have faced a hefty maintenance bill.  In fact, the money spent is so high that the government has had to provide another £100million to help fix the potholes.

At The Injury Lawyers, we are only too aware of the perils of the pothole.  Every week we hear of people who have either damaged their vehicles or injured themselves because of a pothole.  It may be that they have not noticed the pothole, walked into it, and ended up breaking their ankle.  At The Injury Lawyers, because of our years of experience in dealing with pothole claims, we are able to advise people who have sustained an injury as a result of coming into contact with a pothole.
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Supermarkets tend to receive much praise but also much criticism. People tend to praise the supermarkets for their range of products and choice, the number of discounts, and also the fact that you can get everything they need under one roof. However, there are always the critics – with supermarkets, their comments can be anything from the length of the queues to taking away trade away from small, independent businesses. Whatever your thoughts on supermarkets, I can anticipate it is the last thing on your mind that you will have an accident in one that was not your fault.

Supermarkets, like everywhere else, have a duty of care to their customers. They have a duty to, as far as is reasonably possible, to minimise risks to customers’ health and safety. In doing so they must also abide by strict health and safety guidelines.

There are many potential risks in a supermarket – risks that have become real life accidents to many clients here at The Injury lawyers. These risks include slipping on a spillage that was negligently left uncleaned and unattended, tripping over an item left in the walkway of a shopping aisle, or having an item fall from a poorly stacked shelf – all causing you injury.
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Many clients that approach The Injury Lawyers know that they may be entitled to compensation. This may be due to a heightened exposure for personal injury claiming through advertisements and marketing ploys. This being said, many clients do not know the time scales and processes involved in a >personal injury claim, and many are reluctant to begin a claim without this understanding. This blog, therefore, aims to set out a brief overview of the system.

Many of the clients that have claims at The Injury Lawyers do so under the Pre-action Protocol for Personal Injury. This protocol dictates how many types of personal injury claims should be dealt with. In order to comply with this protocol, a Letter of Claim should be produced by your lawyer – this sets out all the circumstance of your accident, and the negligence involved on the part of the Defendant.
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This is a common question I am asked by new clients I have provided advice to after they have confirmed they are happy for us to deal with their claims. In all honesty, it’s a difficult question to answer.

There is somewhat of a misconception amongst people that all claims go to court. This isn’t the case – in fact, most claims don’t get anywhere near court. So, never be put off from claiming because you are worried about having to stand up in court and give evidence in front of a judge and a jury.
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With busier roads and people having busier lives, it seems that maybe the necessary care and attention needed to travel safely is not always being utilised – this can easily lead to road traffic accidents. At The Injury Lawyers, personal injury claims stemming from road traffic accidents are one of our more common types of claims. An increase in claims has led there to be a change in the system that deals with road traffic accidents that occurred after 30^th April 2010 and are between a value of £1,000 and £10,000. This system makes the process of claiming faster, simpler, and more stream-lined – this can only be good news for you as it means you get answers, and your compensation payout, quicker.

What to do after a road traffic accident?

We realise that it can be difficult after having suffered the trauma of an accident to have your wits about you enough to remember to do certain things. In case you do, here are a few things that may strengthen a personal injury claim:
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How long’s a piece of string? The answer is actually twice the length from the middle (for the string); but the answer as to how long your claim will take is actually a very difficult question to answer.

I appreciate that you probably want a better response – well, I can certainly give you some guidelines that should provide you with an idea as to how long your claim may take; it’s all dependant on a number of factors.
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