A recent case heard at the end of 2009 has ruled that by accepting ownership of land you owe a duty of care to the visitor of the land under the Occupiers Liability Act 1957.

The case of Jonathan Harvey v Plymouth City Council (2009) concerned the Claimant (Harvey) whom sustained serious injuries after falling on the Defendant’s property and falling some 5 1/2 metres. The Claimant had been out drinking with his friends when they ran on to the Defendant’s land. The Claimant fell over some broken fencing causing him to fall down in to the car park of a Tesco’s supermarket. The Claimant was left with serious brain injuries.

The local authority argued that they did not know that the property was owned by them at the time of the accident and therefore could not have taken reasonable steps to ensure that the land was reasonably safe. It is understood that some 8 years before Mr Harveys accident the Tesco’s supermarket had licensed the land from the local authority for a period of 2 years. After the expiry of this 2 years period the local authority (the Defendant’s to this claim) did not take any steps to inspect or maintain the land (although they did mow the nearby grass verge).
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Injuring ourselves can be quite an easy thing to do – there is a lot out there we can cut and bruise ourselves on! And of course when the injury is through no fault of our own, then a claim for compensation can be brought against the person or company deemed responsible for the incident.

But what exactly does this cover? Well, to be honest, it can cover absolutely anything we injure ourselves on! I would never have thought a simple zip could be the cause of an injury to a young child’s face, but according to sources from the Daily Mail (source), it certainly can…
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A woman died in a London health club when a lift that she was exiting suddenly fell and stopped between 2 floors, dragging her between the wall and the side of the lift. The woman was freed by the fire crew and rushed to hospital however she later died from her injuries.

The BBC reports that Mrs Katarzyna Woja was killed in the accident which happened in 2003 and the trial was due to begin on 09/03/10 at Southwark Crown Court. However, the company responsible for the maintenance of the lift, Thyssenkrupp Elavator UK, have now pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that people not in their employment were not exposed to safety risks, failing to maintain the lift properly in accordance with their obligations and failing to adequately investigate the cause of previous failures; offences which fall under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
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When you choose to eat out at a restaurant you expect a certain level of service, if this service isn’t provided it can often be quite annoying and unpleasant. You would also expect the food to be cooked properly and the presentation and maintenance of the restaurant to be of a satisfactory standard.

If you have ever been involved in an accident or were injured or harmed when eating at a restaurant, it might be worth considering making a claim for compensation.  For example, if you became ill after eating food that wasn’t prepared correctly you may have a potential claim for compensation. If you fell over due to the negligence of staff i.e. you slipped on the floor due to spilt water or you tripped over some unattended items, again, you may have a claim for compensation.
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Each year many children are treated in hospitals for many accidents, often as a result of the child’s immaturity, boisterous or reckless behaviour. Most of the time, no one can be held accountable for the accident other than the child themselves. Sometimes however, if preventative measures were in place, the accident may have been less likely to happen.

Children are very vulnerable and the law recognises this, placing their safety and well being in the hands of adults. If your child has been involved in an accident as a result of a negligent person, your child might have a claim for compensation; depending on the circumstances of course.  Children under the age of 18 will have to be represented by an adult. If you are unsure as to whether your child has a claim for compensation, it’s always worth investigating it with a specialist injury lawyer.
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The Sale of Goods and Services Act 1982 – it’s an important piece of legislation there to protect us against dodgy deals and faulty products; and the regulations involved are ones that all manufacturers and providers of goods and services must abide by. Failing to do so can leave them liable for any suffering caused by their negligence in failing to adhere to the regulations to a sufficient standard.

Now I myself have had bad experiences in the past of poor services and inadequate products sold to me, and I am certain that the majority of you reading this have as well! In fact, we at The Injury Lawyers have been at the mercy of our telecommunications providers who have provided a far less than satisfactory service to us with countless errors over the past few months; and you’d think with them being probably the biggest British provider that they would provide the best service in the country!
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At some point or another we have all bought something that ends up not working, but perhaps not so many of us have bought a product that ends up being a hazard to the user. It can come as quite a shock, especially if your harmed by something you have only just bought.

 It’s quite clear cut when it comes to the law’s governing the sale of products; The Sale of Goods act 1939 determines that the goods must be safe and they must fit the description given for the product. They must also be of satisfactory quality and fit the purpose intended. If the product requires assembling or installing, the customer must be supplied with adequate instructions. If you receive a demonstration of the product prior to purchase, the product must also fit that demonstration. It’s also worth noting that the law states that the fault lies with the retailer and not the manufacturer, even for website based sales.

When you purchase a new product, most of us would expect it to have gone through the necessary checks in order for it to go on sale to the public. This is the case for the majority of products; however there are the odd few instances when products have slipped through the net and in actual fact they are unsafe to be on the shelves for purchase.
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A report prepared by the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) has revealed an alarming number of medical errors occurring in the treatment of children and babies in our hospitals.

In a one year period, the researchers found that over 60,000 children were exposed to clinical mistakes, the majority of which were cases where the patient was administrated with an incorrect dose of medication or where no medication was provided at all. Medication errors are particularly worrying as they can have very grave effects for the patient. The research by the NPSA found that 33 children and 39 babies under one year died following provision of an incorrect dose of medication.

The NPSA have urged drug companies to begin to manufacture medications in child doses as well as adult doses in the hope that fewer administrational errors can be made. When dealing with such a small body mass, a slight increase in medication can cause disastrous consequences. It is therefore extremely important that prescribed doses are checked and checked again.
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The answer…yes (dependent on the circumstances of course!)

To clarify; you wouldn’t be able to claim for the shock or ‘snap’ you feel from the static on your carpet or when you shut your car door now and again. If you had misused a product in an unreasonable manner which had caused the shock to arise then again it is unlikely you will be able to make a claim.

But what if a product you have purchased is faulty and caused you a serious electric shock? What if your apparatus at work is faulty and you have experienced a shock which has resulted in severe injuries?
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So you have been to the hairdressers expecting to come out with brilliant results, and you expect to be fully satisfied. However, something went wrong and you really don’t know what to do about it and you’re a little confused as to why it’s happened. You went into the hairdressers expecting it to be a simple and straightforward process. After all, everyone goes to the hairdressers; surely it’s an easy enough process to have something like your hair dyed when you are in the hands of a “professional”.

Anyone who has happened to suffer in the hands of a hairdresser is far from alone. Hair dressing problems are much more common than people realise and the majority of the time the issues occur as a result of poor techniques or incompetence on the hair dressers part. Hairdressing is a profession that is actually by far under regulated in this country.

The chemicals used for bleaching, straightening, colouring and perming hair all consist of very strong substances, which if used incorrectly can go very wrong indeed – often leading to burns, hair loss and in very severe cases, permanent damage. There are also risks with hair extensions if they are misused leading to semi permanent and even permanent damage. Also, dermatitis through contact is fifteen times higher than the national average.
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