A fire at a factory in the West Midlands may have caused asbestos to be released in to the surrounding environment. The fire occurred at Monty’s Tropical Rags factory and the surrounding roads have been shut in an attempt to prevent any potential spread.

According to the BBC, as many as 200 fire fighters have been tackling the blaze, which was described by onlookers as “massive”.  No casualties have been reported but local residents living near the Hawthorns Trading Estate in Cornwall Road, Smethwick have been urged to shut windows and stay indoors.
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Many of us associate personal injuries with accidents such as road traffic accidents, a slip or trip and work involving manual labour. However, how many of us realize that sitting at our desks in a regular office can have a detrimental effect on our health and cause us some significant injuries?

Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) occurs in approximately 1 in 50 office workers in the UK and it is estimated that nearly 5.5 millions working days were lost due to the condition last year alone!
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A young girl suffered serious injury when she fell over 20 feet in to a concrete- lined storage area in County Durham. According to the BBC, the girl, a teenager who has not been named, suffered neck and spinal injuries in the fall. Firefighters had to use specialist equipment to rescue her from the disused quarry where the accident occurred but fortunately no-one else was hurt in the incident.
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Saved by a Shark! There’s a phrase you don’t hear very often (or ever in my case!) but for Erin McNeill this phrase became true! The young woman had been stopping at a friend’s house when a fire broke out and she suffered serious burns, being admitted in to intensive care for treatment at Glasgow Royal Infirmary. She had suffered severe burns to 40% of her body with fourth degree burns sustained to her right arm.
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If you can establish that another person is liable for an accident which cause you harm/loss, not only will you be able to claim for physical injuries sustained, you will also be able to recover for any psychological harm incurred.
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Say, you have bought a faulty garden chair from your local supermarket and it has broken during use and resulted in you seriously injuring your back. What do you do? What are your rights against the retailer whom you purchased the chair from?

Well, the Sale of Goods Act 1979 is the legislation you need to know and understand in these circumstances.
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The number of uninsured vehicles on the roads has increased again, with the Motor Insurers’ Bureau estimating that over 1.7 million people drove vehicles which did not have cover in 2008. The worst culprit was Greater London, where a staggering 13% of vehicles were found to be uninsured, closely followed by Merseyside 12% and Greater Manchester 10%.

Under section 143 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, it is an offence to use a motor vehicle on a road unless there is a policy of insurance in place, with third party insurance the minimum to be allowed.
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Three British tourists have been killed in a motorcycling accident and another injured in Italy. The crash was a head-on collision with a truck and occurred as they were exiting a tunnel in Mezzolombardo, Trento.

The indication from early investigations seems to indicate that the Brits were on the wrong side of the road when the accident occurred and, as a result, police have indicated that they feel the motorcyclists may not have realised that it was a one way system.
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The coronary care unit in Bristol’s Princess Royal hospital’s new £60million Heart Institute has been closed for six weeks due to an infestation of flies. The specialist ward will hopefully reopen in early October.

Experts have identified that the ward may have been susceptible due to a blocked drain and are continuing to investigate the problem. This is terrible news for patients, with the facility scheduled to treat more than 15,000 people annually, carrying out five operations daily.
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In the vast majority of compensation claims the compensation settlement is full & final! It is therefore important to make sure that all items of claim are in order when you are in a position to settle your claim. A final payment is once and for all, even if you continue to suffer longer then expected or, further injuries come to light after you have settled your claim.
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