Understanding the Difference Between an Accident and Negligence.
There is very often confusion between whether an injury has been sustained as a result of an accident or of negligence, which somewhat determines whether or not a personal injury claim can be pursued. In order for some one to have been negligent, such as an employer, a health and safety law must have been breached. However, health and safety law can be difficult to define due to recent press coverage. Headlines are commonly misleading, telling us how Britain is a ‘safety first culture’, and lead to a variety of rumours circulating amongst the public and businesses alike.
This can lead to confusion when an injured person is deciding if their accident was, indeed, an accident, or whether it was caused by someone else not keeping up with standards. To try and clear some of this up we have checked out some of the most popular disbeliefs on the Health and Safety Executive website to help you understand where some of these misinterpretations have come from.
‘Hanging Baskets Banned’, this rumour circulated after some hanging basket were taken down whilst lamppost were checked for stability, they were replaced again straight after checks had finished.
‘Traditional Fireman’s Poles Scrapped’, poles have not been ‘scrapped’ at all, some fire stations recently built have chosen not to include them in the design simply due to space restrictions.
‘Teachers Not Allowed To Apply Plasters!’, there is no reason at all why teachers or careers can not apply plasters to children. This came about after concerns for schools that some children may be allergic to plasters, in which case hypo-allergic plasters can be used.
‘Conkers Deemed Too Dangerous In Schools’, a game of conkers has not been banned in schools, this myth circulated after a head teacher ruled that children must wear goggles to play conkers, and after two other schools become concerned about nut allergies. As the HSE say, ‘If kids deliberately hit each other over the head with conkers, that’s a discipline issue, not health and safety’.
We hope this has cleared a few things up regarding health and safety.