When we get up in a morning to go to work in the morning the last thing we want to happen during the day is to come to any danger. We all know that the harsh reality of life is that accidents do happen, and no matter what lengths some employers go to, they simply can’t be avoided.
Yesterday there was a story in the Daily Mail about a man who had lost two brothers due to accidents in the workplace. He lost one of his brothers due to asbestos poisoning a few years ago. Asbestos is a disease that some workers can develop in the work place. It can take over twenty years to show it’s symptoms but when it does they can be deadly. He lost his second brother when someone turned an industrial machine on, that he was inside cleaning.
The death of the first brother was unfortunately unavoidable. Asbestos disease is popular amongst work men, or in fact anyone who works with buildings. Asbestos is a good insulator so was used a lot in houses and buildings that were built in the 1950’s up to the year 2000. So anyone working on a building before the year 2000 is at risk.
However the second death was caused due to the negligence of the company he was working for. In the machine that he was cleaning there was two cut off switches that made it impossible for another colleague to turn the machine on when someone was inside it. However when the brother was cleaning the machine, another colleague went to turn it on. The two cut off switches failed causing his death. The company was ordered to pay out £20,000 for their negligence.
Hopefully the accident above will make the government rethink their decisions about cutting health and safety at work. And remind those who are in charge of industrial companies to check their machinery and make sure everything is in working order.
No matter what your working environment is, you could still be at risk of a health and safety related accident. It is your employers’ job to make sure you are safe in the work place, however if you feel you are lacking training in a certain area then you should not be afraid to speak up.
If you have been involved in an accident at work and it wasn’t your fault then you may be able to make an injury compensation claim. For more information or to speak to a lawyer today then contact the Injury Lawyers.
