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The economic climate does have an impact on compensation claims and this area has been covered in the news on many occasions. Some say that work accident compensation claims are becoming more frequent due to the economic climate.

The argument is that, as businesses look for bigger profits, they will often leave their employees with greater exposure to health and safety risks. Another point is that people may be more inclined to bring a claim for compensation if they sustain injury. If the economy was better and people were more content with the money they were earning, it could be said that they would be less likely to bring a compensation claim.

Obviously if you sustain injury at work for example, then it is your right to bring a compensation claim. Whether you exercise the right to claim is entirely a personal choice.
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Being involved in any road traffic accident can cause stress, anger and inconvenience no matter how minor the accident may be. But being involved in an accident with a stolen uninsured vehicle makes the situation even worse.

I imagine being involved in a collision with a stolen vehicle is not a pleasant experience for anyone. There is the constant worry and concern about what you will do. Well to put your mind at rest, there is still action that you can take if you have been involved in a collision with a stolen uninsured vehicle.
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The New Roads & Street Works Act 1991, which came into force on the 1^st January 1993, stipulates that the street authorities (i.e. usually the local council) are to co-ordinate all works in the highway.

The objectives of the Act (or law) is to ensure safety, to minimise the inconvenience to people using the highway (including a specific reference to people with a disability) and to protect the structure of the highway and apparatus in it.

Anyone carrying out street works must carry out the work in accordance with the Act. People carrying out work are referred to as “undertakers” in the Act. Undertakers must comply with the Safety at street works and road works code of practice (more commonly known as the red book).
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Supermarkets can be dangerous places – so it would seem by the number of personal injury claims brought as a result of accidents in supermarkets. Not wanting to put people off going to the supermarket, accidents can happen anywhere at any place or time – not just in supermarkets.

Due to the number of people in a supermarkets and the number of potential hazards, accidents are bound to happen on occasion. So what type of accidents can happen in a supermarket?

The most obvious type of accident in a supermarket is when people slip on something that has been left on the floor. Perhaps something has been spilt on the floor such as a liquid drink or some other product which causes a slipping hazard for unsuspecting shoppers. Obviously as soon as a spill occurs the store should bring people’s attention to the hazard, by erecting a wet floor sign for example. However if no wet floor sign is erected then it is likely that shoppers are not aware of the hazard and in this scenario it could be difficult for the store to escape liability if they can prove their systems of inspection are up to standards.
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Manual handling is lifting, lowering, filling, emptying or carrying loads. Manual handling covers carrying a person, an animal or an object. It can be said that most manufacturing or distribution works require a certain amount of manual handling. An element of manual handling probably cannot be avoided in some jobs. Some may not want a machine or automated system to carry things for us, as this could be another way of machinery taking over people’s jobs.

The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 set out the measures which must be taken to reduce the risks associated with manual lifting and carrying while at work. A vast amount of accidents are associated with manual handling, although fatal manual handling accidents are rare. However serious injuries can and do happen in relation to manual handling.

The Regulations mean that employers must, whenever possible, avoid the need for employees to undertake manual handling operations. Obviously this is not possible in each and every job and if you are required to undertake manual handling duties then your employer should undertake risk assessments. Risk assessments involve a review of the whole process, for example could the work be done differently, what measures could be taken.
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SSP stands for Statutory Sick Pay. If you have been injured at work for example, then you may be entitled to make a personal injury claim. Depending on your contract with your employer, you may be entitled to full pay if you are off work as a result of your injuries.

Alternatively you may be eligible for part pay or you may not be eligible for pay at all. SSP is a payment made to many employees if their employer does not have a sick pay scheme, subject to certain criteria; however it does not provide the same amount of income as an employee’s normal wage.

When you make a personal injury claim, you can claim General Damages which covers your injury and you can claim Special Damages which covers, among other things, loss of earnings. The only difficulty is that most heads of claim are settled at the end of a claim, so if you are out of work with no income, then it can be some time later when you eventually recover your lost earnings. Interim payments (payments made to you before the conclusion of your claim) can be made to cover bills and other immediate losses or difficulties (however there is never a guarantee that the other side will agree to an interim payment).
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The festive season is fast approaching and while it is a magical time of year full of mince pies, presents and the Queen’s speech, it is also statistically the worst time of year for drink driving.

Unfortunately when we have had a bit to drink bad ideas can seem a lot more appealing. While we can all say now that we would never under any circumstances get in the car with someone that has had a drink, it may be a different story at closing time in the freezing cold when you can’t get a taxi.
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If you have sustained injury at work within the last 3 years then you may be entitled to make a claim for compensation.

If you sustained an injury in terms of an industrial disease, then you may be able to claim notwithstanding the 3 year rule. If you have sustained an injury at work then you should contact a Solicitor as soon as possible to see if you have a claim. In terms of general workplace accidents there is normally a 3 year limitation period in which you must issue Court Proceedings or settle your claim within 3 years of the date of the accident; otherwise you may lose your right to claim compensation.

In some cases such as for industrial diseases (for example vibration white finger and industrial deafness) the limitation period is somewhat different as, at the time, you may not have been aware that you sustained injury. A good example is with deafness; at the time of exposure to loud noise you may not notice a hearing deficiency, but later in life you may find that your hearing is not as good as it should be. In this scenario your hearing has been damaged by noise exposure and has meant that you experience hearing difficulties in advance of when otherwise expected.
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In law, if a claim is made on behalf of a minor, then such a claim is normally made through a litigation friend which would often be a parent or carer. Obviously a minor cannot bring a claim themselves and therefore a litigation friend acts for them in their best interests. Obviously you would expect parents to act in their child’s best interests but if, for whatever reason, this was not the case then a professional person could be appointed as the litigation friend.

When a case is brought on behalf of a minor, when it comes to settlement, normally the settlement is made subject to approval by the Court. This is because the Court has to make sure that the settlement figure is reasonable and fair in respect of the Claimant’s (the child’s) injuries. This is known as Infant Approval Hearing.
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Chances are that every day you will pick something up and move it from one place to another – for some people it might be something as simple and as stress free as a TV remote or a coffee mug, but for others a large part of their working life involves moving objects of various shapes and weights from one place to another.

If you are one of these people that have to deal with heavy or unusual objects as a part of your job then you will no doubt be aware that every time you lift a heavy item you are risking injury to some very important parts of your body.

The most common injuries involved in lifting accidents are injuries to the back but that doesn’t meant that other parts of the body cannot be affected and injuries to hands, the arms, your neck and your torso could all be related to the heavy objects that you have to lift at work. You can easily stretch or tear any number of muscles or ligaments and tendons when moving something.
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