Pleasure Beach Not So Enjoyable for Rollercoaster Victims

Blackpool Pleasure Beach is normally associated with fun and good times. Indeed, it is recognised as Britain’s top tourist attraction, attracting nearly six million visitors a year. However, it wasn’t so much fun for some visitors on Tuesday evening.  Over 30 people suffered injuries after a collision on one of the theme park’s most famous rollercoaster rides, the Big Dipper. According to the BBC website, one of the carriages became jammed on the rails and as a direct consequence of this the second carriage, which had continued as normal, slammed into the back of the first carriage.
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Four Taken to Hospital after Possible Carbon Monoxide Leak

Four people have been taken to hospital following what police suspect to be a carbon monoxide leak. The Nationwide Building Society in Bushbury, Wolverhampton was evacuated after the people became ill around midday. In addition to the four people taken to hospital, a further two people made their own way there.

Early investigations in to what caused the onrush of ill customers has been inconclusive.  According to the BBC, the branch have been given the all clear and will reopen on Wednesday and a spokeswoman for Nationwide confirmed  that there was “no evidence of any gas leaking in to the branch,  or any other environmental issues at the branch.”
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30 Stitches for Woman Bitten by Dog

A woman has suffered a horrific facial injury after being attacked by a Staffordshire bull terrier. The 47 year old woman had to have 30 stitches to deal with the wounds she suffered. According to the BBC website, the woman was attacked whilst standing at the door of a tenant’s residence while undertaking her job as a housing officer. She has been left with scars and is now said to be a lot more wary around animals and due to her injuries she had to take five weeks off work.
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Lasers Take Shine Off CAA Statistic

The Civil Aviation Authority has expressed considerable concern over the number of incidents involving laser torches being shone at aircrafts. According to their figures, The CAA claims that the number of incidents involving lasers rose from 29 in 2007 to 206 in 2008. The question to be asked is why does this cause a problem?

Apparently if a beam is shone directly in to a cockpit, the thousands of scratches on a windshield mean that the concentration of light is refracted, temporarily blinding pilots by causing windshields to light up.
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Chip Shop Food Poisoning Scare – Young Girl in Hospital

A young mother and young girl are amongst those to have suffered E coli poisoning from a takeaway in Wrexham. Abigail Hussey, aged 3, suffered kidney failure as a result of the bug and needed kidney dialysis, although she is believed to be recovering according to her parents The other victim, Karen Morrisroe-Clutton, also suffered kidney failure but remains in a medically induced coma in Wrexham Maelor hospital.
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Apple Move to Hush Up Exploding iPods

Apple have been accused of trying to cover up problems with their iPod product, attempting to silence a father and his daughter with a gagging order after the iPod exploded and the two sought a refund for the faulty product. According to The Times, Ken Stanborough, 47, from Liverpool dropped his daughter’s iPod, causing it to start to hiss. After the iPod began to become hot he threw it out of the backdoor and allegedly “within 30 seconds there was a pop, a big puff of smoke and it went 10ft in the air”.
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Baby P Reforms Not Providing Adequate Protection

Lessons have yet to be learned from the Baby P case, with a number of children murdered or abused since the death two years ago, according to research conducted by The Observer. Baby P, later revealed as Peter, was on Haringey’s child protection register and, despite numerous visits to his home by social services, doctors and police, died in August 2007 aged 17 months with 50 injuries.
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Smells Like an Injury Claim: Perfume Leaves 34 in Hospital

As many as thirty four people have been taken to hospital in America and many more suffered from sickness after suffering an adverse reaction to a particularly strong perfume. According to the BBC website, after the perfume was sprayed by a woman in a bank in Texas, two of the employees at the bank initially complained of sickness, saying they were feeling chest pains and headaches.

The bank, displaying regard for the health of its customers, announced over the PA system that anyone feeling these symptoms should leave the building, prompting 150 people to vacate the premises.
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Lifting Equipment and Injuries at Work!

Lifting injuries are such common place at work that they are covered by there very own Regulations. These are called, The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 – better known as ‘LOLER’. First of all, let me explain what is meant by the term ‘lifting equipment’?

LOLER defines the term as meaning ‘work equipment for lifting or lowering loads and includes its attachments used for anchoring, fixing or supporting it’.

What Regulations does LOLER impose on my Employer?
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Computer Screens and Work Claims

Computers have been commonplace at the workplace for years now and the regulations that cover the screens to protect you are called The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992

These regulations are one of the few which are specifically targeted at a particular type of equipment and a particular activity – that’s your computer screen and the way in which you use it!

So what should your Employer be considering when there is extended use of computer screens in the workplace? In broad terms, the following points should be considered by an Employer:
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