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Our society relies quite heavily on oil production, but it can be a dangerous industry for employees. There are a great number of day to day risks for oil workers whether it be cleaning up oil spills or working around refinement machinery. It is not actually oil itself that is the main danger it is more the environment in which oil workers work in, such as an offshore oil rig.
The machinery used to try and refine the oil can be dangerous. An oil rig is a dangerous place to be. Cleaning up oil spills can be dangerous as people could be exposed to toxins in the air and many of the dispersants used to clean up oil can be dangerous to humans. When used correctly dispersants can be an effect method of response to an oil spill. Dispersants are capable of removing large amounts of certain oil types from the sea, but that is a science in itself for which the details are quite technical.
Dispersants pose a risk to the health of humans as well as to the life of animals including fish, birds etc. One of the dispersants used at the BP oil spill was Corexit 9527A which contains the toxin 2 Butoxyethanol which can cause injury to red blood cells, kidney or the liver with repeated or excessive exposure. Past exposure to Corexit 9527A has led to health problems including blood in the urine and kidney/liver disorders. Unsurprisingly this has led to compensation claims.
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If you work in a commercial kitchen environment then you may be well aware of the dangers. There are dangers in the kitchen at home but in a commercial environment the risks are likely to be greater.
First of all, the risks in a commercial kitchen are likely to be greater due to the equipment and the scale or size of it. Knives for example are likely to be bigger and sharper in a commercial environment; ovens are likely to be bigger and hotter, there are likely to be numerous people in the kitchen meaning that people may bang into each other. At busy times people are likely to be rushing and this is another factor. These are just some of the reasons why a commercial kitchen may be more dangerous than a residential kitchen.
Knives are one of the most obvious dangers that could cause injury. However heat is another danger from ovens, deep fat fryers, boiling water etc. Burn injuries are common in the kitchen as are cuts and slices of the skin. Kitchen equipment can cause severe injuries. Only recently I was working on a case where the Claimant was burnt from boiling water from a large industrial kettle. Everything in a commercial kitchen is bigger and more powerful and the risk of serious injury is increased.
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Some people like them and others hate them; whatever we think, elevators can be a genuine cause of injuries and compensation claims.
I have to admit that elevators in a building containing numerous floors can be handy.
Imagine a multi story building without elevators. We would all have to take the old fashioned route of walking – how would we ever cope with that? Some people may enjoy the exercise but others would not. Perhaps for many workers who work on the top floor of a multi story building time is of the essence. Taking an elevator to the top floor would certainly save time as opposed to walking up flights of stairs. And of course we have to consider elderly and disabled people, people with prams etc. Taking it all into account, elevators are necessary.
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Slipped On A Wet Floor Injury Claims
Slipping on a wet floor may seem to some people like a sketch from a slap-stick comedy film but for those people who have ever had the misfortune to be the victim of a fall on a wet floor, it is not a source of humour. In fact the instances where accidents of this type happen can be the cause of a lot more than embarrassment or bruised ego and can cause serious injuries.
If you are the visitor to a public place then the owners of the building in which you are visiting have certain responsibilities to keep you safe from harm under the Occupiers Liability Act. This includes not exposing you to the danger of being harmed – a good example of this danger would be a wet tiled floor on which you could slip and fall.
The Occupiers Liability Act says that building owners have to take proper measures to protect you from these risks – in the case of a dangerously wet floor you should expect to find warning signs, cones, cordons or other means designed to stop you walking across the surface of the floor until it was dry and safe to do so. Although a claim may be more difficult to progress if these measures were in place the fact that a sign was put up would not necessarily prevent you from claiming if for some reason it was not clearly visible to you or there was more that should have been done. In any event if you feel that the measures taken to protect your safety were not adequate you should contact The Injury Lawyers for expert personal injury advice.
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Can I Claim Compensation if There Was a Wet Floor Sign?
This is indeed a very important but tricky question. It is often best explained in the form of a scenario. Say for example you are in your local supermarket stocking up on those essential goods and you are unfortunate enough to slip on a wet floor.
Now, if there is a clearly visible wet floor sign in place which you should have seen, then it could be difficult to claim compensation for any injuries that you sustained. However, every case is unique and studied on its own facts. Say for example a wet floor sign was erected and was clearly visible but you failed to notice it because you were looking down at your mobile phone as you were walking. In this situation a Court would probably say that the store took all necessary precautions to warn you of the hazard and therefore there was no potentially negligence.
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Had a Fall? Make Sure You Get 100% Compensation!
A fall can occur in many different ways. So how can we ensure when you have suffered injury from a fall that you get not only 100% of your compensation, but also the best amount of compensation?
Slipping and Falling
When you have fallen after slipping on something, you can of course sustain serious injuries. These types of cases are commonly covered by the Occupier’s Liability Act when they occur inside a public place. Under this, owners of premises are required to take reasonable steps to prevent this type of accident occurring. So for example; if you fall on some spilt liquid in a supermarket, the supermarket would have to prove that they have taken reasonable steps to prevent this from happening. This usually comes in the form of an inspection regime that can be proven through a signed sheet of paper confirming when the area has been cleaned last.
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Holes in the Ground Manhole Cover Claims
The whole purpose of manhole covers is to allow access to something below the ground but also to keep the area safe when access is not required. Basically, it stops there being a big hole in the middle of the street, which of course is not going to end well if you walk in to it!
However, some manhole covers can be extremely old and as many are made from metal, over the years, they have rusted and become unstable and consequently lead to serious injuries.
There are three main types of accidents that are caused by manhole covers:
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Highways Act Claims Does Size Matter?
Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 places a duty on the local authority to maintain the highway. The effect of this, is that councils and local authorities, have a duty to keep public highways in a reasonable state of repair and free from dangerous defects. If the local authority fails in their duty and a member of the public is injured as a result, then that injured party may be able to bring a claim.
The cost of maintaining the highway is paid for out of the public purse, and therefore the local authority only have finite resources each year to pay for the reparation of defects that occur. Indeed, these restrictions were acknowledged in the case of Mills and Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council 1992 where the Court of Appeal opined that…
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How Long Should it Take for an Insurance Company to Reply to an Accident Claim?
It is a question that many people want to know and a question which we are asked time and time again. In terms of how long a claim will take from us taking it on to you receiving a settlement cheque, it is always difficult to say as it depends on a number of factors.
We as a firm pride ourselves on being efficient; we move cases forward as quickly as possible. However, to an extent we do rely on others such as insurance companies, the courts, medical experts etc.
A claim is likely to go through quicker if liability is not an issue and if the symptoms are relatively minor so only one medical report is required. However every case is different and at the outset any time frames given by any Solicitor would be effectively a guess.
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Injured After An Accident on Stairs
We’ve all had those moments where we’ve been walking down the stairs and had a wobble; if we’re lucky we manage to save ourselves or if we do fall it is only a couple of stairs and the damage is limited to a temporary knock of our confidence. However, for all the people that don’t fall, there are plenty that do!
Statistics say you are most likely to have an accident on the stairs in your own home but there are many stair based accidents in the workplace as well. In fact there is a league table of the worst performing industries in terms of this type of accident with: Service/Hospitality, Manufacture and Construction being the three worst offenders.
This is not surprising when you think that these are the industries most likely to involve carrying heavy, bulky or hazardous items up and down stairways. Of course it could be the case that you are not at work and have a fall, for example if you were in the library or the bank.
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