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If you have been the victim of a trapping injury in a machine or equipment at work, here is what you need to know about your legal rights under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) 1992. This brought in provisions to ensure the safety of the equipment or machinery which you use at work and ensures that your employer is maintaining it effectively.

How does PUWER protect me at work?

It is not only industrial machinery which can cause accidents as it can be any equipment which is used at work. PUWER is wide in scope and does not only apply to businesses which use certain types of machinery or equipment. It applies to companies, government departments, local councils, charities and even law firms!
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Working in a warehouse or manufacturing environment can often mean a lot of packaging is opened up and storage or work spaces can become cluttered and untidy. Cardboard is a primary culprit for causing slipping accidents; you step on a piece of it and you can easily end up slipping and falling down.

So what are your rights when it comes to making a work injury claim for slipping on cardboard in the workplace?
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What are your rights for making a claim for personal injury compensation if you are hit by a forklift truck at work? Can you sue your employer even if it was caused by the negligence of a colleague?
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Whilst there are a lot of workplace health and safety regulations that people must abide by, companies still cut corners and the volumes of injured employees is still fairly high. We take on and win a huge amount of work accident compensation claims, and sometimes we cannot believe that the employer has allowed this to happen.

A common scenario is employees being injured from climbing pallets. So let’s look at your rights for making a personal injury compensation claim if this has happened to you.
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Although a mundane task, picking up boxes at work can unfortunately result in injuries if the boxes have been over-filled, stacked incorrectly or there are obstacles in the way meaning that the relatively simple task of moving a box becomes rather more complex.

The main regulations that govern these types of claims are the Manual Handling Regulations 1992 as this type of task is normally classed as a manual handling activity. Under these regulations, the employer’s duty is to avoid manual handling as far as is reasonably practicable if there is a possibility of injury. If this cannot be done then they must reduce the risk of injury as far as is reasonably practicable (source).
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When working it is important to know how and what you are lifting. The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 attempt to bring in set standards for how manual handling should be carried out at work. However, it does not set a level of weight which should not be lifted.

What the Regulations seek to achieve

It is not the weight of something which should solely be taken into consideration as it can be inaccurate when determining what can be lifted. There is instead a series of measures which should be taken by employers which are as follows:
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You’re driving along in your forklift truck as part of your working duties when suddenly something goes wrong. The vehicle could suddenly stop and lose power; a wheel could fall off; a pipe could burst and injure you; the list goes on. But rather than looking at all the eventualities of how a forklift truck could break and injure you, let’s look at whether you can claim for personal injury compensation if the forklift truck breaks and you are injured as a result.

The Law

A forklift truck would commonly fall within the category of work equipment. As such, it’s covered by The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 – a very important piece of legislation. In fact, the reason it’s so important because it places a heavy burden on your employer when it comes to work equipment.
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The reason why there are so many rules and regulations when it comes to health and safety in the workplace is to avoid employees being injured through entirely preventable accidents. Despite the fact that the rules and regulations are numerous, we take on and win a high volume of work accident compensation claims for personal injury.

When it comes to scaffolding accidents, the injuries can be devastating. There are a few regulations that cover health and safety when it comes to scaffolding accidents, so you should never end up falling through scaffolding. Whether the scaffolding was not erected properly or whether it was unsuitable, or whether it had become defective, you have a strong claim for compensation if you have fallen through scaffolding at work and being injured.
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One of the last things you expect is to be hit by shutters! Having dealt with these claims in the past we know it can be quite a shock to the victim and the injuries can be fairly serious as well; ranging from head injuries and neck / shoulder / back injuries similar to whiplash.

So if you are hit by a shutter, can you make a claim for personal injury compensation?

Your Rights as a Visitor

Generally speaking, if you are a member of a public at a supermarket or a shop or in another public place and you are hit by a shutter, the applicable law is the Occupiers Liability Act. This imposes a duty on people to have a responsibility to look after visitors to their premises. Being hit by a shutter can happen in a number of ways – the shutters are faulty and come down; they are not secured properly; or you are the victim of an employee’s negligence.
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There are loads of rules and regulations that employers must abide by in order to protect their employees from being injured in the workplace. When it comes to work equipment, there are specific regulations to cover this: The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.

When it comes to guards on machines and equipment, the regulations that are most important state the following:

Dangerous parts of machinery
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