Pages On: Employer Negligence
Whether it’s shortcutting health & safety, or putting profit before people, a company can be outrightly negligent if it doesn’t have its workers best interests at heart. If your employer fails to provide you with the tools and knowledge to perform your duties which puts you in harms way, or has questionable management practices that leave you injured, you’ll likely be able to claim employer negligence compensation.
Out of court settlement for care worker attacked five times
Posted: 1 May 2016
Posted in: Criminal Injury and Assault, Employer Negligence, Leg Injuries, Shoulder Injuries, Workplace Injuries
A carer, who was working in a residential children’s home in West Bromwich, has received an undisclosed amount of compensation from her employer after being attacked five times by the same resident. The carer, who had worked for the home for nine years and had opted to remain unnamed, was initially hit on the legs by a chair. She was struck so violently with the chair that a permanent dent was left on her leg. She reported the attack to her employers, believing that the assailant would be moved to a secure unit…
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Vibration White Finger victim wins £42K in compensation
Posted: 1 May 2016
Posted in: Employer Negligence, Industrial Deafness and Disease
A worker who had been working for Derbyshire County Council has won £42,000 in compensation in a case brought before Manchester County Court. The road worker from Derby had been working for his employer since 1973, during which time he had been required to use vibrating tools. Over the years, he developed Vibration White Finger and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, both of which could be directly linked to his prolonged exposure to vibrating tools and machinery. The court was told by his solicitors, who were appointed through the worker’s trade union, that at…
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£290,000 awarded to widow of electrician exposed to Asbestos for 42 years
Posted: 21 April 2016
Posted in: Asbestos Exposure, Employer Negligence, Mesothelioma
The widow of an electrician, who died after a two year battle against the asbestos-related disease, mesothelioma, has been awarded £290,000 in compensation by his ex-employer. The widow, who has opted to remain anonymous, described how shocked her husband was on learning the news. She said: “My husband had no idea that his job could lead to him being so ill. He was never warned about the dangers until the damage had already been done”. The husband had worked for Western Power Distribution, now EDF, for 42 years during which time he would…
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Former construction worker wins compensation
Posted: 22 March 2016
Posted in: Asbestos Exposure, Employer Negligence, Industrial Deafness and Disease, Mesothelioma
A Derbyshire former construction worker, 65-year-old Peter Bowler, has won his compensation claim against his former employer, after being diagnosed with the fatal lung disease mesothelioma. Mr Bowler worked for the same construction worker for two years in the seventies, where he was exposed to asbestos present in corrugated roofing sheets that he had to carry over his shoulder, then cut and drill to fix into position. At that time, his job was to build agricultural buildings such as hen houses, barns and stables. A hearing learned that Mr Bowler would go home…
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MoD ‘breaking its own safety rules’
Posted: 24 December 2015
Posted in: Armed Forces Injuries, Employer Negligence, Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death
Two lawyers are to inform MPs that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has repeatedly failed to follow its own safety guidelines on a number of occasions, leading to hundreds of injuries each year for military personnel. The lawyers will tell the Defence Select Committee inquiry that the regulations are being routinely ignored, and, that had they not been ignored, the deaths of three soldiers during an SAS selection course would have been prevented. The three army reservists – Edward Maher, Craig Roberts and James Dunsby – had been taking part…
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High rate of asbestos deaths in Tamworth
Posted: 24 August 2015
Posted in: Asbestos Exposure, Employer Negligence, Industrial Deafness and Disease, Mesothelioma
Recently released figures have revealed that 23 people in Tamworth died from the asbestos-related lung cancer mesothelioma between 2010 and 2014. Campaigners argue that more needs to be done to help sick and dying workers, with 7.5 deaths per 100,000 people caused by the illness in Tamworth. It currently stands as the 17h highest mortality rate in England and Wales for the illness. The president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), Jonathan Wheeler, said that the asbestos-related disease is “a legacy of Britain’s industrial heritage”. APIL, a non-profit…
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Bosses to make workplace healthier and happier
Posted: 29 June 2015
Posted in: Employer Negligence, Workplace Injuries
Where around 27 million working days were lost in 2012/13 in England, Wales and Scotland due to illness and stress, managers across the country have been told to “raise their game” by chief health advisers. Guidelines drawn up by NICE, the health watchdog, suggest that employers keep their staff happy by only allowing them to work reasonable hours and encouraging them to take regular breaks. NICE believe that this will not only increase staff morale, but will benefit the productivity of the business as a whole. Figures reveal that society…
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Family calls for inquiry over mine deaths
Posted: 30 November 2014
Posted in: Employer Negligence, Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death
The family of one of the men killed in the Gleision mine tragedy has called for a public inquiry. Four men were drowned in the 2011 accident after 650,000 gallons of water flooded the mine they were working in following a controlled explosion. The parents of one of the men said they are still seeking answers. Charles Breslin (62), David Powell (50), Philip Hill (44), and Gary Jenkins (39) were all working in the drift mine when the accident happened three years ago. A controlled explosion was carried out in the…
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Coalmine manager disregarded safety, causes death of four workers
Posted: 31 March 2014
Posted in: Employer Negligence, Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death
Following the deaths of four men in a coalmine accident, the manager responsible has been accused of completely disregarding their safety. It was heard at Swansea Crown Court that the mine manager, Malcolm Fyfield, had been warned several times about the potential flooding of Gleison drift mine, but chose to take no action. Four men lost their lives in the accident in 2011, three other workers survived, including the manager Mr Fyfield. It was heard that around 650,000 gallons of water swept through a sealed-off area of the mine, known…
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Workers suffer long term damage from HAVS
Posted: 26 March 2013
Posted in: Employer Negligence, Industrial Deafness and Disease, Workplace Injuries
An aerospace company has been prosecuted for failing to heed safety regulations for at least six years, leaving a group of employees with permanent nerve damage. Portsmouth Magistrates were told that five workers based on the Isle of Wight had been left with long-term damage to their circulation and nerve systems after contracting hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). The workers developed advanced symptoms of the well-known condition after prolonged use of vibrating hand tools, used as part of their work building engine. Their circulation problems mean their hands become white and…
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Landscape gardener crushed by 'unsafe' skip loader
Posted: 12 March 2013
Posted in: Employer Negligence, Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death
A self-employed businessman has been given a suspended jail sentence for supplying unsafe construction equipment that led to the death of a father-of-six who was working on a garden in Reigate, Surrey. Ken Pinkerton, a 47-year-old landscape gardener, was crushed-to-death when a one-tonne skip loader he was using tipped over onto its side. He had hired the loader, a type of dumper, along with a mini-digger from the self-employed businessman, who was prosecuted for serious safety failings at Guildford Crown Court. Key flaws identified by HSE with the skip loader…
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Building owner fined for asbestos exposure
Posted: 26 February 2013
Posted in: Asbestos Exposure, Employer Negligence, Mesothelioma
An industrial property owner has been prosecuted for exposing untrained workers to dangerous asbestos fibres following a series of failings at a building in Newport. In a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Abergavenny Magistrates’ Court heard the owner employed two workers and then helped them to remove rubbish and debris from a site that he part owned. The debris included a large amount of asbestos insulation board (AIB), which was cleaned up in an unsafe manner. Newport City Council notified HSE following concerns about the work.…
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Dangers of asbestos exposure
Posted: 10 February 2013
Posted in: Asbestos Exposure, Employer Negligence, Mesothelioma
The risks associated with exposure to asbestos have been highlighted in a recent court case, in which two firms were prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive after exposing workers to dangerous asbestos fibres. The exposure took place following a catalogue of errors by an engineering company and a building firm during a demolition and refurbishment project in Swansea. Asbestos exposure Asbestos is the single greatest cause of work-related deaths in the UK and, according to Health and Safety Executive (HSE) figures, is responsible over 4,500 deaths a year. Exposure…
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Firm's failures led to workers' exposure to asbestos
Posted: 11 December 2012
Posted in: Asbestos Exposure, Employer Negligence, Mesothelioma
Significant safety failures by a plumbing company may have led to two workers being exposed to dangerous asbestos fibres during a major refurbishment project on flats in Aberystwyth. The workers – a site manager and a subcontractor – were not provided with information about the presence of asbestos while working at the flats between November 2010 and February 2011. The court heard that a routine inspection by the HSE found contractors carrying out refurbishment work without taking account of asbestos that may have been present. Workers had removed 82 metres of…
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