Work Accident Solicitors

Making 2010 a safe year at work

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have called on employers to keep working at maintaining health and safety at work levels and to aim to improve on last years figures, in a New Year message to the business community.

The HSE says that the UK boasts one of the best health and safety records in Europe, but with 180 workplace deaths nationally last year, they believe that there is still much to be done.

A Call To Action

To drive the point home, the HSE has released a series of press reports breaking down the number of incidences region by region, and finishing with a warning that if employers insist on compromising the health of their employees, then they will take stringent enforcement action.

Taking the East Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire areas as an example, the HSE reported that in this one area, three people were killed and 600 sustained major injuries as a result of accidents at work. The construction industry still appears to be one of the most hazardous environments in which to work, but across the board a further 1,863 people suffered injuries that required more than three days absence. Absences due to ill health caused by work activities was also down, but still amounted to a staggering 2.4million working days lost across Yorkshire and the Humber. This constitutes a massive cost to the economy and individual businesses, and if duplicated across the UK is a major factor in lost working days generally.

The HSE is concerned that many of these injuries are preventable and that businesses need to take more steps to ensure the safety of their employees by managing the risks they face daily more efficiently.

Affirmative action through prosecution

Employers that breach HSE legislation face a hard time in 2010. The agency is gearing up for a year of blitzing companies that fail to conform with health and safety legislation, and have made it very clear that they will be coming down hard on businesses that jeopardise the safety of their workers. But employers who are a little lackadaisical with their health and safety compliance not only face prosecution - they also face compensation claims from workers injured during their daily operations.

As a result, many specialist solicitors are preparing for a busy year as workers realise that a claim is not just a way to receive compensation for an injury or illness, but also an effective way of drawing attention to an unacceptable situation. By claiming against an employer for negligence, others can be spared the same pain and potential financial hardship that an accident at work can cause.

The HSE has reported that slips, trips and falls, handling accidents and incidents involving falling objects and moving machinery are consistently the primary causes of deaths and serious injury in the workplace - all situations that, with a little extra thought and care, can be prevented. 2010 looks set to be the year that the HSE flexes its muscles and clamps down hard on businesses that do not put worker safety as a priority. This can only be a good thing, meaning that the number of compensation claims and injured employees continues to go down, making the UK one of the safest places to work.

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