Going to work may not be the highlight of your week, but most of us take it for granted that we

will be in a safe environment once we arrive and looked after by our employers. Unfortunately, all too often this isn’t the case and accidents or even fatalities can occur.

Over 1.3 million workers suffering from work-related illnesses

According to a report from Health and Safety Executive (HSE), in 2015/16, a whopping 1.3million workers were suffering from a long-standing or new work-related illness. A further 30.4 million working days were lost during the same period due to work-related illness, while the annual cost of work-related injury and new episodes of illness was £14.1 billion.

A recent case illustrates the types of preventable accidents that are happening all the time. When a worker from PD Lift Services was replacing passenger lifts at Tufnell Park Underground Station he tragically lost his thumb because of inadequate safety precautions.

The accident occurred while weights were being lowered and guided down the lift void, and the load fell and amputated his thumb. All four employees working on this job were found by HSE to have been exposed to serious work at height risks, with the investigation finding that the lifting activity had not been properly planned our carried out safely.

PD Lift Services Limited of Wimpole Street, London pleaded guilty and were ordered to pay full costs of £1173.60, along with a victim surcharge of £120. HSE inspector Sarah Robinson said: “This was a preventable incident which happened as a direct result of the failure of PD Lift Services Limited to plan the lifting operation, or carry it out safely.”

Have you been affected by an injury at work?

If you’ve been affected by an accident at work, here at Emerald Law we can help. From slips, trips and strains to burns and injuries from machinery, we are on hand to help. 

Simply fill in the online form for a free, no-obligation consultation from one of our team.

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