There are many different types of accident at work that you may suffer from, and they all come with their own types of injury. However, there are some common injuries at work that happen in a variety of workplaces.

These injuries happen in workplaces ranging from construction to office work. However, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) the most common industries where accidents happen are agriculture, forestry and fishing, and construction.

Most Common Injuries at Work

There are various ways you can be injured at work. The most common accidents are slips, trips, and falls, manual handling and carrying, being struck by a moving vehicle or falling object, and falls from height. Similarly, there are many injuries that you can have in these accidents. Some of the most common injuries at work include:

• Musculoskeletal injuries
• Fractures and breaks
• Strains and sprains
• Burns
• Lacerations/open wounds

Musculoskeletal Injuries

The most common injuries at work are musculoskeletal disorders. According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), there were 480,000 Workers suffering from work-related musculoskeletal disorders (new or longstanding) in 2019/20.

Employers must protect workers from the risks of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) being caused or made worse by work. Musculoskeletal injuries include injuries and conditions that can affect the back, joints, and limbs.

The parts of the body most likely to be affected by musculoskeletal injuries are the lower back, shoulders, forearms, wrists and hands, neck, hips, legs, knees, ankles, and feet.

Workers can have different kinds of musculoskeletal conditions at the same time, and because of the same accident.

Claiming for Common Injuries at Work

It is your employer’s responsibility to keep you safe from a work accident. This means that they must make sure you have the correct training and equipment to be able to do your job correctly. They must also carry out risk assessments. This is to ensure it is safe to do the job.

If your employer has not followed the guidelines to keep you safe at work, or has done so incorrectly, you may be able to claim compensation. We understand that you may feel uneasy about claiming against your employer, however all employers must have employer’s liability insurance. This covers the costs of accidents at work. It is the insurance company who would pay the compensation, so your employer would not be directly out of pocket.

If you have had an accident at work, and your employer did not take precautions to keep you safe at work, then you may be able to make a compensation claim.

How we Can Help

Here at The Compensation Experts we work with people who have years of experience dealing with personal injury claims. This includes common injuries at work. So contact us today by filling in our contact form. Or call us on 01614138765 to speak to one of our friendly knowledgeable agents.

This week is back care awareness week. This year, the main focus of the week, which is run by the organisation Back Care, is focusing on back care at home. They do, however, state that they will also place some focus on back injury at work.

Types of Back Injury at Work

Back injury at work can occur from doing something you’ve done countless times before or completely out of the blue. Types of back injury include:

• Fractures and breaks
• Disc injuries
• Back strains or sprains
• Ligament and tendon damage
• Nerve damage
• Spinal cord damage
• Lower back injuries

 Causes of Back Injury

There are also various causes of back injury. A number of these include back injury at work. However, there are also other causes. These include:

• Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). This can lead from inadequate training or poor health and safety procedures which have allowed you to continue a dangerous way of doing something, or from having equipment or furniture which positioned incorrectly to suit your needs, causing you to overcompensate physically.
• Lifting something heavy, especially at work. Your employer has a legal duty to ensure that you know the correct procedure for lifting objects and that you have the proper equipment if required.
• Tripping or falling in a public place. Anyone who has slipped on wet floor and landed awkwardly on their coccyx can tell you how painful an injury it can be.
• A road traffic accident (RTA)which leaves you with spinal or muscular damage in your back.
• Falling from a ladder, scaffolding, or platform which has not been secured correctly at work.

Preventing Back Injury at Work

Back injury at work can be common in many workplaces; after all, there are a lot of workplaces in which jobs require lifting. Ensuring you lift correctly can be key to not injuring your back at work. All staff members should be trained on how to lift correctly. This includes full-time, part-time, temporary and agency staff.

Employers should ensure that all their staff have had the correct and adequate training to lift and carry heavy loads. According to the Health and Safety Executive, employers must:

• Avoid work activities that can cause back pain, where reasonably practicable
• Where the activity can’t be avoided, assess it to see what they can do to reduce the risk of back pain
• Apply the control measures they have identified and monitor and review them to make sure they are working
• Consult their workers and, if they have health and safety concerns, do something about them

If your employer fails to do these things, then you may be able to make a claim for a back injury at work.

How We Can Help

Here at The Compensation Experts, we work with solicitors who have years of experience dealing with personal injury claims. This includes back injuries. Contact us today by filling in our contact form. Or call us on 01614138765 to speak to one of our friendly knowledgeable agents.

According to recent reports, a woman has had her ear amputated following a work accident in which her hair was caught in a pillar drill. Her ponytail was wrapped around a rotating drill, ripping off part of her scalp and ear. She has undergone nine surgeries since the accident; however, the surgeons were unable to save her ear.

An investigation by Health and Safety officials found that the rotating parts of the drill were not guarded in accordance with standard industry practise.

The investigation also found that the company’s own risk assessment for using the drill identified a guard should be fitted. However, the company continued operating without one for a number of years.

Work Accident Involving Machinery

Work accidents involving machinery can be very serious. Machinery must adhere to a certain standard so that it is safe to use, and your employer must conduct regular checks and tests to prevent machine accidents.

Your employer must ensure that machinery is safe to use. There are regulations in place to ensure that your employer keeps the machinery safe and keeps the staff safe from machinery injuries.

In the accident involving the woman, the machine did not have a guard on it. Therefore, this means that the machinery did not adhere to the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER).

In these regulations, employers must make sure that machinery is safe to use and fit for purpose. This includes:

• Taking appropriate hardware measures – providing suitable guards, protection devices, warning devices, emergency stop buttons and other system control devices
• Taking appropriate software measures – ensuring maintenance happens when equipment is shut down, providing adequate instruction, information, and training about the equipment, and following safe systems of work
• Ensuring the equipment is suitable for use, maintained in a safe condition for use, and regularly inspected

Claiming Against Your Employer

It is your employer’s responsibility to keep you safe from a work accident. This means that they must make sure you have the correct training and equipment to be able to do your job correctly. They must also carry out risk assessments. This is to ensure it is safe to do the job.

If your employer has not followed the guidelines to keep you safe at work, or has done so incorrectly, you may be able to claim compensation. We understand that you may feel uneasy about claiming against your employer, however all employers must have employer’s liability insurance. This covers the costs of accidents at work. It is the insurance company who would pay the compensation, so your employer would not be directly out of pocket.

How We Can Help

Here at The Compensation Experts we work with solicitors who have years of experience dealing with personal injury claims. This includes work accident claims. Contact us today by filling in our contact form. Or call us on 01614138765 to speak to one of our friendly knowledgeable advisors.

According to a recent statement by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), more must be done to improve farm safety and reduce serious accidents on farms. This statement came after the HSE were notified of four fatalities on farms in just over two weeks.

The incidents come just three weeks after Farm Safety Week, when HSE issued its Fatal injuries in agriculture, forestry and fishing in Great Britain 2020/21 report highlighting the high fatality rate in the industry. The figures showed that agriculture has the worst rate of fatal injuries of all the major industrial sectors, around 20 times higher than the average five-year annual rate across all industries.

HSE’s acting head of agriculture said: “While we must respect the ongoing investigations following these tragic incidents, most injuries or deaths that we’ve historically seen on farms have been both predictable and preventable. We ask that farmers, farm workers and farming contractors take the right steps to stop these incidents. At this time of year, it’s important to manage risk from livestock and, with harvest well underway, to work safely with farm machinery.”

He added: “The fatality rate within the sector is high, but there are simple measures workers can take to reduce risk including making sure to switch off the power to vehicles or machinery before attempting to carry out repairs, keeping people away from moving vehicles; and ensuring dairy bulls, and cows with calves are not in fields with public footpaths.

Common Causes of Serious Accidents on Farms

The most common causes of serious accidents on farms are:

• struck by moving vehicles
• killed by an animal
• struck by an object
• falling from height, and
• contact with moving machinery.

There are also risks of farm injury to workers when it comes to enclosed spaces. These include slurry pits, silos, and fuel storage tanks. Working in these spaces can cause drowning, asphyxiation, or exposure to toxic gases.

Employer’s Responsibility

Your employer is responsible for keeping you safe at work. On a farm, this is even more important, as there are a lot of things that can cause an injury. Your employer must make sure that they meet the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (1999). They do this by conducting risk assessments to ensure that they keep everyone safe. Agricultural employers must make sure that they do everything possible to avoid staff having farm related injuries whilst at work.

If you have a serious accident on a farm and have to take time off work, you should get agricultural sick pay, which is at least the agricultural minimum wage. This is, however, likely to be less than your usual wage.

If you are self-employed, you may still be able to make a claim. Farm workers are often self- employed on a contractor basis. This means, importantly, there is still usually a company that they are working for. If the business you are working for fails in their duty to keep you safe, then they may be responsible for your serious accident on a farm.

How We Can Help

Here at The Compensation Experts, we work with solicitors who have years of experience dealing with personal injury. This includes serious accidents on farms. Contact us today by filling in our contact form. Or call us on 01614138765 to speak to one of our friendly knowledgeable advisors.

According to recent reports, a Rochdale-based firm has been fined following an accident where a worker had to have his leg amputated. On 4 February 2019, groundworkers, including the injured worker, were breaking out ground towards a trench to install new drainage at the site. A hydraulic breaker fell off the 13-tonne excavator it was fitted to by a quick hitch, narrowly missing another worker and landing on the right foot of the victim. The man suffered life-altering injuries with his leg having to be amputated below the knee following the crush accident at work.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found there was no proper segregation between people and the excavator. The company had not made provisions for a dedicated area for the changing of attachments or provided a vehicle-safety marshal. This meant that the site setup posed a serious safety threat to pedestrians as well.

HSE inspector Trisha Elvy said that the insufficient safety on site could have led to the death of the worker. “There should be suitable, defined safe systems of work so that persons who need to work in close proximity to excavators can do so safely,” she added.

Crush Accidents at Work

A crush accident at work can occur in a variety of ways. Some of the most frequent examples include having limbs trapped in machinery, being caught up with uncontrolled livestock, and getting trapped under falling objects.

Crush injuries can cause:

• Nerve damage
• Excessive bleeding
• Amputation
• Cuts and broken bones
• Severe bruising and soft tissue damage
• Paralysis
• Death

Falling Objects Crush Accident at Work

A crush accident at work can occur when a heavy load collapse trapping someone beneath. For example, materials falling from a warehouse shelf or collapsed structures on a building site. The object does not have to fall very far to cause serious injury.

Employers are responsible for keeping the work environment as safe as possible. They must also supply Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to protect workers from this type of injury. An employer may be liable for injuries you sustain if they fail to supply hard hats, steel toe-capped boots and so on.

Claiming Against Your Employer

It is your employer’s responsibility to keep you safe from a crush accident at work. This means that they must make sure you have the correct training and equipment to be able to do your job correctly. Risk assessments must also be carried out, to ensure the job is done safely.

If your employer has not followed the guidelines to keep you safe at work, or has done so incorrectly, you may be able to claim compensation. We understand that you may feel uneasy about claiming against your employer, however all employers must have employer’s liability insurance. This covers the costs of accidents at work. It is the insurance company who would pay the compensation, so your employer would not be directly out of pocket.

How We Can Help

Here at The Compensation Experts we work with solicitors who have years of experience dealing with personal injury claims. This includes crush accident at work claims. Contact us by filling in our contact form. Or call us on 01614138765 to speak to one of our friendly knowledgeable advisors.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has recently published a report which shows that agriculture has the worst rate of fatal injuries of all the major industrial sectors. The report shows that, from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021, there were 41 fatal injuries on farms and agricultural related activities. This is almost double the previous year, and around 20 times higher than the average five-year annual rate across all industries.

The acting head of agriculture at HSE said: “Agriculture is a vital part of our economy and everyone involved is rightly proud of the quality and standard of the food produced.

“It is not acceptable that agriculture continues to fail to manage risk in the workplace. We need everyone to play their part to improve their behaviour, do things the right way and ‘call out’ poor practices whenever they are seen.

“There are simple safety measures people should follow to reduce injury like remembering to put on handbrakes, fasten lap belts in cabs, make sure anyone operating a quad bike wears a helmet and receives sufficient training, don’t put cows and calves in fields with public footpaths; and make sure to switch off the power to vehicles or machinery before attempting to carry out repairs.”

Common Causes of Fatal Injuries on Farms

The most common causes of fatal injuries on farms were

• struck by moving vehicles
• killed by an animal
• struck by an object
• falling from height, and
• contact with moving machinery.

There are also risks of farm injury to workers when it comes to enclosed spaces. These include slurry pits, silos, and fuel storage tanks. Working in these spaces can cause drowning, asphyxiation, or exposure to toxic gases. Other industrial illness claims that farm workers may develop include noise-related hearing loss, respiratory diseases, certain types of cancer, and even vibration white finger.

Employer’s Responsibility

Your employer is responsible for keeping you safe at work. On a farm, this is even more important, as there are a lot of things that can cause an injury. Your employer must make sure that they meet the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (1999). They do this by conducting risk assessments to ensure that they keep everyone safe. Agricultural employers must make sure that they do everything possible to avoid staff having farm related injuries whilst at work.

If you have a farming accident and have to take time off work, you should get agricultural sick pay. This means that you should get at least the agricultural minimum wage whilst you are off. This is, however, likely to be less than your usual wage.

If you are self-employed, you may still be able to make a claim. Farm workers are often self- employed on a contractor basis. This means, importantly, there is still usually a company that they are working for. If the business you are working for fails in their duty to keep you safe, then they may be responsible for your farm accident.

How We Can Help with Fatal Injuries on Farms

Here at The Compensation Experts we work with solicitors who have years of experience dealing with personal injury claims. This includes fatal accidents on farms. So contact us today by filling in our contact form. Or call us on 01614138765 to speak to one of our friendly knowledgeable advisors.

According to recent reports, a worker had to have his arm amputated after an accident at work involving machinery. York Magistrates’ Court heard that on 25 January 2019, the worker became entangled on either the rotating workpiece or the chuck as it rotated. He sustained extensive injuries, which include a punctured lung, broken neck, fractures to the back, ribs, arm, and shoulder blade. He subsequently had his left arm amputated at the shoulder.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that machinery standards across the site were poor. Many machines also did not have guards on them. The company received three prohibition and five improvement notices. These included machine guarding, welfare, and management issues.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974. They had to pay a fine of £60,000 and costs of £7,618.

Speaking after the hearing, an HSE inspector said: “Entanglement incidents on unguarded rotating machinery are far too common. The worker’s injuries were life changing and he also could have easily been killed. The company could have avoided this serious incident and devastation if basic safeguards, risk assessments, supervision and instruction were in place.”

Accidents at Work Involving Machinery

Accidents at work involving machinery can be very serious. Machinery must adhere to a certain standard so that it is safe to use, and your employer must conduct regular checks and tests to prevent machine accidents.

Your employer has to ensure that machinery is safe to use. There are regulations in place to ensure that your employer keeps the machinery safe and keeps the staff safe from machinery injuries.

In the accident where the worker was injured, the machine did not have a guard on it. Therefore, this means that the machinery did not adhere to the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER).

In these regulations, employers must make sure that machinery is safe to use and also fit for purpose. This includes:

• Taking appropriate hardware measures – providing suitable guards, protection devices, warning devices, emergency stop buttons and other system control devices
• Taking appropriate software measures – ensuring maintenance is only performed when equipment is shut down, providing adequate instruction, information, and training about the equipment, and following safe systems of work
• Ensuring the equipment is suitable for use, maintained in a safe condition for use, and regularly inspected

If your employer fails to do any of this, then they may be at fault for the accident, and you may be able to claim compensation. This was the case with the accident at work involving machinery and the worker who had to have his arm amputated.

How We Can Help

Here at The Compensation Experts we work with solicitors who have years of experience in personal injury claims. This includes an accident at work involving machinery. So contact us today by filling in our contact form. Or call us on 01614138765 to speak to one of our friendly knowledgeable advisors.

British Airways has been fined after an employee had a crush accident at work involving a vehicle at Heathrow Airport. The employee was struck by a tug pulling a train of vehicles used to transport baggage around the airport. She was knocked under another passing tug that was pulling vehicles that were loaded with luggage. She sustained serious crush injuries.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the injured worker was using the centre of the roadway between the two lanes as a walking route and this unsafe practice had been commonplace in the baggage hall for at least ten years. The investigation also identified significant failings in the general management of health and safety and workplace transport risks, including issues relating to supervision and monitoring, risk assessment and training.

British Airways pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company had to pay a fine of £1.8 million and costs of £35,724.

A HSE inspector said after the hearing: “The situation in the baggage hall at Heathrow Terminal 5 was an incident waiting to happen.

“British Airways failed to appreciate the serious nature of the risks to which its employees were exposed and as a result failed to take appropriate action to ensure they were properly protected.”

Crush Accidents at Work

Crush injuries can happen in any environment, however, the most common are crush accidents at work. The causes of these can be machinery, vehicles, falling objects and more. The cause of the crush accident at Heathrow Airport was a work vehicle.

Employers must design safe working processes so vehicles can move safely around the workplace. Employees also need training on how to use these vehicles safely. If you suffer a crush accident at work due to a vehicle accident, you may be able to make a crush injury compensation claim.

Crush injuries can be serious, and can cause:

• Nerve damage
• Excessive bleeding
• Amputation
• Cuts and broken bones
• Severe bruising and soft tissue damage
• Paralysis
• Death

Your Employers Responsibility

It is your employer’s responsibility to ensure you are safe at work. This means that they must follow correct health and safety guidelines to minimise the risk of accidents and to keep all their employees safe. They must carry out adequate and frequent risk assessments on the machinery and equipment. They must also make sure that staff training is always up to date.

If your employer does not follow the correct health and safety guidelines, such as the Health and Safety at work regulations, and you have an accident whilst at work, then you may be able to make a claim. All employers must have Employer’s Liability insurance. This covers the business in case accidents at work happen. If you have had an accident and make a claim, then it is the insurance that pays the compensation.

How We Can Help

Here at The Compensation Experts we work with solicitors who have years of experience dealing with personal injury claims. This includes crush accidents at work. Contact us today by filling in our contact form. Or call us on 01614138765 to speak to one of our friendly knowledgeable advisors.

Amazon have been in the news recently, as a report found that accidents in their US warehouses are 80% higher than their competitors. There were also reports last year by the GMB union that there were hundreds of workers injured in their UK warehouses.

The union-backed study in the US blamed Amazon’s “obsession with speed” as a main cause of the problem. In a statement, Amazon said it invested more than $1bn (£705.9m) in workplace safety last year, growing its safety team to more than 6,200 people.

“While any incident is one too many, we are continuously learning and seeing improvements through ergonomics programs, guided exercises at employees’ workstations, mechanical assistance equipment, workstation setup and design, and forklift telematics and guardrails – to name a few,” a spokesman said.

He also pointed towards its “WorkingWell” wellbeing programme, something Amazon boss Jeff Bezos highlighted in his recent shareholder letter in which he committed to reducing workplace injuries.

Accidents in Warehouses

Warehousing accidents are one of the most common types of accident at work. In the warehousing industry, there were over 23,000 injuries at work in 2019/20 according to the Health and Safety Executive. There are some injuries that are more common than others, with lifting and handling accidents being the most common. These injuries accommodated for 19% of injuries to workers in warehouses in 2019/20.

Lifting and Handling

Lifting and handling accounted for the most accidents to warehouse staff. When you are lifting and handling at work, your manager must make sure you are following the manual handling rules. This is to minimise the risks of accidents at work, and keep employees safe. One of the biggest aspects of the manual handling regulations is carrying out risk assessments.

Your Employers Responsibility

It is your employer’s responsibility to ensure you are safe at work. This means that they must follow correct health and safety guidelines to minimise the risk of accidents and to keep all their employees safe. They must carry out adequate and frequent risk assessments on the machinery and equipment. They must also make sure that staff training is always up to date.

If your employer does not follow the correct health and safety guidelines, such as the Manual Handling Regulations and the Health and Safety at work regulations, and you have an accident whilst at work, then you may be able to make a claim. All employers must have Employer’s Liability insurance. This covers the business in case accidents at work happen. If you have had an accident and make a claim, then it is the insurance that pays the compensation.

How We Can Help with Accidents in Warehouses

Here at The Compensation Experts we work with solicitors who have years of experience dealing with personal injury claims. This includes accidents in warehouses. Contact us today by filling in our contact form. Or call us on 01614138765 to speak to one of our friendly knowledgeable advisors.