Accidents at work
Despite constant measures being put in place to ensure personal safety on business premises, Accidents at work still occur at alarmingly high rates. In the UK alone, over 30,000 work-related injuries were sustained during 2003/2004, of which 235 were fatal. Work-related accidents can be caused by an enormous range of factors, from trips and slips on work premises to incidents involving defective machinery, hazardous chemicals, transport vehicles and much more. Injuries can also vary widely, and the severity of the injury is likely to affect the individual's decision to press forward with workers' compensation or to sue the employer or a third party directly.
Employers are responsible for maintaining work premises, vehicles and equipment effectively, and for providing sufficient training and supervision, in order to create a safe workplace. In certain cases, negligence on the part of the employer results in accidents; in others a third party is to blame; and in still others it is the negligence of the injured individual that is to blame for the incident. However, such matters are complex, and rather than injured individual making their own judgments about the situation, they would do better to seek the advice of an experienced solicitor or member of the citizen's advice bureau.