Dallas McMillan's Glasgow Lawyers' Blog

A Bradford man may need to have his foot and lower leg amputated as a result of a crush injury caused by the safety failures of his employers more than a year ago.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has welcomed the announcement from the Government that they are to publish a Green Paper on young driver safety. The ABI has long campaigned to change the way young people learn how to drive in order to reduce death and injury on the roads and make young drivers safer.

Scotland has one of the highest perinatal mortality rates in Europe.  Between January 2009 and June 2011 the NHS in Scotland paid out over £70,000,000 in damages in relation to negligence resulting in stillbirths and babies born with disabilities.  

An NHS Foundation Trust has been sentenced for safety failings after a vulnerable patient died following a fall from a first floor window of a hospital in Gillingham.

A two-pronged attack on health and safety by the Government will expose workers and members of the public to greater risk of injury, campaigners have warned.

Recently published figures have revealed slight falls in a number of key areas of workplace ill-health and injury in Scotland.

Lighter nights all year round could help to arrest the rising number of road deaths, according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). 

InjuriesBoard.ie has released details of its work in the first six months of 2012. Data for the period shows a gradual but consistent increase (4.1%) in claims volumes compared to the same period in 2011. The period also saw the emergence of issue-specific claims linked to Thalidomide and De Puy hip replacements.

National estimates of death following general surgery have been too optimistic, according to the first large-scale study to explore surgical outcomes across Europe, led by Queen Mary, University of London.

Campaigners say a review of workplace safety must ensure that all updates to important guidelines are made in plain English.

Campaigners have welcomed a decision by the Government to rethink its proposals to cut compensation payments for victims of crime.

Two nursing home owners have been fined after an elderly resident died following a fall from a hoist.

An assault victim has spoken out in support of a not-for-profit group’s campaign against Government plans to slash compensation payments for victims of crime.

A Cheltenham contractor and a retailer have been prosecuted after a construction worker was exposed to asbestos during a refurbishment project.

Businesses are being told to do more to protect workers and members of the public from exposure to legionella.

Britain's dock workers could be left without the specialist safety protection they need if plans to water-down safety regulations go ahead.

The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) says proposals by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to axe safety rules specific to dockyards could have “tragic consequences”.

“Five times more dock workers die than the national average for workplace deaths so the last thing the port industry needs is weaker safety measures,” said APIL president Karl Tonks.

Under the plans, regulations which are specific to docks, such as those ensuring ladders are in place as a means of escape if workers fall into the water, will be scrapped and replaced with guidance.

“Guidance isn't compulsory, and an industry as dangerous as this needs robust rules to protect its workers,” said Karl.

Recently published figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have shown that 173 workers were killed from April 2011 to March 2012 – a drop of two from the previous year. The rate of fatal injury remains the same at 0.6 per 100,000 workers.

The figures also show the rate of fatal injuries in several of the key industrial sectors:

MEPs have approved new European rules to ensure that, by 2015, all new cars must be fitted with eCall devices to alert the rescue services to road crashes automatically.

Potentially deadly asbestos fibres were spread in part of a shop by unqualified workmen and left on the premises for three weeks.

In a prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Cardiff Magistrates heard that the company, which specialises in damp and timber repairs, committed four offences and was fined a total of £18,000 and ordered to pay £5,314 in costs.

The company was contracted to carry out the work in an antiques shop in the Vale of Glamorgan. Employees were sent to work on the site to survey and strip out parts of the building affected by damp and wood rot, without checking for the presence of asbestos.

None of the workers had received sufficient information, instruction or training in asbestos awareness or removal and the company did not have a license to remove or handle asbestos containing materials.

Asbestos insulation boards were removed in a back room by one of the workers and the ceiling was demolished. The uncontrolled removal of the asbestos boards and demolition work caused the disturbance and spread of potentially deadly asbestos fibres.

Instead of arranging for the proper disposal of the asbestos, the dust was swept into rubble bags and dumped in a skip lorry, along with the asbestos insulation boards. The asbestos material was immediately identified at the waste transfer site and were collected by the company and left in the backyard of the shop.

The owners of the building contacted the HSE and then arranged for a licensed removal company to undertake a full environmental clean of the building.

HSE Inspector, Steve Richardson, speaking after the case, said: "This incident was entirely preventable and would not have happened if the company had provided adequate information, instruction and training to its staff.

"The company had no procedures to check for the presence of asbestos and as a result, has put the health of its workers and the shopowners at risk of potentially fatal asbestos-related lung diseases."

Brake, the road safety charity, has welcomed the announcement by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill that proposals to lower the limit from 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood to 50mg will be brought forward later this year.