The UK has an enviable record for safety at work – our health and safety procedures are admired and imitated across the world.
However, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE; the Government Agency responsible for monitoring workplace safety, accidents and injuries) has still revealed some worrying statistics in relation to the number of people who are killed or injured at work in the UK.
In the year April 2014-March 2015, 142 people were killed at work in the UK. This is below the average for the previous five years, but is still far too high a figure.
Elsewhere in the HSE stats, 1.2 million were suffering from a work-related illness and 28.2 million working days were lost due to work-related illness and workplace injuries. The HSE estimates that the cost of injuries to the economy is £14.2bn (for the year 2012/3).
Remember – just one person killed per year at work is one person too many, so as long as accidents are still happening, there are still improvements to be made.
Nobody should go to work and not come home: everybody has the right to work in a safe and secure environment.
If you or a family member has been the victim of an accident at work, and suffered an injury as a result, it is important to take legal action, not just so that you get the right medical treatment and rehabilitation you need, but also so that lessons are learned.
Health and safety is not pointless meddling – it procedures are improved so that future accidents can be prevented and so that other people do not suffer in the same way. Taking legal action applies pressure in the same way, so that fewer people are hurt or killed in future.
The HSE will take action and bring sanctions against companies where it can, and where serious breaches of safety guidelines have occurred, but its resources are limited.
If you would like some impartial and friendly advice on making an accident claim, whether you were at work or not, you can find out more details about our accident claim specialists here or call us on 01325 482 299.
