Health and safety at work – the law:

By law, your employers have to protect your health, safety and welfare at work. They have to make sure the workplace is safe and without risk to health. As part of these duties, employers must, amongst other things:-

• Make sure that plant and machinery are safe and regularly maintained, and that the systems used in the workplace are safe
• Provide protective clothing where necessary
• Report certain diseases and injuries to the relevant authority
• Provide adequate and safety equipment and facilities
• Take precautions against fire and provide adequate means of escape and means of fighting fire
• Assess the risks that might be involved in work practices.
• Provide safe traffic routes.

What should you do following a Work Accident?
You can help your claim by making sure you:-

• Inform your employer as soon as possible after the accident.
• Make sure your accident is recorded in the accident book.
• Take names and addresses of any witnesses to your accident.
• If someone else has had a similar accident previously, make a note of the circumstances and details of any witnesses and whether or not your employer was informed.
• If medical treatment is required, you should attend Hospital or your GP’s surgery as soon as possible following the accident in order to have your injuries assessed and treated.
• Seek legal advice as soon as possible to find out if you are entitled to make a claim

If you have been unfortunate enough to suffer an accident at work ASD Solicitors are here to give you expert advice on whether you have a claim. Please contact ASD Solicitors for free advice on Freephone: 0800 163 622.

Car accidents

If you have been injured in a road traffic accident within the last 3 years, as a driver or a passenger, that wasn’t your fault, you may be able to make a claim for compensation. Our solicitors have many years of experience in assisting clients who have been injured on the road as a driver, passenger, cyclist or pedestrian and can help you get compensation, not only for your injuries but for all financial losses that you have suffered as a result of your accident.

If you have been unfortunate enough to suffer an accident or injury as a result of a road traffic accident ASD Solicitors are here to give you expert advice on whether you have a claim. Please contact ASD Solicitors for free advice on Freephone: 0800 163 622.

Bus accidents

The bus accidents that make the headlines are the big ones, resulting in multiple deaths and injuries. But for the most part, bus accidents pass unreported, even though individual passengers suffer injury.

Since 1 October 1997, vehicles capable of seating more than eight passengers have been subjected to strict safety requirements. For example, all long-distance coaches designed after that date must be fitted with seat belts, as must all similar coaches registered after 1 October 1999. However, although long-distance coaches are required to be fitted with seat belts, Service buses operating in towns are not, and if the driver is forced to brake suddenly passengers may be subjected to violent deceleration and impact injuries.

Because of the stop-start nature of Service bus journeys, passengers may find themselves more at risk than long-distance passengers, especially during the embarking and alighting phases of the journey.

When you embark on a bus journey, you automatically enter into a contract with the bus company and acquire certain rights. For example, you have the right to be conveyed to your destination. An operator cannot introduce unreasonable conditions, such as attempting to exclude or limit liability for passenger injuries if the bus is involved in an accident. However, the bus operator has rights too. For instance, a bus driver has the right to ask a passenger to disembark if the bus is overloaded. Any bus company that allows one of its vehicles to carry more than the maximum permitted number of passengers is breaking the law.

A bus operator is liable for passengers killed or injured in an accident if the driver, another staff member or vehicle safety is to blame. However, if negligence cannot be proved, there is no automatic obligation on the operator to pay compensation. If the accident was the fault of another driver, for example, the bus operator would not be liable, but a claim against the other driver may be possible.

Motorbike/Bicycle accidents

Every year over 15,000 cyclists and motorcyclists are killed or injured in reported road traffic accidents in this country. Cyclists and motorcyclists are particularly at risk of injury from even the most minor road traffic accident as they lack the protection that motor vehicles offer drivers and their passengers.

Whiplash injuries

What is a whiplash?

A whiplash sprain occurs when your head is suddenly jolted backwards and forwards in a whip-like movement. This can cause some neck muscles and ligaments to stretch more than normal (a sprain). The common cause is when you are in a car that is hit from behind by another car. Being in a car hit from the side or front can also cause whiplash sprains.

Who gets whiplash injuries?

Whiplash injuries are common. About 2 in 3 people involved in car crashes develop neck pain (with or without other injuries). Some people are surprised at having symptoms when the car crash was minor. Even slow car bumps may cause enough whipping of the neck to cause symptoms. Less commonly, whiplash neck sprains can occur with everyday activities such as jolting the neck when you trip or fall.

What are the symptoms of a whiplash type injury?

Pain and stiffness in the neck. It may take several hours after the injury for symptoms to appear. The pain and stiffness often become worse on the day after an injury. In about half of cases, the pain first develops the day after the injury. This may be because the inflammation or bruising around a sprained muscle can take a while to build up.

Turning or bending the neck may be difficult.

You may also feel pain or stiffness in the shoulders or down the arms.

Dizziness, headache, blurred vision, or pain on swallowing may occur for a short while, but soon go. Tell a doctor if any of these persist.

Some people become irritable for a few days and find it difficult to concentrate.

UNINSURED/UNTRACED DRIVERS:

If you have been involved in a road traffic accident where the driver was uninsured or left the scene of the accident without leaving any details you may still be able to claim through the Motor Insurers Bureau.

Brain and Head injuries

If you have suffered from a head injury, this can usually mean that your brain has been damaged in some way. Despite the protective bone surrounding the skull, the brain surface can get torn and bruised as it collides with the skull and blood vessels and nerves can rip.

These injuries cause bleeding, swelling or fluid build-up in the head, putting pressure on the brain and sometimes causing severe brain damage.

Here at Accident Solicitors Direct Limited we have a proven track record in helping people who have suffered head injuries, following an accident, to make a claim for compensation.

ASD know only too well the far reaching effects of even a relatively minor injury which can lead to symptoms that severely affect everyday activities for many months, while many who have suffered severe or even moderate head injuries remain disabled a year or more after their accident.

If you have suffered a head injury in an accident ASD Solicitors are here to give you expert advice on whether you have a claim. Please contact ASD Solicitors for free advice on Freephone: 0800 163 622.

Children’s accidents

If your child has an accident resulting in injury and you want to make a claim, it’s important to pursue that claim with a specialist solicitor. Whether your child has had a minor accident or has suffered something as serious as a head injury, the impact will be felt throughout the family. The medical and legal implications of such an event make this a detailed and challenging area, and it’s worth bearing in mind that the process of making a child injury claim differs from the process for adults.

If your child has been unfortunate enough to suffer an accident ASD Solicitors are here to give you expert advice on whether you have a claim. Please contact ASD Solicitors for free advice on Freephone: 0800 163 622.

Accidents and illness abroad

• Most of the people who go on holiday abroad return home with happy memories of an enjoyable and relaxing time. However for an unfortunate few their memories will be of a less than happy experience because they suffered a holiday injury or holiday illness through the negligence or lack of care of others.
• If you suffered an injury whilst on holiday in this country then your claim for compensation could be handled in exactly the same way as any other personal injury claim would be. If however, your injury or illness occurred whilst on holiday abroad the rules for making a claim are different.
• If your holiday was purchased as a package holiday and included 2 of the following components i.e. flights, transfers and accommodation, then the Package Travel Regulations allow a claim to be made in the UK , even if the accident occurred whilst on holiday abroad.

If you have been unfortunate enough to suffer an accident whilst on holiday ASD Solicitors are here to give you expert advice on whether you have a claim. Please contact ASD Solicitors for free advice onFreephone: 0800 163 622.

Accidents in public places

The owners and occupiers of buildings open to the public have a duty to ensure they are in a safe condition.

The same rules apply to privately owned properties open to the public such as supermarkets, shopping centres, gyms and banks as apply to council owned property such as public footpaths, parks, libraries and schools.

Am I entitled to make a claim for compensation after an accident in a Public Place?

Examples of Accidents in Public Places which can lead to claims for compensation

If the accident was inside a building open to the public such as a restaurant, a bar or a cinema then the personal injury compensation claim would be settled by the occupier’s public liability insurance policy providing the accident was the occupiers fault. Common accidents inside public buildings include instances where liquid has been left on a hard floor without any warnings signs around it and someone hasslipped or instances where chairs have collapsed beneath a person.

What should I do after my accident in a Public Place?

Evidence to gather after an accident in a Public Place

To make a successful personal injury compensation claim, you would need to prove that another person was responsible for your personal injury

To help your case, you should report the accident to the staff or owner at the time, make a note of your accident in the accident book if possible, take names and addresses of witnesses to the accident and if possible take photographs of the area where the accident happened. In cases involving defective pavements, we would recommend that you take your photographs with a ruler shown in them to show how deep / high the defect was.

If you have been unfortunate enough to suffer an accident in a public place ASD Solicitors are here to give you expert advice on whether you have a claim. Please contact ASD Solicitors for free advice onFreephone: 0800 163 622.

Product liability

We all expect the products we purchase to use and consume on daily basis to be relatively safe and not to harm us. Sometimes however this is not the case and products can cause injury or illness.

If you have been unfortunate enough to suffer an accident or injury through a faulty product ASD Solicitors are here to give you expert advice on whether you have a claim. Please contact ASD Solicitors for free advice on Freephone: 0800 163 622.

You can claim for any types of accident