Preston Injury Solicitors Highlight Work Related Accidents Numbers In Lancashire

More people are injured in work related accidents in Lancashire than in any other areas throughout the North West, or the whole country, according to a new analysis of official data by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP).

Last year there over 10,000 injuries in the workplace were reported due to slips and trips, estimated to cost businesses a total of £521,000,000.

In so many cases, these types of accidents could easily be prevented if the correct action has been taken by the employer.

In Jan 2011, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) released a plea to employers to make health and safety a priority going forward.

According to the Health and Safety Executive, in 2010 more than 300 work related incidents occurred across the North West each week, an annual total of 16,385 people being injured or resulting in fatal accidents.

The HSE hope this figure will be a reminder to employers and staff to make their workplaces safer moving forward and drastically improve casualty rates.

In 2010 the Health and Safety Executive prosecuted North West firms for 100 breaches for health and safety legislation, taking action against hundreds of businesses by issuing them with Prohibition and Improvement Notices.

David Sowerby, Regional Director for the North West said:
“Behind these statistics are the real life stories of thousands of workers suffering injuries and ill health. Together with their families, they have to deal with real hardship, pain and suffering.

“The New Year is an opportune time to reflect on the number of incidents in the past 12 months, and to take positive action to improve conditions in workplaces. “The main causes of fatal incidents nationally remain falls from height and from workplace transport, with the highest numbers being found in the construction and agriculture sectors. For other injuries, slips and trips and incidents affecting the back and upper limbs are the most common cause.

“Most of these injuries are entirely preventable. We implore businesses to take practical action to manage the risks people face in their day-to-day work.” Britain boasts one of the best health and safety records in Europe but with 180 workplace deaths nationally last year, HSE says there is still much to be done.

Dr Sowerby added:

“Simple measures, including the assessment of workplace risks to identify improvements, and providing training and instruction to workers, can and do prevent many incidents. Involving the workforce in this process has been shown to have significant success.

“HSE works with a number of partners to provide free advice and guidance to those both carrying out and managing work. We want businesses and the self-employed to work with us to help reduce injuries and make the North West a safer and healthier place to work.

“Every employee has the right to return home from work safely and without their health affected and I hope all employers in the North West share that view and take steps to ensure that is the case.”

Many people who have suffered a work related injury go onto seek the legal advice and guidance from a personal injury solicitor about pursuing an accident at work claim.

Lancashire based personal injury firm, PHC Law Ltd, help thousands of people every year throughout the North West and the UK to recover from injuries they have sustained whilst at work, recovering millions of pounds in compensation.

A spokesman from PHC Law said: “If someone has suffered an accident at work within the past three years, they are entitled by law to seek the legal advice and guidance from a personal injury solicitor. It is their employer’s duty of care and responsibility to ensure the health and safety of their employees. Employers who are found to be in breach of this are breaking the law”

“In this climate, many people feel reluctant to pursue a claim for compensation, fearful of losing their jobs if they made a claim, or concerned about the financial loss they will suffer because they are unable to work”

“We help thousands of people throughout Preston, the North West and the UK, recovering compensation for the pain suffering and affect the injury has had on their day-to-day lifestyle and also access the compensation amounts they are entitled to for any financial loss they have suffered. Severe injuries can often be disabling, affected their future employment prospects and lifestyle. Not only do we set out to achieve the maximum amount of compensation they deserve, we also arrange for any medical rehabilitation they might require and access their financial circumstances, recovering compensation for any financial losses they have also suffered”

PHC Law Ltd are one of the UK’s leading ‘No win, No fee’ solicitors. For more information, please visit phclaw.com or call free on 0800 612 7 612.

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PHC Law Supports RoSPA’s Lighter Evening Campaign

RoSPA has been calling for many years for a move to a system called “Single/Double Summer time” (SDST), which would put the clocks one hour ahead of GMT in winder and two hours ahead of GMT throughout the summer months.

The campaign has been launched to improve road safety and the number of fatalities and people that are injured on the roads, being the key aim behind RoSPA’s campaign.

Research found a move to SDST could reduce road death by around 80 per cent every year and serious injuries by around 212 per year.

A spokesperson from PHC Law personal injury solicitors said:

“Our Road Traffic Accident Solicitors recover millions of pounds in compensation every year from people who have sustained a whiplash injury, been involved public transport accidents through to pedestrians and cyclists who have been involved in an accident”.

“The main benefit of SDST will help to protect not only motorists and pedestrians but vulnerable road users like children and the elderly, making them more visible to motorists”

“Children are often a high-risk in regards to road traffic accidents, they tend to go straight to school in a morning but often participate in after school activities, increasing their exposure to road dangers in the evenings. It is vital in any case for motorcyclists and pedestrians to ensure they can be seen and for motorists to watch their speed and be aware of vulnerable road users like pedestrians, children and the elderly at any time of the day or night”

“If SDST is enforced, hopefully this will drastically improve the amount of people who are involved in road traffic accidents each year, especially children”.

Tom Mularkley, RosPA chief executive said: “We need to keep the momentum behind this long-running campaign. In view of the reports published in 2009, plus casualty data, we will continue to call a change which, we believe, would save lives and reduce injuries.

“More pedestrians are killed and injured in the afternoon and early evening than in the morning. Therefore, by moving to SDST, vulnerable road users like children walking home from school would have an extra hour of daylight in which to make their journeys.

“It is time for the issue to come off the shelf and for the full implications to be considered.”

RoSPA recommends a trial is run for 2-3 years to provide objective, up-to-date evidence about the effects of SDST, also recommending that it would enable the public, industry and business sectors to experience the change for themselves.

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Prominent Labor Litigation Economist Joins BLDS, LLC

Labor Economist Christopher Erath, Ph.D., has joined the national statistical and economic consulting firm BLDS, LLC as a director. Dr. Erath will consult with BLDS clients on issues arising in litigation, including class-action certification, liability in employment-discrimination claims, wage-and-hour claims and economic damages. Dr. Erath has written extensively on labor and employment litigation and has testified on labor and employment issues in over 30 matters.

Bernard R. Siskin, Ph.D., founder and head director of BLDS, LLC, said Dr. Erath affords BLDS clients added depth. “In addition to significant experience in the analysis of statistical liability and damages in labor matters, Dr. Erath has directed research on antitrust issues, including patent-infringement damages. He also has significant experience in regulatory hearings. He is a welcome addition to our firm.”

Dr. Erath previously served as senior vice president of NERA Economic Consulting. He earned his doctorate in Economics at the University of Wisconsin.

About BLDS, LLC: For nearly 40 years, the nationally recognized statistics and economics experts of BLDS, LLC have advised law firms and their clients — including Fortune 500 corporations, government agencies, and privately held enterprises — on a wide variety of issues requiring quantitative expertise and coherent explanation.

Led by Bernard R. Siskin, Ph. D., BLDS statistical experts provide independent expert analysis in applied statistics and effectively communicate both the results and implications. They have been retained in matters of employment discrimination including hiring, promotion, compensation, reductions-in-force, and class action certification. BLDS experts are frequently retained to analyze the work force impact of planned management actions in an effort to minimize litigation exposure.

BLDS’s rigorous statistical approach has also been applied to questions of credit discrimination, wage and hour disputes, and insurance issues.

BLDS economic experts provide litigation support and advisory services on economic damages in commercial, employment and tort actions. They are also recognized experts in business valuation theory and practice, including valuation discounts and premiums.

BLDS experts have been appointed by courts as neutral experts and have testified before arbitration panels, and in federal and state courts, including the Delaware Court of Chancery.

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Shoosmiths Appoints David Palmer as New Head of Access Legal

Shoosmiths has announced it has appointed David Palmer has the new head of its consumer legal services operation Access Legal. David has been appointed to drive Access Legal forward after a successful first 18 months.

David will be taking over from the current head of consumer services, Judith Dorkins, who has worked for Shoosmiths for 20 years, and spent months helping to develop and launch Access Legal.

Judith Dorkins, who is retiring to pursue other interests, commented on David taking over from her: “David is an experienced business leader who had developed success across a wide range of sectors and for some of the most challenging and innovative international companies.

“He has just the skills we were looking for to take Access Legal to the next level in the journey to become a leading and trusted provider of high quality legal services to consumers.”

David Palmer, new head of consumer services, Access Legal, commented: “This is a wonderful challenge at what is an exciting time for the consumer legal services market. To be the leading player as we intend in this brave new world we must offer legal expertise coupled with traditional service values, delivered in a modern way that deploys the best practices from other fast-moving consumer sectors. I’m looking forward to making this happen.”

Before moving to Access Legal, David has enjoyed a wide ranging career, including roles such as director of the UK personal cards business of Citigroup, international marketing head for US private equity and investment banking group Robert W Baird, and head of personal customer marketing for Royal Bank of Scotland’s card division.

Access Legal was first launched in February 2010, and marked its first year anniversary at the start of 2011 with an impressive set of launch-year statistics.

It recorded a 178% increase in direct enquiries, saw web enquiries up more than 100%, staff referrals and member claims climbed from 1% to 11% and it experienced 25 times more enquiries through recommendations.

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Access Legal from Shoosmiths joins the Institute of Customer Service

Access Legal from Shoosmiths has announced it has joined the Institute of Customer Service, making it the first top 30 legal services firm to do so.

The national law firm believes that becoming a member of the Institute of Customer Service will help support its key strategic aim of delivering the highest levels of client and customer service.

Access Legal provides a variety of services including personal injury claims, and considers customer service to be extremely important. The team at Access Legal aim to be friendly, supportive and caring and treat each client as a real person rather than a ‘case’.

Claire Rowe, chief executive of Shoosmiths, commented: “One of Shoosmiths’ central tenets is that only the very best customer service is good enough.

“And while we’re proud of the service levels we’ve already achieved, we’re the first to acknowledge that there’s always room for improvement.

“We must make sure everyone at the firm is committed to delivering great customer service all the time, which is why we’re rolling out an Institute-associated people development programme, to ensure client service is understood at all levels of the firm.

“One of the reasons we chose to join the Institute is because it’s recognised as the leading body in its field by so many of our clients. And it would be wonderful to think that as the first top 30 law firm to join it, we might just be setting a new benchmark for the legal industry.”

The Institute of Customer Service is an independent, professional membership body for customer service. It aims to be the first port of call for every aspect of customer service, so that its customers can improve their business performance and their overall customer experience.

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