United Biscuits employee’s fingers severed by industrial machine
Well known biscuit manufacturer United Biscuits, makers of McVitie’s biscuits, has received a £10,000 fine from the Health and Safety Executive after an employee lost her fingers in a mixing machine at its Halifax factory.

In a hearing at Halifax Magistrates, the court was told how the unnamed woman lost two fingers on her right hand when she attempted to clear… read more

£200,000 fine for company after man crushed to death by empty wine bottles
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has fined a distribution company £200,000 after the tragic death of a Cornish vineyard owner, killed when a delivery of empty wine bottles fell from the tail lift of a lorry he was helping to unload.  The distribution firm, Gregory Distribution, was also ordered to pay the nearly £17,000 costs of… read more

Avoiding a back injury at work – and what to do if the worst happens
In most workplaces, there are times when you might have to undertake some form of lifting.  Even in an office environment, printers need to be restocked with paper, files transported about and parcels moved from reception to the relevant department.  In other jobs, such as those involving manual work in factories, warehouses, shops or outdoors… read more

New Health and Safety Executive figures released today
The number of workers being killed in accidents at work has fallen to its lowest ever level, according to new figures released by the Health and safety Executive for the period between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2010.  The provisional statistics released by the HSE for 2009/2010 show that 151 people lost their lives whilst at work.  This compares with 178… read more

Solicitor behind Corby toxic waste case criticises Jackson report
The solicitor behind the landmark Corby birth defects case has criticised proposals to reform the way compensation claims and other types of litigation are paid for.  Des Collins, a senior partner at Collins Solicitors, the firm which represented 19 people affected by the toxic chemicals present in the soil around a disused steelworks in the Northamptonshire town of Corby, said that… read more

New system of compensation for sick and dying workers is a priority, say lawyers
“All employees have the right to go to work and come home unharmed.  But when they are injured or made ill by their employers, they must be able to claim fair compensation for their injuries.”  This is the message from Muiris Lyons, president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), who has called on the… read more

Government responds to report into construction site accidents
The government has announced its response to Rita Donaghy’s 2009 report into deaths and injuries in the UK construction industry.  The Donaghy report, titled ‘One Death is too Many – Inquiring into the Underlying Causes of Construction Fatal Accidents’, was commissioned in 2008 to look at the underlying causes of fatal accidents in construction over the last quarter of a century.  23… read more