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| Article by Dave Koon Koon |
In yet another
blow to the genuinely injured individual the laws which cover many of the
aspects of an employer’s liability to their employee, should an accident happen
at work, are changing from October 2013.
There will be
many changes that will affect the prospects of success of claims being made by
those injured at work and one of these changes is the removal of the
requirement that the employer must prove that they have taken steps that are
‘reasonably practicable’ to ensure that their employee is not injured at work.
At present it is
for the employer to prove that they have taken all reasonably practicable steps
to reduce the risk of injury to its lowest level in compliance with whichever
regulation or statute is relevant to the circumstances. It is not for the
injured employee to do this.
Following the
changes in October 2013 it will be more than likely up to the injured employee
to prove that the employer failed to take all reasonably practicable steps to
reduce that risk to its lowest level in order to comply with the relevant
regulation or statute. This will in turn lead to increased expense for the injured
party as additional expert evidence will be required to prove their case.
Another
particularly significant change is the removal of ‘strict liability’ from the
various Health & Safety regulations. An example of how this works is that at
present, if an employee is injured at work, through no fault of their own,
whilst using machinery or tools, which are defective or faulty and that work
equipment has been provided by their employer then their employer will be
liable to compensate the injured employee for their injury, regardless of
whether the employer had knowledge of any problem with the equipment.
Following the
changes to the Health & Safety regulations in October 2013 ‘strict
liability’ will have been removed which means that should an employee be
injured at work by defective or faulty equipment, provided by their employer,
then the employee will have to prove that their employer was negligent in
providing that equipment. This change will therefore shift the burden of
proving the case to the injured employee who has done nothing wrong.
If you have been
involved in an accident at work please contact me on 01992 422 128 or at dave@gardenhousesolicitors.co.uk
for further advice and assistance.
www.gardenhousesolicitors.co.uk
Tel: 01992 422 128
Email: info@gardenhousesolicitors.co.uk
The contents of this article are intended for general information purposes only and shall not be deemed to be, or constitute legal advice. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss as a result of acts or omissions taken in respect of this article.
Accidents are a part of life and it can happen in any business. It is the legal responsibility of all the people at workplace to be concerned about the safety at workplace. In case you are injured because of the carelessness of your employer, then you should make a claim for the accident if you are not responsible for the accident. It is equally important that all the accidents should be reported on time to the employer and evidences should be collected about the accidents. If accident is a result of your employer’s mistake as he has not taken effective steps or changed the machinery or tools that were defective and something bad happens, then he is only liable for it. If you want to know more about accidents at work, then you can visit this blog http://www.personalinjuryclaimsspecialists.co.uk/blog/accidents-at-work/
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