‘Army only paid me £5k for my combat hearing loss’ – BBC News
‘A veteran has accused the Army of not doing enough to help with the hearing loss he said developed during his service.’
BBC News, 25th February 2025
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Category: industrial injuries
Family tributes as rail firm fined £4m for deaths – BBC News
‘The families of two workers who were struck and killed by a train following safety failures have spoken of the “irreplaceable void” in their lives as Network Rail is fined nearly £4m.’
BBC News, 14th February 2025
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
MoD investigates air crew cancers after helicopter claims – BBC News
‘The government is investigating how many military personnel have been diagnosed with cancer, after claims that some helicopters left crew exposed to toxic fumes.’
BBC News, 10th February 2025
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Fine after builder paralysed while working on house – BBC News
‘A builder fears he may not be able to walk his daughters down the aisle after he was left paralysed when he fell through a ceiling. Andrew Clifford misses the simple things he used to love – the gardening, washing the car and jobs around his family home in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. Now, he says, he cannot wash or dress himself after he fell two years ago when he was working on a house for Mansfield-based Paul Freeman Ltd. The company was fined £40,000 on Monday at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court over a health and safety breach in relation to the fall.’
BBC News, 5th November 2024
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Our husbands were killed by the new asbestos’ – BBC News
‘The widows of two stonemasons who died from a lung condition contracted during their work have warned of the dangers of “new asbestos”. Paul Gray and Stuart Johnson, who worked for the same stone production companies in Bradford and Leeds, were diagnosed with silicosis caused by silica dust. Law firm Irwin Mitchell, which secured settlements for their families after their deaths in 2019 and 2021, has claimed that West Yorkshire is a hotspot for exposure to the dangerous mineral.’
BBC News, 4th November 2024
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Opine and No Punishment: Relief from Sanctions and Expert Evidence – 3 Hare Court
‘Does a late application for expert evidence in a discipline not addressed by existing directions require relief from sanctions, and with it, the formal application of the Denton test? In this article, Daniel Goldblatt and Katharine Bailey explore the practical implications of the Court of Appeal’s decision in Yesss, with a particular focus on late applications for expert evidence which may jeopardise a trial date.’
3 Hare Court, 8th August 2024
Source: www.3harecourt.com
Company fined £1m over worker’s 36ft fall – BBC News
‘A logistics company has been fined £1m after an employee fell 36ft (11 metres) on to a concrete floor.’
BBC News, 6th August 2024
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
CA rules police disablement gratuity not occupational pension scheme – Pensions Barrister
‘In Clarke v Chief Constable of Derbyshire Constabulary [2024] EWCA Civ 676, the Court of Appeal had to consider whether the employment tribunal has jurisdiction under the Equality Act 2010 to determine whether the payment of a disablement gratuity to a former police officer gives rise to unlawful discrimination, which turned on whether the gratuity constituted an “occupational pension scheme” within the meaning of s.1 of the Pension Schemes Act 1993.’
Pensions Barrister, 20th June 2024
Source: www.pensionsbarrister.com
Cuthbert and White: When the dust settles … what does it mean? – Asbestos Law
‘In this blog post, John-Paul Swoboda considers the recent case of Cuthbert, in which Michael Rawlinson KC, Max Archer and Jessica Franklin acted for the Appellant, the widow of Mr Derek Barry Cuthbert and executrix of his estate.’
Asbestos Law, 25th March 2024
Source: asbestoslawblog.uk
Pork pie firm fined £800,000 after Nottingham workers lose fingers – BBC News
‘A firm that specialises in making pork pies has been fined £800,000 after two staff members lost fingers which became trapped in machinery.’
BBC News, 25th March 2024
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
When is Relief Not Relief? – Pump Court Chambers
‘Relief from Sanctions applications continue to take up a disproportionate amount of court time both in the lower Courts and on appeal. It is rare for a week to go by without some aspect of CPR 3.9 and Denton and others v TH White Ltd and another [2014] EWCA Civ 906 (Denton) being the subject of scrutiny. The all-pervasive nature of Denton has led to such applications being made when arguably it was unnecessary or erroneously applied.’
Pump Court Chambers, 13th February 2024
Source: www.pumpcourtchambers.com
Company fined £450,000 and director and site manager sentenced following death of labourer – Crown Prosecution Service
‘A company has been fined £450,000 and the firm’s director has received a suspended prison sentence after a labourer was crushed to death at a construction site.’
Crown Prosecution Service, 15th February 2024
Source: www.cps.gov.uk
Material Contribution and Holmes v Poeton Holdings Limited: One Issue Down, More to Go – 12 King’s Bench Walk
‘Henry Charles looks at a recent decision from the Court of Appeal which settles the longstanding question of whether material contribution applies to cases of divisible injury.’
12 King's Bench Walk, 28th November 2023
Source: clinicalnegligence.blog
Silica: A Forgotten Mineral? – Ropewalk Chambers
‘According to the HSE:
Silica is a natural substance found in varying amounts in most rocks, sand and clay. For example, sandstone contains more than 70% silica, whereas granite might contain 15-30%. Silica is also a major constituent of construction materials such as bricks, tiles, concrete and mortar.
In other words, silica is virtually ubiquitous in quarrying, mining and in building materials.’
Ropwalk Chambers, 9th October 2023
Source: ropewalk.co.uk
The Reliability and Relevance of Historical Occupational Audiograms: Testing Times – Ropewalk Chambers
‘Audiometric testing of employees has played a central role in the management of risk of exposure of workers to excessive levels of noise in industry for many decades. Audiometry can detect early damage to hearing. Typically where used by prudent employers, the testing would have comprised self-recorded automated audiometry (such as Bekesy audiograms). The reliability and relevance of such historical occupational testing remains open to challenge by some medico-legal experts. This article examines the pros and cons of such historical testing in the context of assessing the merits of deafness claims where the results of such testing are at odds with more recent “diagnostic” audiograms.’
Ropewalk Chambers, 19th July 2023
Source: ropewalk.co.uk
Hinckley company fined after worker had skin ripped off hand – BBC News
‘A workwear company in Leicestershire has been fined £400,000 after an employee had the skin ripped off the palm of her hand by a machine.’
BBC News, 18th July 2023
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Manchester vape liquid firm fined after worker loses fingers and thumb – BBC News
‘A vape liquid manufacturing company has been fined £180,000 after a worker lost two fingers and a thumb while clearing a blockage in a packaging machine.’
BBC News, 20th June 2023
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The tragic cost of under-investment’: asbestos blamed for 150 deaths of school and hospital workers in England – The Guardian
‘Fresh concerns have been raised about the amount of asbestos remaining in dilapidated schools and hospitals, after new analysis found that almost 150 health and education workers were recorded as dying from cancer related to the material in recent years. According to official data, there have been 147 deaths among health and education workers since 2017. Experts believe the figure is likely to be a significant underestimate because of the way someone’s profession is recorded on death certificates.’
The Guardian, 16th April 2023
Source: www.theguardian.com
Barry v Ministry of Defence [2023] EWHC 49 (KB) – 3PB
‘On 3 March 2023, Johnson J handed down judgment in relation to former marine Mr Barry’s claim that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) caused his noise-induced hearing loss. It is the first time judicial guidance has been expressly given on the reduction factors (other than mortality) since the revised guidance in the 8th edition of the Ogden tables were published in July 2020.’
3PB, March 2023
Source: www.3pb.co.uk
Negligence and sports injuries: common threads – 12 King’s Bench Walk
‘Czernuska is the latest of a series of judgments determining whether injuries sustained during competitive sporting fixtures were caused by negligence. This blog considers the general principles and themes on liability that emerge from this kind of litigation by looking at Czernuska v King [2023] EWHC 380 (KB), Fulham Football Club v Jones [2022] EWHC 1108 (QB) and Tylicki v Gibbons [2021] EWHC 3470 (QB).’
12 King's Bench Walk, 23rd March 2023
Source: www.12kbw.co.uk
