Lawford Kidd's Blog

A worker has been left paralysed after falling almost four metres through a fragile roof light in Lauder.

Neil Knox, from East Lothian, was apparently a time served and experienced worker, but had no formal training in roof work. At the time of the incident, he was working to replace plastic roof lights on a farm shed. He doesn’t remember how he came to fall, but was found by a colleague lying on the floor beneath a roof light that had a large hole in it.

Mr Knox was airlifted to hospital with broken ribs, a broken sternum and punctured lungs. His spine was fractured in two places, damaging his spinal cord, which has left him confined to a wheelchair with no movement or sensation in his legs. He also has only 50% lung efficiency due to partial paralysis of his chest muscles.

The International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) has drafted a new international health and safety standard, aimed at reducing the impact of occupational deaths and injuries.

At a meeting in Trinidad, which was hosted by The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), the ISO published the latest draft of the new standard. Health and safety professionals from different countries, industries and cultures, were then able to discuss the proposed standard. In particular, 2,500 comments from the consultation were reviewed, clauses were examined and amendments suggested by health and safety professional from around the world.

The Recovery of Medical Costs for Asbestos Diseases (Scotland) Bill Consultation process has begun, and has been backed by Clydeside Action on Asbestos. The Bill will allow the NHS to claim back millions for costs associated with caring for those suffering from asbestos related diseases such as Mesothelioma from insurance companies who have already settled civil claims with victims and their families.

Figures published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in 2014 showed that Britain is one of the safest places to work in the EU, however with 133 deaths and over 78,000 people injured in the last year alone, just how good are the health and safety standards in the UK?

Recent statistics show that as well as numerous employees sustaining injuries in the workplace, over 1.1 million employees suffer from a work-related illness, costing society, on average, £14.2 billion a year to treat.

Illnesses in the workplace cost employers 60% more than injuries throughout the working year. The report also showed that 28.2 million working days were lost due to work-related illness and workplace injury in 2013/14.

The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has strongly recommended the implementation of a chain of controls at all times in the workplace, to ensure the avoidance of accidents involving people falling through 'doors to nowhere'.

The issue has been highlighted by IOSH after two recent serious incidents in which people fell after walking through doors without realising there was a sudden drop or void on the other side.