Lawford Kidd's Blog

InjuriesBoard.ie has published a review of workplace accidents in Ireland in 2011 that shows compensation totalling €22.5million (2010: €25.1million) was awarded in respect of 830 (2010: 889 awards) personal injury workplace claims.

Accidents in the workplace accounted for 8.4% of all personal injury awards in 2011, compared to 11% of all awards in 2010. The decrease in the number of claims for workplace accidents last year reflects the reduced numbers in employment during the period.

Key findings of the review include:

• Men are twice as likely as women to receive an award for a workplace accident - accounting for 70% of all awards (2010: 75%) versus 30% of awards to women (2010: 25%). However, the number of women receiving awards has increased by 5% due to their increased presence in the workforce during the recession.
• Men received an average compensation award of €27,246 (2010: €28,924) compared to €26,771 (2010: €25,876) for women.
• Thursday is deemed the most dangerous workday while Sunday is considered the safest, due to the smaller proportion of people in the workplace at weekends.
• November is the most dangerous month for workplace accidents, while April is the safest.

On Saturday 28th April, unions and safety campaigners around the world will be marking Workers' Memorial Day and remembering the two million men and women who die every year as a result of work-related accidents and diseases.

In the UK over 20,000 people die prematurely every year as a result of injuries or accidents caused by their work. As well as remembering the dead, the day also serves as a reminder that workplace-related deaths are not inevitable and can be prevented.

This year the TUC is calling on unions and safety campaigners to make 28th April a day of action to defend health and safety from attacks by the press, politicians and employers.

An Edmonton-based recycling company has been fined for failing to protect employees working with lead.

The company had bought and was stripping some lead-sheathed copper cabling from British Telecom after the network began to be changed from copper to fibre optic cable.

An investigation carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that more than 90 workers - most of whom were Romanian - were significantly exposed to lead as a result of this process.

One in four call centre agents suffer voice problems because managers are failing to properly protect their health, a health and safety body has said.

A new study, commissioned by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) found that call handlers had suffered one or more of a range of ill-effects because of their work, including voice loss, sore throats and breathlessness.

Around one in ten were diagnosed with a voice problem, while a tenth said their work was now suffering because of the stress placed on their vocal cords. More than one in three call agents said that their voice was hoarse often or very often.

With effect from 6th April, employers no longer have to report to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) injuries which keep workers off normal duties for seven or fewer days. Previously, injuries had to be reported if they kept workers off normal duties for more than three days.

The change to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995 will see a fall of around 30% in the number of incidents that must be reported by law – an average of around 30,000 fewer reports a year. The move is estimated to save businesses 10,000 hours a year.

Employers will also be given a longer period in which to report, increasing from 10 to 15 days from the time of the incident.