Accidents at Work*
The Colour Supplement
It is intended to more clearly explain legal issues to victims of personal injury.
Back Injury
Accidents from errors in manual handling are the commonest source of injury in Irish workplaces.
Vagrants and Citizens
There are many important issues which are never discussed on doorsteps with political candidates at election time, but ought to be.
Shake, Rattle & Roll
Vibration would not be readily seen, by workers, as a danger to health in the workplace. It is, and the injury can be serious.
Chemical Hazards at Work
A toxic chemical is a poison. The poison may enter the body through the skin and not simply by the obvious routes of ingestion or breathing. Effects may not be immediate; a chemical may have a chronic effect, rather than an immediate acute effect.
Repetitive Strain Injury
Assembly workers in some employments may be exposed to very high repetitions of movements daily. The condition may have different names; Synovitis, Bursitis, Tenosynovitis, Tendinitis, Peritendinitis, Epicondylitis or even Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
Skin Disease
It is generally agreed that skin disease is the commonest occupationally-caused disease.
Fighting (2)
For the Plaintiff, “fighting” did not require him to give evidence; the case was run purely on legal arguments. Although the judgement of the three-judge Court of Appeal was unanimous in his favour, the legal arguments were sufficiently cogent to defeat him in first instance (and to have attracted the Defendants’ lawyers to the course of action they took, in the first instance).
Employers’ Duties
An employer owes duties to employees under Common Law and statute. The common law duties have been developed by the courts as they decide cases on accidents at work.
Fighting (1)
Litigation lawyers fight. If a lawyer is not generally fighting, he/she is not in litigation. Sometimes the lawyer is fighting for a plaintiff and sometimes the lawyer is fighting for the defendant.