Health & Safety
Personal Injury – Skin Disease
It is generally agreed that skin disease is the commonest occupationally-caused disease.
Personal Injury – Airway Irritations
Irritations of the airways and lungs can vary from mild to acute and the agents are numerous.
Personal Injury – Pneumoconiosis
The pneumoconioses are caused by the inhalation of dust.
Personal injury – Asthma
For Employers’ duties see HERE Asthma is not well understood, and occupational asthma is frequently defined in terms of exclusion from other definitions. It consists of a constriction of the airways resulting in shortness of breath, sometimes accompanied by hay fever-like reactions or a cough or both. These symptoms can be mild or severe in degree. An attack of asthma can be very distressing, on occasions requiring hospitalization and can last up to 2 hours. They vary in frequency, but […]
Personal Injury – Lung diseases
Breathing is the most common avenue for the introduction of poisons or harmful agents into the human system.
Personal Injury – Vibration
For Employers’ duties see HERE Vibration is a common and infrequently recognised cause of injury. It is an avoidable result of using many industrial tools such as chain saws, grinding, sanding, hammering or polishing tools. Apart from general effects such as nausea, giddiness or an inability to focus, all caused by vibration to the entire body, it can damage nerves and blood vessels and deaden a limb such as fingers or hands in “whitefinger”. As the name suggests the first […]
Personal Injury – Pressure while diving or tunnelling
For Employers’ duties see HERE Pressure is experienced most commonly in diving and tunnelling. Commercial diving and tunnelling are very dangerous occupations in themselves without the designed, pressured environment representing a further hazard to the worker. Tunnelling is also performed under pressure in an enclosed chamber, called a caisson, at the face of the tunnelling. The caisson keeps out underground water. Divers suffering from “the bends” are the stuff of emergencies in comic books; unfortunately it can happen in real […]
Personal Injury – Chemicals
For Employers’ duties see HERE Chemical-induced effects on the human body are of infinite variety, depending on the chemical, the level of exposure, the length and type of exposure and the constitution of the victim. In addition, if exposure to more than one chemical occurs, the chemicals may together have a different and amplified effect than that which they would have singly (“Synergy”). The following is a list of possible hazardous properties of chemicals ; • Corrosive • Explosive • […]
Personal Injury – Chemicals & Metals Generally
Chemicals & Metals See HERE for the Employers’ duties The chemical industry, worldwide. has expanded enormously in quantity of output since the beginning of the last century. The variety of its products has increased considerably since the end of the Second World War. Worldwide, the industry generates turnover of $1,000 billion every year. In addition to this enormous turnover, it regularly shifts product emphasis, accelerating the production and variety of some types of chemicals and shedding others. The industry focused […]
Personal Injury – Asbestos
Mesothelioma is a form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Typically, persons contracting it in their employment have worked for more than one employer in an industry resulting in exposure to asbestos. Therefore a cause of action may lie against all the employers. This liability will be joint and several; ie even if only one employer still subsists, that employer will be fully liable subject to the principle in Brett v Reading University, CA (Civ Div) 14/02/2007 Here, the […]