Author: Thompsons Solicitors

What do changes to the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 mean?

Under current law workers are afforded protections from workplace accidents by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 which applies to the whole of the UK. If an employer is found to be in breach of these regulations and someone has been injured as a result, that person has an automatic right to claim […]

Increase in drink drive casualties

The number of people killed or seriously injured as a result of drink and drive accidents has risen for the first time since 2002, according to new figures from the Department for Transport. The number of fatal drink drive accidents also increased. The statistics, which are provisional estimates for 2011, show that: Fatalities resulting from […]

Road Safety Day focuses on young drivers

The European Commission last week dedicated its Fourth European Road Safety Day to young people, recognising that, around the world, road crashes are still the biggest cause of death and disability for the age group. In 2010, 18 to 25 year-olds accounted for 19% of the 31,000 recorded EU road fatalities, despite forming only ten […]

Preparation helps when driving abroad

British drivers who are heading to the continent this summer should prepare properly, or risk joining the growing numbers who have had a road traffic accident while driving abroad. Driving abroad is a stressful experience for many British drivers. According to research from insurer Confused.com, nearly three quarters (73%) of Britons who will drive abroad […]

British road deaths rise by 3%

I was disappointed to hear that the number of people killed or seriously injured on British roads rose by 3% in 2011. It is the first rise since 2003. More worrying still is the fact that the numbers of pedestrians killed and cyclists seriously injured have also risen – by 12% and 16% respectively. The […]

Too many kids are dying on Scotland’s roads

Seven children were killed on Scotland’s roads last year, according to new figures released by Transport Scotland. This is an increase on 2010, when four children died as a result of road accidents. The figures – provisional statistics of road injury accidents and casualties reported to the police in 2011 – show that five of […]

Room for improvement, says PiP implant review

I was interested to read Lord Howe’s recent report into the response by UK regulators to the PiP breast implant scandal. This found that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Department of Health had acted properly, but that lessons needed to be learned. Problems with breast implants manufactured by the Poly […]