The Bill, which Prime Minister David Cameron has hailed as the biggest welfare revolution in more than 60 years, introduces an annual cap on benefits, at £26,000 per working age household, and overhauls many payments within the welfare system.

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith seemed relieved that the Bill had finally passed saying: “This bill reforms every part of our welfare system and I look forward to implementing the changes our country badly needs.”

However, a report from the Joint Committee on Human Rights has warned that the bill’s changes to the benefit system could result in disabled people losing their right to independent living. These MPs worry that the ‘cumulative impact’ of welfare reforms could force some people out of their homes.

People who fall ill or have a serious accident, and have to take prolonged time off work will be negatively affected by the plans to replace Disability Living Allowance with Personal Independence Payment, by changes to Employment and Support Allowance, and will get less help from the Universal Credit during the first six months of their illness than they would get at present.

Also, people with a disability trying to work will be negatively affected by the plans to replace Disability Living Allowance with Personal Independence Payment, and will get less help from the Universal Credit than they would get at present, as the Universal Credit does not reflect help currently available to disabled people through Working Tax Credits.

Many have called for an immediate assessment on the feasibility of a law that properly enshrines the rights of disabled people to lead an independent life into UK law.

A document outlining how people might be affected by the reforms has been published by the Citizen’s Advice Bureau and can be read here.

A total of 56 enforcement notices were issued at 42 sites, either stopping work immediately or requiring improvements to be made. Nearly half of these enforcement notices concerned unsafe work being carried out at height – which is not just a problem construction sites. In February 2009, Mr Mohammed Hashim, 76 fell from 4 metre through a roof and landed on a concrete floor. He was treated at the scene but died two weeks later. Quality Exhaust Supplies and Fitting Service Ltd, which owns the garage, were prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for failing to ensure Mr Hashim’s safety. See our blog: Roof Prosecution.

Many of our client’s have been injured on construction sites, or as a result of falls from height and it is all too clear that whilst there are some very good employers, some simply don’t prioritise the safety of their employees resulting in hundreds of workers being seriously injured every year.

Construction remains one of Britain’s most dangerous industries. During 2010-11, 117 serious injuries were reported in the construction industry in Greater Manchester, with 7 deaths and 308 serious injuries across the whole of the North West.

Inspectors will focus on high-risk activities, such as working at height, as well as structural stability, fire safety and asbestos. With their ultimate aim being to prevent workplace deaths, injuries and illness on construction sites.

In February 2009, Mr Hashim was helping to fix a new advertising sign to the roof of the garage and was asked to climb on the roof to do this. Once the work was finished, he made his way back across the roof to the ladder when the skylight gave way. He fell 4 metres and landed on a concrete floor in the MOT bay below. He did not regain consciousness and died two weeks later in hospital.

The HSE investigation found Mr Hashim had been warned about the fragile roof by the owner of the company and no action was taken to keep him safe by preventing him accessing the area.

Speaking after the hearing, Matt Greenly, the investigating inspector at HSE, said:

“It’s almost unbelievable that Mohammed Hashim was asked to climb onto the roof when the owner of Quality Exhaust knew it wasn’t safe.

“It simply isn’t good enough to warn someone about a danger if no action is taken to prevent it. The company should have found another way of installing the sign without putting lives at risk.

“Instead, Mr Hashim has sadly lost his life because not enough thought was given to his safety while he was working for the company.”

Quality Exhaust Supplies and Fitting Service Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay £3,000 in prosecution costs on 16 February 2012.

We are pleased to announce that we are now an APIL accredited practice. As an accredited firm, we will provide you with legal assistance if you have had a personal injury, or contracted an illness or disease caused by someone else’s negligence. We make commit to:

• Act in your best interests at all times
• Always give clear and honest advice with your welfare in mind
• Keep up to date with all the latest legal developments to help deal with our cases successfully
• Ensure that all staff are provided with training opportunities to improve their skills and knowledge, and meet the needs of our clients
• Maintain our consistent high standard of client care throughout the firm

APIL accreditation is overseen by an independent Academic Quality Council, and the scheme has been running since 1999, so it is well-established, with great credentials.

The Prime Minister is expected to discuss raising the threshold on whiplash claims, including: the setting up a panel of experts to sign off whiplash injuries, introducing an impact speed limit of 15mph below which a whiplash injury cannot be claimed and imposing a financial threshold to as a deterrent for ‘nuisance’ claims.

Insurers will call for better training, zero alcohol limit for young drivers (who currently pay the highest premiums as they are statistically more likely to crash), and are expected to demand a statutory reduction in the fixed legal fees paid to personal injury lawyers as part of a wider ban on referral fees.

As to the impact on premiums? I think it would be naive to say that a reduction in the number in whiplash compensation claims would actually result in a reduction to premiums. Insurers will just find another reason to keep their premiums high to ensure a profit and in the meantime, the government will take steps to restrict people’s access to justice…again.

Chloe Shivraj, Graduate Member of ILEX

If you or a member of your family have been involved in a road traffic accident and would like a free, no obligation discussion, contact us direct on 0800 2800 094 or complete our contact form and one of our RTA team will get in touch with you.

Having been established in April 2010, the portal was designed for low value RTA claims (up to £10,000) and there are concerns that the government has not factored in the reality of the difference in the nature of cases that are greater in value than the portal currently allows for. No comments have been made as to whether the portal will be adapted to reflect this.

In addition, the government has made no comment on the potential increased costs relating to this. They seem to be suggesting that solicitors undertake the same work for a case that is worth £25,000 as they would have for £10,000. This has the potential to put a Claimant, whose claim falls between £10,000 and £25,000 at a disadvantage and potentially be undercompensated as there is a risk that some firms (those of less integrity) that will treat cases in a more commercial manner.

For non personal injury, the limit for small claims will be increased from £5,000 to £10,000 and for county court cases from £15,000 to £100,000.

These changes come as part of government’s response to Ministry of Justice consultation paper Solving Disputes in the County Courts which was originally due in October.

Simon Leighton, Managing Partner

Our injury claims team work with a wide range of accident related cases. If you or a member of your family have been injured in a road traffic accident, an accident at work or in a public place, see how Croftons can help you and contact Simon direct. Alternatively, you can complete our contact form and one of our injury claims specialists will get in touch with you.

It had originally been scheduled to take effect in October 2012, but speculation had been growing that the timetable was too tight to have everything in place to enable businesses to be ready for the changes.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman has said: “We are committed to reforming the ‘no win no fee’ system so that legal costs for reasonable compensation claims will be more proportionate, and avoidable claims will be deterred from going to court.”

If you want to discuss any of the above further or want to find out how Croftons can help you, contact our injury claims team free on 0800 2800 094 or complete our contact form.

Leaving the cafe in the late afternoon to go to the ladies’ rest room, Mrs H noticed that the ground was still wet but she did not realise it had frozen. She slipped, injuring her ankle badly and was unable to stand up. No one was present to help so she used her mobile phone to call for assistance.

“Heeding the weather forecast could have prevented this accident,” said Lee Jones, a Personal Injury Specialist at Croftons. “As part of our investigations, we checked that day’s weather forecast and, indeed, icy conditions had been forecast. The garden centre had been negligent in allowing water to remain on the ground when icy conditions were forecast and in not spreading any grit, displaying signs or erecting barriers to avoid the type of accident which occurred.”

  Lee Jones, Partner

The statistics published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show that in Britain between April 2010 and March 2011:

• 24,726 major injuries were reported, such as amputations, fractures and burns, to employees – a rate of 99 injuries per 100,000 workers – compared with 26,268 in 2009/10.
• 90,653 other injuries serious enough to keep people off work for four or more days were reported – a rate of 363.1 injuries per 100,000 workers – down from 96,427 the previous year.
• An estimated 1.2 million people said they were suffering from an illness caused or made worse by their work, down from 1.3 million in 2009/10. Of these, 500,000 were new illnesses occurring in-year.
• 171 workers fatally injured – up from 147 the previous year.

The new data confirms that Britain continues to have the lowest rate of fatal occupational injuries in Europe as well as one of the lowest levels of work-related ill health.

Judith Hackitt, HSE’s Chair, said:

“The fall in the number of people being injured by work is of course to be welcomed but we did also see an increase in the number of fatalities during the year. Britain can be proud that it has one of the best health and safety records in Europe but as the increase in the number of fatalities makes clear we can never let up in our commitment to addressing the serious risks which continue to cause death and injury in workplaces. HSE will continue to work with employers, employees and other organisations to maintain and, where necessary improve, health and safety standards. We all have a responsibility to make sure serious workplace risks are sensibly managed.”