Lawford Kidd's Blog

As many as 86% of company car fleets have experienced an accident in the past 12 months, according to a recent report by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM).

The report was commissioned in autumn 2014, and produced a number of interesting findings, including:

• Only 14% of fleets confirmed they had not had any vehicle incidents in their fleet in the last 12 months.
• Every fleet had suffered on-road incidents that were caused by their driver, i.e. an ‘at fault’ incident.
• Only 33% of fleets said at-fault drivers faced some sort of punitive measure, i.e. fine, excess payments, etc.
• Over half said they didn’t offer any post-incident driver training as a means of reducing the risk of repeat incidents.

According to Government figures, between 2008 and 2013 3,493 people were killed in accidents involving a driver/rider driving for work, including 515 in 2013.

A teenager lost the ability to read and write following a road traffic accidentt after he suffered from whiplash. A report, published by the British Medical Journal, stated that the type of injuries sustained by the victim of the crash in 2004 are the only kind to ever be seen.

The 19-year-old believed he had escaped the accident unscathed despite hitting his head, however found that he was unable to understand words on the television following the incident, describing them as “alien symbols”.

“Extremely Rare”

Over the next few months, the victim lost the ability to read and write entirely, with a brain scan revealing that he had suffered from a cyst in his brain, causing him to lose his memory. The teen, now in his late 30s, has since taught himself to read and write once more, and completed university.

A Scottish Firm located in Moray, Scotland has been fined £6,666 following one of its employees being burned in a flash fire.

The employee who was aged 49 at the time of the incident, was burned as he opened the door to a shed where a pressure washer was kept. Upon opening the door, the smoke inside ignited which quickly burned the employee. He had approached said shed after seeing smoke escaping.

Businesses across Scotland, and throughout the UK, are being encouraged support a campaign aimed at preventing the risks of occupational cancers.

According to Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), the organisation behind the No Time to Lose campaign, the decisions which businesses and their respective health and safety experts make today with regards to controlling exposure to dangerous carcinogens in the workplace, will help to save lives in the future.

McDonalds are facing an investigation after 28 workplace injury complaints were launched against the company in 19 cities.

The complaints, which were filed with the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration state that many of the injuries employees sustained when working were preventable. Employees cited restaurants being understaffed and an emphasis on working quickly as some of the key reasons for the high number of injuries.

The company could face fines of up to £50,000.for each offence.