Lawford Kidd's Blog

In a judgment delivered last week, Lord Woolman awarded three grandchildren significant damages for the death of their grandfather, Russell Stuart.

In 2011, Mr Stuart died of injuries sustained in a car accident in Aberdeen. Although the personal injury claims of his widow and three adult children were settled, no agreement could be reached about claims made on behalf of his three grandchildren, two of whom were aged 5 and 3 at the time of the accident, and another not born until five months after the accident.

In the case (Stuart & Ors v Reid [2014] CSOH 117A), the woman driving the car and her insurance company contended that the two older grandchildren receive £4,000 each and the youngest £2,000, while Mr Stuart's family sought £25,000 for each child. The court found a middle ground between the proposed amounts, although admittedly far more in favour of the grandchildren.

A roofing company from Bristol has recently appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, where it pled guilty to failing to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to its employees when working at heights after an employee fell through a roof light.

The incident happened in July last year at a warehouse in Gorgie Park Road, Edinburgh, where three employees of the roofing company were carrying out patch repairs on the flat roof of the vacant warehouse.

The case was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which found that the risk assessment carried out was not appropriate for the task, and that the system of work was unsafe. The HSE concluded that the accident could have been avoided had reasonably practicable precautions been taken.

A new study conducted at the University of Stirling suggests that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is not doing enough to protect workers against harmful silica dust.

The study showed that silica dust, which can be created from use of stone, concrete, rock, plaster, brick, mortar and industrial sand is extremely harmful, with 1,000 workers being at risk of death from the dust every year.

Occupational cancer death is the main concern according to the University of Stirling’s Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety Research Group (OEHSRG), with this type of dust being the second major cause of cancer after asbestos. However, many other illnesses are associated with exposure and inhalation to crystalline silica, including silicosis, kidney disease, tuberculosis, arthritis and chronic pulmonary disease.  

Health and safety at construction sites continues to be a cause for concern after a national targeted inspection focusing on health risks for construction workers saw enforcement action taken at one in six of the sites that were visited.

During a concentrated two-week period of proactive inspections, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) demanded improvements, and in some cases put an immediate stop to work activities, where they fell short of expected standards.

Inspectors focused on significant health risk issues, such as respiratory risks from dusts containing silica materials, exposure to other hazardous substances such as cement and lead paint, manual handling, noise and vibration.

The number of road deaths and serious injuries involving at-work drivers and riders in the United Kingdom shows that improving occupational road safety should be priority.

These were the findings of a recently compiled strategic review into the management of occupational road risk, which was undertaken by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) together with the Centre for Transport Studies at University College London (UCL).

The review, commissioned by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), aims to help employers prepare their staff for the risks on the road, but also to educate the public on the risks that at-work drivers pose to other road users.