No win no fee solicitors warn workers of snow dangers
With the snow wreaking havoc last month and sightings of more snow this February, no win no fee solicitors have urged bosses to keep their employees save.
The warning comes after several compensation claims for personal injury whilst at the workplace have been filed, due to the ice and inadequate safety.
Recently one worker had to quit his job after he fell on ice at a plants car park that wasn’t gritted, and as a result received serious injuries. His employer admitted public liability and settled a six-figure-sum outside of court.
With a rise in such injuries, it is no surprise that Royal Mail have issued their postmen with metal chains to wear on their feet during the winter weather – as a precaution.
Across the UK delivery workers were offered the chains to pull over their shoes after it was feared they could fall on the snow and ice, causing a severe injury. Postal bosses also hope the chains will help staff to deliver parcels and letters on time.
The chains are clipped over the front and back of the boots of a worker so the metal links of the chain cover the whole of the sole.
This has the effect of creating gripping, with the links biting into the snow and ice to give the user a much firmer footing, similar to the way car drivers use wheel chains in treacherous weather conditions.
One postman, 36, who works in Dartford, Kent, said: “When I first put got the chains and put them on, I thought they looked a bit stupid and that it might look a bit foolish.
“But in actual fact, they've proved to be very useful. I haven't slipped once. Usually during the cold weather it can take twice or three times as long to delivery everything I have to. But with the chains, I can complete the round in the same time that I usually would.”
Royal Mail spokesman Nick Martins stated: “The chains are available to any staff who want them. We don't issue them in a blanket fashion, but they are available to anyone wants them. We are constantly looking at way of making deliveries safer and more effective.”
Icy pavements
In similar news, Scarborough residents may need to call their injury lawyers, after streets and roads in the region were covered with ice this week.
One of the worst affected roads was Oxford Street in the area. One resident said: “I think it’s terrible – after the snow last month I didn’t expect it to come back with a vengeance like this.”
His neighbour, 50, called for the council to send out the gritters: “It’s a nightmare. I’ve been having to hold on to the walls and railings to get anywhere – you can’t stay on your feet otherwise. I don’t have a car, so even getting to the shops has been awful – I don’t know how older people manage.
“It’s really frightening. I think we should be gritting the smaller roads and pavements as well as the main ones. The snow started on Friday, it should have been sorted by now.”
A 21-year-old agreed, saying: “It’s horrendous – I’ve seen grit on one side street and that’s it. They should get the gritters out – but they’re running out of grit aren’t they?”
Work started on Scarborough’s road system at 3.30am on Saturday with specially called-in workers clearing the streets with ploughs. Pre-gritting had been carried out on Friday evening, and gritting of priority one roads began on Saturday.
Andrew Backhouse, Scarborough Council’s cabinet member for highways, said that it was a matter of priorities: “I know people are concerned about the state of the footpaths – I fell over myself this morning when I was taking my son to school.
“I know the state of them is a real inconvenience but we’ve only got so many staff – we started work as soon as we could, which was today.”
He added: “Our staff are on 24-hour call and they’re really public spirited – they wanted to get out there and help people.”
Updated on 04/02/2010