Pauline Smith

Mesothelioma is a cancer that develops in the lining that covers the outer surfaces of the body’s organs. Which organs are affected by mesothelioma? Usually, this disease affects the lining of the lungs, but can also...

As we enter spring - the growing season, farms become very industrious places, whether they handle livestock or grow crops and other food produce. As such, more jobs become available in the agricultural industry from spring right through the end...

1 st to 7 th April 2024 is Global Asbestos Awareness Week, and this article gives a brief overview of what you can do if you feel that you have been exposed to asbestos during your working life and what your employer is required to do to protect you...

Party season is upon us, and hundreds of thousands of people in the UK will be booking in for a bit of pampering to make sure that they are “Christmas party ready”. This is all part of the fun of getting ready for seasonal festivities, and as...

The Health and Safety Executive regularly publish press releases which focus on the outcome of prosecutions of firms whose employees are injured or even killed whilst simply going about their day to day jobs. The headlines of these articles are shocking,...

It is no surprise that slips and falls increase significantly in the workplace over the autumn and winter months. The days are shorter and people are going to and leaving work in the dark and as the weather deteriorates, ice and snow can cause...

Were you aware that the first person to be killed in the UK by a motor vehicle was Bridget Driscoll in 1896. Since that time, 5 people per day are killed on Britain’s roads, and over the course of the last century, more than half a million...

One of the roles of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is to regulate not only workplace health and safety but other bodies, such as education establishments. A recent prosecution on the 19 th of June 2023 at Southwark Crown Court, brought by the...

Another day, another story on the news about a child being terribly injured after being bitten by a dog . We are a nation of dog lovers, and the covid pandemic saw a sharp increase in people becoming dog owners, due to lockdowns imposed upon the...

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a major lung disease causing death and disability. This is the 4th leading cause of death throughout the world* – a sobering statistic. What is COPD? This is a...

Every year, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) publish figures in relation to workplace accidents recorded by them. One of the most sobering statistics they publish is the number of fatalities in the United Kingdom due to accidents at work. The...

After a difficult two years, the world is opening up again, and UK holidaymakers are venturing abroad again in their thousands. Despite news channels currently painting a bleak picture of travel chaos, this isn’t deterring those of us who have missed...

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have recently prosecuted a farmer for safety breaches which lead to the death of an 83 year old male walker, and which caused his wife serious injuries. The couple were using a public right of way across...

In April, the regulations governing personal protective equipment (PPE) are being extended. Currently, workers who are employees as defined under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 are already covered under the PPE regulations. These are workers...

The HSE recently successfully prosecuted Stafford County Council for failing to carry out regular inspections and to maintain trees on one of their public footpaths. This failure, on the part of the council, lead to the tragic death of a man, who was...

Did you know that in the last year almost 18 million working days were lost as a result of mental health issues such as depression, stress and anxiety? In fact, work related stress is the number one reason given for sick days in the...

The HSE will, on December 16th, publish their latest statistics in respect of workplace related accidents, and health and safety at work. We all know that current legislation is designed to keep employees safe in the workplace, and that a responsible...

Autumn is upon us and winter is just around the corner. Due to leaves on the ground, dark mornings and evenings, low sun, and even ice and snow, accidents are typically more likely to happen at this time of year. Surely, slipping on...

North Somerset Magistrates’ Court recently heard a case, brought about as a result of an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive, where an employee of a fencing company suffered fatal injuries after being struck by a stack of falling timber....

I’ve been lucky enough to go on holiday in the UK this year – staycationing is the new norm for many people now. A big part of a holiday is being able to go out for a nice meal, and leaving the cooking and washing up behind. ...

An investigation by the HSE into a fatal accident during a school’s evening performance for family and friends of pupils, has culminated in The Leys & St Faith’s Foundation school, based in Cambridge, pleading guilty to breaching Section...

If you live in a rented property in England which is rented from the council, from a housing association or rented from a private landlord, then you have the right to live in a home which is safe for you and your family and “fit for human...

Stress is part of modern life. Despite every conceivable gadget being invented to make our lives “easier”, we have never been so stressed. The covid pandemic has certainly contributed to people’s worry and concern in a big...

Over the last few years there have been a number of high profile stories about accidents in theme parks causing catastrophic injuries. The HSE have recently successfully prosecuted Drayton Manor Park Limited (now in administration) for causing the death of...

The UK weather doesn’t seem to be able to make its mind up, does it? Last weekend – the end of February - was reminiscent of a late spring day, with the sun beating down on the majority of the country. Quite a different picture from just...

I have read quite a few scathing comments on social media recently about people who have maybe found themselves with more time on their hands over the last 12 months, and made a decision to buy or rescue a four legged friend, as an addition to their...

As I begin my daily commute to work, padding across the landing from bedroom to bathroom, then to the spare bedroom, where my home office is now situated, I am reminded of how Bill Murray felt every morning in the film Groundhog Day. Given that we are...

UK winters are no joke. From November through to February, and even beyond those months, if you are working outside, the chances are that you are going to encounter bleak weather conditions. OK, your employer can’t alter the weather, but...

We have all seen the introduction of the smart motorway in our local transport network, and more than likely have become frustrated in a traffic queue caused by the road works to transition the existing hard shoulder or three lane carriageway into...

If you are involved in an accident there are some things you can do to help us to acheive the best possible outcome for your claim. 1. Take photographs at the scene Take photographic evidence of the scene...

It’s the 2nd of December 2020 and shops are now open for trading, following the national lockdown. Given that Christmas is just over 3 weeks away, the likelihood is that town centres and cities are going to be packed with festive shoppers. Of...

As a personal injury file handler, this is one of the questions that I am most frequently asked by my clients – how do I go about assessing how much an injured person should receive for their injuries? There is a process to this, and whilst it...

Did you know that councils in the United Kingdom receive a complaint about a pothole on average every 46 seconds? And that a staggering 700,000 complaints about them were made up to August 2019? And councils are taking this problem very...

So you’ve fallen in the street, or in a public place like a shop or at work. You might have gone to the hairdressers or beauty therapist, and now you’ve got an allergic reaction, or your hair is snapping off. What if you’ve hurt yourself...

Stressed, anxious, worried, depressed? Does any of this sound familiar? It is estimated that at any time one in ten of us is experiencing some kind of imbalance in our mental health. Thankfully, mental health awareness has moved on in leaps...

Personal Injury analysis: Pauline Smith, senior associate executive and Abigail Roberts, paralegal, both at Stephensons Solicitors LLP, discuss England’s ‘pothole problem’, highlighting where the problems stem from, personal injury issues...

The Easter holidays are approaching, and The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) have launched a campaign, which focuses on pedestrian safety. Their Family Safety Week runs from the 1 st to 7 th April 2019, and with the school...

Is it still winter? I hadn’t noticed given the unseasonably warm February that the country is basking in at the moment, with temperatures upwards of 16 degrees being recorded in some areas. Time to get the car windows open and the...

So you’ve been injured at work, and need to be off for a few weeks whilst you recover. Your employer is seemingly understanding and tells you that they’ll pay your wages – if you don’t make a claim. But what if...

Thursday 7 th February 2019, is “Time to Talk Day”. Designed by Time to Change to raise awareness in relation to all types of mental illness, and lead by charities Mind , and Rethink Mental Illness , Time to Talk Day is encouraging...

Did you know that in every secondary school class, it is likely that some of those children will be carers to parents, guardians or siblings who suffer from disabilities, chronic or even terminal illnesses? What effect does this responsibility have on the...

As I look out of my office window onto the view of the canal, I see a typical January day. Freezing fog, frost and the remnants of snow laying on the ground. A typical internet search of winter weather news doesn’t bring any cheery...

What happens if you’ve had an accident in the street, in a supermarket, or restaurant, or you’ve injured yourself at work? What if you have gone for a pampering session and it’s gone horribly wrong? How do you ensure that your...

Britain is considered to be a nation of dog lovers, and the best estimate is that there are approximately nine million dogs in the UK, with 26% of the population owning one as a pet. Dog owners are responsible for making sure that their dogs are...

We’ve all seen the weather reports about the impending cold snap that is approaching from Siberia, alarmingly labelled “The Beast From The East”. Some meteorologists, whilst not exactly taking this with a...

I don’t know if anyone else has noticed this, but my daily drive to work currently feels like I’ve signed up to an “off-roading” driving experience, due to the sheer volume of potholes and defects which appear to have developed...

Christmas is over, and whilst for some the holiday season is some way off, for skiing enthusiasts, winter marks the start of the most exhilarating time of year for them – their chance to hit the slopes, and experience the sheer glory of Mother Nature...

I read in the media this week the story of 13 year old Matthew Parks of Louisiana, who suffered a "Chance fracture" to his spine when his family's vehicle was involved in an accident, and ended up in a ditch in August this year. ...

Today, the 15th of October 2013, sees a busy day in Parliament as MPs prepare to debate the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill 2013-2014. A key part of this debate will centre around changing existing legislation concerning dangerous dogs. ...

This week I read of not one, but two alarming incidents, where the small children of two families thankfully escaped serious injuries, in separate accidents. In York city centre last week shoppers were enjoying the sunshine, and some organised summer...

A man out for a cycle ride with a friend in Peterborough a couple of weeks ago, got more than he bargained for when the wheel of his bike hit a tree root and he fell off, impaling himself on a tree branch. The man, whose name ironically, is Adrian Wood,...

The HSE have last week published data revealing a drop in the number of fatalities for workers . The figures revealed that within the period April 2012 to March 2013, 148 employees died, compared to 172 in the previous year. Compared to other...

Last week, 28 schoolchildren from Mottram Primary School in Manchester had a lucky escape when the bus that they had boarded in readiness for a school outing to Bridgewater Hall careered down a hill with no driver on board. The bus thankfully only travelled...

The Food Standards Agency have launched their "Food Safety Week" taking place between the 10th and 16th of June, following on the back of some quite frightening statistics. More than a million people in the UK alone suffer from food...

My local Council, Wigan, is putting pedestrians' safety first, with a formal proposal to introduce a mandatory 20 mph limit on most of the residential roads within the Borough. They have formally given notice within the local press and in...

I read about a case recently, of an 18 year old girl, Charlotte Swaby, who suffered burns as a result of an alcoholic cocktail that had been purchased for her in a bar "exploding" in her face. The incident, which occurred over three years...

I read an article in the tabloids last week which said that Blackpool and Wyre NHS Trust had started a scheme whereby they issued slippers to all their in-patients as a result of them having many claims made against the Trust because of patients falling on...