Liability for the accident was disputed by the employer’s representatives who maintained that the claimant was the author of his own misfortune.

We successfully argued breaches of Health and Safety regulations and the claimant received compensation of almost £14,000.

Liability and the value of the personal injury claim were both disputed by the employer’s insurers who maintained that the claimant was the author of her own misfortune.

We successfully argued breaches of Health and Safety regulations and the claimant received compensation of £5,400.

A food manufacturing company has been ordered to pay out £94,523 in fines and court costs after a worker suffered a severe injury to his hand.

Ludmila Jurkevica, 27, from King’s Lynn, was attempting to clear a blockage in a packaging machine when three of his fingers got crushed.

Tulip Packaging of Warwick was fined £65,000 and ordered to pay costs of £29,523 over the injury, which occurred in November 2007.

Speaking after the verdict at Norwich Crown Court, Health and Safety Executive inspector Steven Gill said: "This was a nasty incident which could have been avoided had the company checked how safe the machinery was and taken precautions to protect staff.

"Machines like these can be incredibly dangerous and cause serious injury."

In a similar incident heard in court last month, Orica UK of Wigan was fined £10,000 after an employee lost two fingers when trying to remove a blockage from a machine.

A welder from Liverpool has won £140,000 in compensation after he contracted terminal cancer from working with asbestos.

Ronnie Cadwallader, 76, was diagnosed with mesothelioma in November 2007 after spending part of his working life stripping asbestos lagging off pipes, turbines and boilers.

His wife Ann told the Livepool Daily Post: "Ronnie was so fit and healthy, always running and never smoked or drank. All of a sudden he was really poorly with no energy.

"It was horrific."

His two-year struggle for compensation was made more complex by the fact that the two firms he had carried out such work for were no longer in business.

But Mr Cadwallader has finally been offered compensation by insurance firm Zurich, which was the insurer for one of his former employers, Carolina Engineering.

The Health and Safety Executive has recently launched a campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of working with asbestos aimed at tradesman and maintenance workers.

A hospital trust is facing a compensation claim after it was fined £10,000 when a vulnerable patient in its care fell out of a first-floor window and suffered serious injuries.

North East Essex Primary Care Trust admitted breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act after Charles Preston, a partially-sighted 68-year-old, suffered breaks to his shoulder, pelvis and coccyx when he fell.

The incident occurred at the Clacton & District Hospital in March 2008.

Following the court ruling, Mr Preston has announced his intention to sue the trust.

Kim Wicks, the Health and Safety Executive inspector who investigated the case, said the accident could have been avoided.

"The control measures, in this case window restrictors, to prevent this risk are easy to fit and maintain," she said.

Last week, the Herald reported that student Jonathan Harvey was going to sue Plymouth City Council after he fell 20ft through a broken fence on council property.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned employers that they must adhere to regulations regarding working at height following an accident in which a man broke his spine.

Philpott Demolition and Recycling employee Gediminas Vasiliauskas had been removing roof tiles from an aircraft hangar when the tragedy occurred in April 2007.

He was not wearing a safety harness and when he lost his footing, he fell from the roof of the building. The victim had to have a metal plate inserted into his spine and lost his sense of taste and smell.

He was also unable to work for a year after the accident.

Tim Philpott, the owner of the business, was fined for breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was given a substantial fine.

HSE Inspector Nicola Surrey said: "Mr Vasiliauskas was lucky to survive this incident, which could have been avoided if his employer had taken precautions to ensure his employee’s safety."

Under Work at Height Regulations, every employer should make sure that work is not carried out at height when it can be successfully carried out at ground level.

Where work at height is carried out, employers are legally obliged to take adequate steps to prevent falls.

A man who worked for Morrisons is suing the supermarket chain after suffering horrific injuries in the car park of one of its stores.

Kevin Brookshaw was arriving for a night shift at the Morrisons store in Crewe in December 2006 when the accident occurred, the Crewe Chronicle reports.

As he drove under the car park’s barrier, it suddenly swung forward and crashed through the windscreen of his car.

Mr Brookshaw’s facial injuries were so severe that his wife Pauline did not know him at first. He will never be able to eat or speak properly again and has to be fed through a tube.

"Kevin was literally unrecognisable. His face was entirely split down the middle and covered in blood," Mrs Brookshaw said.

At a recent hearing, Morrisons was fined for breaching health and safety regulations and has admitted liability for Mr Brookshaw’s injuries. It is thought that he will receive a substantial sum in compensation for his pain and suffering.

The supermarket chain said it has since changed the design of the gates on all its stores.

Anyone who is injured on supermarket premises because of the negligence of the occupier may be entitled to make a compensation claim and should seek the advice of a solicitor specialising in personal injury compensation claims.

A firm in Scotland has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after one of its employees was seriously injured by a piece of machinery.

The unnamed man had been filling a Mobile Explosives Manufacturing Unit at Orica UK in Muirside when the accident occurred in February 2008.

He had been pouring emulsion into the machine when it suddenly blocked. As he reached in to clear the blockage, it unexpectedly started again and the man lost two of the fingers on his right hand.

An investigation by HSE officers found that the plant’s equipment was not properly guarded and there was no safe way to clear blockages that did occur. Orica UK was fined £10,000 for breaching health and safety regulations.

HSE Inspector Colin Hutchinson commented: "This was a serious and avoidable incident. All companies conducting similar operations must learn from this incident by making sure their safety procedures are both sufficient and rigidly followed."

According to statistics published by the HSE, 299,000 reportable injuries occurred at work between 2007 and 2008, resulting in the loss of six million working days.

A man who suffered a back injury at work has been awarded £22,000 from his former employer.

John Atkin was a delivery driver for Johnston Press in February 2007 and had been delivering newspapers in Northumberland.

However, when he came to unload at a drop-off point, he found that the newspapers had been put in the van incorrectly and had shifted.

As he went to rearrange them in the confined space, he badly injured his back.

Due to the injury affecting his right arm and shoulder, Mr Atkin has been unable to work since.

He took legal action against Johnston Press, which admitted breaching health and safety regulations and has agreed to pay £22,000 in compensation.

According to the Health and Safety Executive, 80 per cent of people will suffer from back pain at some point in their lives. Much of this is caused or worsened by duties at work and employers should have measures in place to avoid such injuries.

A care home in Flintshire has been ordered to pay compensation to a woman who fractured her hip after falling from a care home bed.

Ellen Clewarth, 92, became entangled in her bed railings at Aston Hall Care Home in February and sustained a fractured hip after falling to the floor.

An investigation by health and safety officers found that the resident had a history of trying to get out of bed and that these railings should not have been used.

It was also found that staff had no training in using the railings to keep residents safe.

Aston Hall Care Home was ordered to pay a fine of £6,000 as well as £4,200 in compensation to Ms Clewarth. She had to undergo surgery but has now recovered and is in another care home.

Residential homes must adhere to the same safety regulations as other medical organisations such as hospitals. Where this is not the case, victims may be eligible to seek compensation for clinical negligence and should seek the advice of a solicitor.