Site: www.the-claim-solicitors.co.uk Article Release details: Immediate Date: 17 June 2005Negligence – What is it and how do you prove it?
Accidents happen every day to people from all walks of life. Many people think that accidents only happen to other people and take it for granted that others will look out for them. Unfortunately people can behave negligently without even realising it. This can cause accidents that injure other people. This is clear from
frequency of road traffic accidents and cases of workplace injury. The majority of accidents are somebody’s fault; around two thirds can be attributed to negligence, whether it is a car crash or a slip or trip in a public place.
So what is negligence?
Negligence is defined in law as: ‘The failure to exercise
care that an ordinary prudent person would exercise: either doing that which a prudent person would not do, or failing to do that which a prudent person would do.’
An example of negligence is when an employee is subjected to hazardous working conditions such as tripping over a box that has been left in a walkway or slips over a mess than hasn’t been cleared up. In these cases
employer would be negligent if it can be proven that they did not adhere to their duty of care. Duty of care can be defined as ‘a duty to do everything reasonably practicable to protect others from harm’. If an employer has failed in this duty then they are liable to compensate
injured person.
Types of personal injury litigation
There are three main types of personal injury claims that can be made:
•Road traffic accident claims are usually straightforward and include damage to property as well as personal injury. •Employers liability claims describe cases where a claimant was injured during
course of their employment. This can include repetitive strain injury or asbestos related illness. •Public liability claims are claims which arise out of public use of products or premises, for example when a person trips over a loose paving slab.