Pages On: School Accidents
Schools need to be safe places for children and adults alike. But accidents in schools are far more common than you might expect. A lot of press considers the pursuit against schools for injury compensation to be the scourge of “compensation culture”. However, schools have a duty of care to protect their pupils, and as such they are liable for injuries. Most claimants will sue a school if the injuries were serious and clearly not at fault for them. They are also workplaces, and have some of the highest rates of work accidents of all other sectors. As such, a teacher, or other staff, injured in a school could seek employer negligence compensation. If you’ve suffered an accident in a school, and you’re not at fault, you may be entitled to compensation.
Tayside councils pay-out over £700K in compensation claims in 4 years
Posted: 2 January 2016
Posted in: Gym & Leisure Centre Accidents, Public Place Accidents, Road Traffic Accidents, School Accidents, Workplace Injuries
Councils in Tayside have paid out more than £700k in compensation claims since 2012 according to figures just published. The council paying out the most in compensation is Angus who has handed out over £343,000. The local authority pay-outs have been to both members of staff and members of the general public. The claims relate to defective footpaths, theft, damage to property and cars by grass cutting as well as injuries caused in schools and parks. £16K paid out for defective footpath In excess of £100k has been awarded following employer liability…
Read MoreThousands paid to Scottish teachers in accident compensation
Posted: 30 December 2015
Posted in: Criminal Injury and Assault, Head and Brain Injuries, School Accidents, Workplace Injuries, Workplace Slip
An annual report has revealed that a total of £180,000 was paid out to Scottish teachers and lecturers in 2013/14 in compensation. This figure has shown a dramatic decrease on the previous year, where a total of £300,000 was paid out. The report highlighted the highest payment, which saw a teacher being awarded £50,000 after suffering severe injuries from falling and hitting their head on ice in the school playground. Another teacher won over £3,000 after accidentally being hit in the face with a musical instrument. Educational Institute of Scotland…
Read MoreSchoolboy dies after industrial accident during work placement
Posted: 21 August 2015
Posted in: School Accidents, Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death
A young schoolboy was killed last week in an industrial accident during his time on a work placement in Aberdeenshire. 17-year-old Michael McLean was found unconscious at Denholm Oilfield Services in Inverurie last Friday, before being rushed to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. Doctors were unable to revive him, and his life-support machine was later switched off. The teenager from Kincorth in Aberdeen had been on his last day of a summer placement with the company when the accident happened. The boy’s father, Mark McLean, works for the company and had secured…
Read MoreBoy's neck broken at same Edinburgh school that crushed girl to death
Posted: 16 February 2015
Posted in: Head and Brain Injuries, Neck Injuries, Public Place Accidents, School Accidents
A young boy is currently recovering after breaking his neck in the gym hall of his Edinburgh school. The accident happened less than a year after a pupil was crushed to death by a wall at the same school. 12-year-old Alan Ramsay had been swinging on a goal post in his PE class at Liberton High School when it collapsed, knocking him unconscious and causing him to suffer several broken bones, including his neck and jaw. Fellow pupils crowded in terror as he lay unconscious for three minutes. He was immediately…
Read More1,000 injured in Scotland’s crumbling schools
Posted: 8 April 2014
Posted in: Public Place Accidents, School Accidents, Workplace Injuries
Over the last year, around 1,000 staff members and pupils have suffered injuries as a result of the poor structural condition of Scotland’s schools. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) received more than 600 reports of accidents involving pupils and visitors at educational institutions in Scotland, with most of them requiring hospital treatment. On top of this, they also received over 400 reports of teachers and school staff badly injured. Schools have been advised by the HSE to only report serious injuries caused by either “the condition of the premises”, inadequate supervision…
Read MoreSeveral schools walls cordoned off following death
Posted: 4 April 2014
Posted in: Public Place Accidents, School Accidents, Wrongful & Accidental Death
Following the death of 12-year-old schoolgirl Keane Wallis-Bennett, multiple walls have been cordoned off around Edinburgh believed to be structurally unstable. Keane was fatally injured after a freestanding wall collapsed and crushed her at Liberton High School on Tuesday. As a result of the shocking incident, structural checks have been carried out across Edinburgh, with many areas being cordoned off as a result. Similar unstable walls have been identified in the changing rooms and toilets of Leith Academy and Castlebrae High School, alongside eleven of the city’s primary schools. A spokesperson from…
Read MoreDrop in compensation claims within teaching profession
Posted: 26 January 2014
Posted in: School Accidents, Workplace Injuries
Scotland’s largest teaching union has recognised a decline in workplace compensation claims made by those in the teaching profession in 2013. With numerous accidents occurring in the teaching profession every year, the Educational Institute of Scotland saw £300,000 worth of compensation claims made in 2013, compared with £1.5 million in 2012. This has highlighted that health and safety standards are improving across Scotland’s schools. The general secretary of the Institute of Scotland said: “This is actually a positive development, as it highlights that there have been fewer very serious injuries to teachers…
Read MoreChildren at Edinburgh primary school targeted by airgun pellets
Posted: 3 June 2013
Posted in: Criminal Injury and Assault, Personal Injury, School Accidents
An arrest has been made following the terror caused by an airgun attack that took place on Thursday at an Edinburgh primary school. The airgun-user mysteriously targeted a total of 10 children as they were playing in the playground of their school, Gilmerton Primary, at lunchtime. One child, a young girl who was attacked with her friends, described her minor injuries: “I got shot twice on my thumb, and it started bleeding”. Other children reported redness and bruising following the incident — but luckily there were no fatal injuries. Shortly after the…
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