Rishi Sunak has announced the Government’s £5bn commitment to remove unsafe cladding from the highest risk buildings, which he says will be partly funded by the Residential Property Developers Tax. This will be levied on developers with profits over £25m at a rate of four per cent. The news follows
The majority of Self Assessment customers will have been affected in some way by the pandemic last year, which is why your tax return for the 2020/21 tax year may seem a bit different than in previous years. Whether you are new to Self Assessment or have been completing your
The City of Edinburgh Council is reminding all city landlords and homeowners that every home in the Scotland must comply with new fire safety legislation which will come into force early next year. By February 2022, all Scottish homes will need to be fitted with interlinked smoke and heat alarms
The UK’s primary F-Gas register REFCOM has welcomed the Environment Agency’s decision to hammer a company with a fine of more than £1m for breaching the F-gas Regulations. The London-based firm IMO Gas Supplies Ltd was found guilty of seven separate offences all linked to breaches of regulation 31A of
The Government is consulting on its plans to give British workers the right to request flexible working from the first day in a new job, rather than having to wait up to six months under existing legislation. Currently, an employee can make one flexible working request (for working from home
More than 50 organisations operating within the property sector have penned an open letter to the Government to use Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs) to create a database for the public and private sectors. The idea is to allow UPRN data available at a large scale so that organisations can
The latest research by Birmingham and Newcastle-based property developer, StripeHomes, has revealed that new-build house prices boomed by as much as 20% across parts of England during the first half of this year, but transaction levels have ground to a halt as EWS1 requirements continue to prove problematic. StripeHomes analysed
The common workplace injuries and accidents include cuts, lacerations, slips, falls, trips, crashes, collisions, inhaling toxic fumes, loud noise exposure, and being hit by tools, construction materials, and other falling objects. The extent of injury greatly affects recovery time. There are also other consequences such as lost wages or the
A new central register and a certification scheme have been launched for building safety managers following the final report and proposals for Working Group 8 – part of the industry response group tasked with developing a new framework of competence for the new Building Safety Manager role (part of the
Construction site accidents are very common and can range from minor to fatal. The BLS estimated that around 150,000 construction accidents happen every year in the United States. Insurance should cover you in most instances, but there are cases when things are a bit complicated. You might soon realize that
Rishi Sunak has announced the Government’s £5bn commitment to remove unsafe cladding from the highest risk buildings, which he says will be partly funded by the Residential Property Developers Tax. This will be levied on developers with profits over £25m at a rate of four per cent. The news follows the Commons Housing Select Committee’s plea to establish a new, larger fund “that addresses the true scale of fire safety issues”.[1] The Government’s latest commitment is by no means the end of the post-Grenfell overhaul. The Building Safety Bill, published in July 2021, aims to transform the existing fire safety system and increase accountability, transparency, and oversight of fire safety throughout the life of a building. Under the proposals, a new national regulator will be established to maximise fire safety during a building’s design, construction, completion and eventual occupation. The Government also plans to change the law to give homeowners 15 years – rather than six – to take action against rogue developers. In addition, new British Standards Institution guidance is expected by the end of the year regarding personal emergency evacuation plans for disabled, aged, and vulnerable residents. However, there are also new intelligent ways to cut risks in social housing that can be implemented now to support the aims of the bill and Fire Safety Act 2021 and ultimately protect tenants, building managers, and landlords. By introducing connected technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), social landlords can relieve some of the burden of fire prevention and make life safer for their tenants. Post-Grenfell, more than 400 ‘waking watches’ were established around the country to monitor buildings, costing Londoners alone £145 million per year.[2] This sum is equivalent to more than a third of the London Fire Brigade’s annual budget, essential for keeping the capital safe from life-threatening disasters such as fires, terrorist threats and flooding.[3] Relying on humans for fire prevention should not be the only intervention and is not financially sustainable in the long-term. With remote monitoring and cloud connectivity of smoke detectors, social landlords can streamline fire prevention, and create an opportunity for centralised, off-site monitoring. Nick Rutter, Chief Product Officer of fire safety technology experts FireAngel, says, “Connected technology can be installed within the parameters of an existing budget, and support waking watches in the short-term by sending instant notifications when an alarm is activated, any devices are removed from the base, or a tenant needs assistance. Looking to the future, a combination of IoT, robust fire detection and alert systems and evacuation plans unique to each resident’s needs could replace the need for on-site waking watches completely. Connection to the IoT also enables landlords to monitor essential features such as the building’s age and condition and the wear and tear of electrical appliances. This combination of IoT and AI technologies provides a 24/7 overview of buildings and their changing fire risks, collecting data that can be analysed for trends and patterns, in turn, supporting the transparency aims of the Building Safety Bill. As tenants at risk await further legislative updates, now is the time for the fire industry and social landlords to keep pace with the future of fire safety and adopt new ways of protecting resident wellbeing.” [1] https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/apr/28/mps-vote-for-fifth-time-not-to-protect-leaseholders-from-fire-safety-bills [2] https://www.london.gov.uk/press-releases/assembly/waking-watches-costing-londoners-16000-an-hour [3] https://www.london.gov.uk/press-releases/assembly/waking-watches-costing-londoners-16000-an-hour
The majority of Self Assessment customers will have been affected in some way by the pandemic last year, which is why your tax return for the 2020/21 tax year may seem a bit different than in previous years. Whether you are new to Self Assessment or have been completing your tax return for many years, preparing your paperwork now can help avoid the unnecessary stress of leaving it until the last minute and will prevent you making mistakes or forgetting to include your allowances. If you’re self-employed and have earned more than £1,000 between 6 April 2020 and 5 April 2021, you will need to file your paper tax return by 31 October 2021 or 31 January 2022 for online returns. If you’re new to Self Assessment, you must ensure you leave enough time to register for Self Assessment first via GOV.UK in order to receive your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) and activate your account. Self-employed individuals must also register for Class 2 National Insurance. By registering early, you’ll be able to access guidance to help you to understand your tax obligations such as record keeping, filing and payments deadlines, and the potential for a first tax payment to include a payment on account. Thousands of people chose to get ahead of the game this year – more than 63,500 customers filed their tax return on 6 April 2021, the first day of the tax year. Filing early means you know what tax you owe. The sooner you file, the more time you have to plan and budget for the tax you need to pay. And it doesn’t mean you have to pay your tax any earlier, you still have until the deadline on 31 January 2022 to pay your tax. For those worried about paying their tax bill, make sure you access the support and advice that’s available to you as we may be able to help by arranging an affordable payment plan. Visit GOV.UK and search ‘time to pay’. If you have been affected by COVID-19 and reached out for financial support, it is important to remember that you will have to declare any grants or payments you received from COVID-19 support schemes up to 5 April as these are taxable. This includes: Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) Other COVID-19 grants and support payments such as self-isolation payments, local authority grants and Eat Out to Help Out However, the £500 one off payment for working households receiving tax credits does not need to be reported in your Self Assessment. To find out which COVID-19 grant or support payments to include on your tax return, you can visit Reporting coronavirus (COVID-19) grants and support payments on GOV.UK for more information. So, start preparing for your Self Assessment now and leave yourself enough time to get the relevant documents together. Check your information is correct and set aside time to enter your details. The easiest way to file your tax return is online. You can do it at a time that suits you and it doesn’t even have to be completed all in one sitting. You can work around your busy schedule and your business by saving your progress in stages and coming back to it again and again. To find out more visit Self Assessment on GOV.UK.
The City of Edinburgh Council is reminding all city landlords and homeowners that every home in the Scotland must comply with new fire safety legislation which will come into force early next year. By February 2022, all Scottish homes will need to be fitted with interlinked smoke and heat alarms which talk to each other – so when one goes off, they all go off. As Edinburgh’s biggest social landlord, the Council is currently working with its contractors to fit new interlinked smoke and heat alarms, so that every one of its 20,000 Council-owned homes meets the new legislation and is made even more fire safe. When this work’s done in each property, the electrical contractors will also undertake an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) if one has not been carried out recently. Older residents in particular are being asked to be aware of the new fire safety legislation. The Council’s Older People’s Champion, Councillor Catherine Fullerton, is calling on everyone who manages properties for older tenants in Edinburgh to make sure all new standards are met so everyone has the best chance of getting to safety in the event of a fire. Cllr Fullerton said… It’s absolutely vital that landlords and property management companies, particularly those that have a responsibility for older people within our communities, understand the new fire safety rules coming into force and act on them as quickly as possible. All properties, without exception, must be fitted with the new interlinking alarms, heat alarms and, where required, carbon monoxide detectors too. I’d also urge older people or people with older relatives who own their own homes to check out the Scottish Government’s dedicated ‘Fire safety for homeowners’ webpages for more details and, if necessary, to help them to get their homes fitted with the right kind of alarms. There is also clear guidance for private and social tenants as well as new build homes. I’d encourage everyone to be sure they are using a Trusted Tradesperson to change their fire alarms to meet the new law – please don’t run the risk of having faulty or non-compliant ones fitted A ‘Trusted Trader’ in Edinburgh can be found by using this website: www.trustedtrader.scot/Edinburgh/ If an older person is receiving Universal Credit, Edinburgh Care and Repair Service has been awarded funding from the Scottish Government to provide this service for free. If not, there will be a reasonable charge. You can telephone for further advice on 0131 337 111 or email reception@cre.scot.
The UK’s primary F-Gas register REFCOM has welcomed the Environment Agency’s decision to hammer a company with a fine of more than £1m for breaching the F-gas Regulations. The London-based firm IMO Gas Supplies Ltd was found guilty of seven separate offences all linked to breaches of regulation 31A of the Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases Regulations over a two-year period. It was given five separate fines of £200,000 each for failing to ensure that the quantity of HFCs it was using did not exceed its f-gas quota. It also received a £10,000 fine for failing to sufficiently report imports of HFCs to the European Commission and a £1,500 penalty for not keeping proper records. The company is reported to have been using refrigerants R134A, R404A, R410A and R407C, which are all subject to restrictions under the F-Gas regulations. “This is precisely the kind of tough action we have been urging from the Environment Agency,” said REFCOM’s head of technical Graeme Fox. “It is the direct result of a tip-off from a REFCOM member who had become exasperated by this kind of irresponsible behaviour that gives the whole sector a bad name. “This is only the second fine issued to an F-Gas offender, but it is a huge statement of intent from the EA. However, we know this is not an isolated incident and the battle goes on against rogue traders who seem bent on flouting this vital environmental law for financial gain.” Frustrated REFCOM said its members had been frustrated by the apparent lack of enforcement of the F-Gas regulations which puts them at a commercial disadvantage because unregistered firms were getting away with not investing in training and the systems needed to keep track of their gas usage. “We have been telling the authorities about the need for visible policing for years and, hopefully, other offenders will take note and mend their ways,” said Fox. “We are delighted to see an example being made of this company and hope this will make others think again about putting the quality of services and products at risk, endangering lives and property, and undermining the UK’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.” REFCOM said it was also closely monitoring the use of illegally imported refrigerant gas in the UK. “The continued use of illegal refrigerants by unscrupulous contractors is a very serious problem,” said Fox. “Not only do they damage the environment and atmosphere but are an extreme danger to life and property. “This is another area where the authorities need to raise their game because there are still far too many ‘cowboy operators’ using illegal products that they buy online,” he said. “REFCOM members are audited to ensure safety and legal compliance so they are rightly sick of being undercut by uncertified firms using dangerous practices and dodgy products.” REFCOM recently recorded its 7,000th company membership, which represents an estimated 90% of the total number of firms operating in the refrigeration and air conditioning sectors. Originally set up in 1996 by a group of contractors who wanted to demonstrate their commitment to high professional standards and responsible refrigerant handling, it became the country’s mandatory register in 2009 when the UK adopted the European F-Gas Regulation. The UK continues to ‘mirror’ the Regulation despite its departure from the EU, which means that all personnel carrying out installation, commissioning, decommissioning, repairing, maintenance, or servicing of stationary refrigeration, air-conditioning or heat pump equipment that contains or is designed to contain F-Gas refrigerants must hold the relevant designated qualifications. REFCOM members receive a range of business benefits alongside meeting their legal obligations. For example, specially designed software to help them manage their projects and track refrigerant usage was made available free of charge two years ago. The software, which would cost more than the REFCOM registration fee if bought separately, was developed by Joblogic and makes it easier for firms to remain compliant with the regulations. Registered firms also receive listing on the country’s largest F-Gas register, access to insurance services, the use of the REFCOM logo and other support. They also receive discounted training via the BESA Academy including the F-Gas renewal course. “We are making it as easy as possible for firms to be compliant with the law so there really is no excuse for not being registered,” said Fox.www.refcom.org.uk
The Government is consulting on its plans to give British workers the right to request flexible working from the first day in a new job, rather than having to wait up to six months under existing legislation. Currently, an employee can make one flexible working request (for working from home or elsewhere, flexi-time, reduced/compressed hours, job shares, annualised/staggered hours, phased retirement) every 12 months and an employer has three months to consider whether that request can be accommodated. The consultation is seeking views on how many flexible working requests should be permitted, how quickly employers should respond, whether the business reasons for refusing such requests remains valid, requiring employers to suggest an alternative if the original request is refused, and the administrative burden for businesses. The Government supports flexible working as a key part of its ambition to ‘build back better’ from the pandemic and, recognising that such arrangements are not appropriate for all individuals or all businesses, is seeking to create a framework which encourages employee/employer conversations leading to genuine two-sided flexibility. In the consultation document the Government sets out its view that flexible working arrangements not only benefit individual employees, they can also positively impact employers by removing invisible restrictions to jobs and fostering a more diverse and more skilled workforce, improving staff wellbeing, inclusion and motivation, and reducing staff turnover and recruitment costs, leading to increased productivity and improved financial performance. IWFM’s CEO, Linda Hausmanis, said: ‘We view the Government’s intent as a positive sign that the right lessons are being learned from the home-working experiment of the past 18 months and will engage with the substance over the coming weeks. ‘Now that many more people recognise that work is an activity, not a destination, it is critical that businesses enable them to do their best work, whenever and wherever it may take place. ‘We will feed into the consultation to put forward flexible working best practice, while also guarding against unintended consequences, such as hindering career progression or creating two-tiered workforces.’ The Making Flexible Working the Default consultation is open until 1 December 2021 and can be viewed here. If you have any comments on flexible working which you would like us to consider as part of our response to the consultation, please email: policy@iwfm.org.uk Also as part of the Government’s flexible working agenda, the cross-sector Flexible Working Taskforce is to look at developing advice and best practice to support the change to new ways of working emerging from the pandemic. Focusing initially on the location aspect of flexible working, the Taskforce will consider the essential practical and legal issues around policy and procedure, contractual issues, remote working health and safety, equalities and fairness, and performance management. We will continue to monitor developments on this topic and update members on relevant outputs and outcomes.
More than 50 organisations operating within the property sector have penned an open letter to the Government to use Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs) to create a database for the public and private sectors. The idea is to allow UPRN data available at a large scale so that organisations can adopt them without cost, and allows an accurate record of any changes to the property. Housing secretary The letter, addressed to at the time, housing secretary Robert Jenrick, comes addressed from the The Lettings Industry Council (TLIC) and the Institute of Residential Property Management (IRMP). The letter is also backed by many estate agents and industry organisations including the NRLA, Propertymark and TDS. The idea of a UPRN involves a digital database with all the information and a full history of the property, including repairs and remodelling. This would speed up the process of property sales, with completions not beholden to lengthy searches and possible inaccuracies. Andrew Bulmer, CEO of the IRPM, commented: “The UPRN is like attaching a number plate to a car, instead we [will] attach a unique number to all things related to properties so that each property can be uniquely identified with unparalleled accuracy.”He added: “If all the conditions outlined in the letter were to be met, we could proactively work towards the wholesale adoption of the UPRN.” Benefits of UPRN’s The letter outlines the benefits from the wider adoption of a single number for properties including: Improve building, consumer and market safety More targeted and cost-effective enforcement of legislation Increase protection for tenants and a reduction of rogue landlords Speed up and make more certain the home buying and selling process Reduce waste, save time and empower the consumer Increase income for the Treasury If this was to be a success in the residential market, the collective organisations are hopeful the system would work across the whole market. One of the biggest conditions the letter outlines is: “The UPRN must be in a clear and useable format that allows the UPRN to be widely identified, used and shared at no cost on an individual or market level basis. As far as is possible, this must include the tools, the support materials and the explanation needed by the whole sector for adoption, not just the solution providers” This last point, identifying that it would be more widely accepted if it was without cost, may be a stumbling block for this proposal. Not necessarily a radical idea to identify properties, it is hard to replicate on a country-wide scale without someone incurring a cost along the way. Landlords would not want further costs adding to their property purchases, and tenants would be keen to avoid further premiums being passed onto rental prices. Transparent and compliant One landlord praised the idea of UPRN’s, highlighting that it would make for a completely transparent and compliant market, as it would allow for more focus on rogue landlords. It may also provide the tools necessary for local councils to enforce some of the property regulations they have been armed with in the last 5 years. Beverley Kennard, associate and operations manager at Knight Frank, commented: “A Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) is allocated to a property by local authorities and means that a full history of the property is available, regardless of if the address changes. The use of UPRNs will bring real benefits to the residential property sector and landlords and tenants.” Not only would the centralisation of this data hopefully speed up conveyancing times and therefore completion windows, it could also offer tenants access to more information about properties they are enquiring about.
The latest research by Birmingham and Newcastle-based property developer, StripeHomes, has revealed that new-build house prices boomed by as much as 20% across parts of England during the first half of this year, but transaction levels have ground to a halt as EWS1 requirements continue to prove problematic. StripeHomes analysed the Land Registry sold price records for new-build homes sold during the first six months of this year (latest available data). The regions driving the new-build house price boom The research shows that on average across England, new-build homes sold for £314,000 between January and June – 5.6% higher than the same period last year. The West Midlands has enjoyed the largest rate of growth, with new-build homes selling for 20% more, hitting an average of £299,998. The North East also saw a considerable increase in the price paid for new-build properties during the first six months of the year, with the average price climbing by 17.1%. The South West (14.1%) is the only other region to see a double-digit increase, while the South East and East of England (6.2%) also saw a jump. However, Yorkshire and the Humber saw the average price paid for new-build homes plummet by -18.6% during the first half of this year when compared to the first six months of 2020. The North West also saw a decline of -6%, with the East Midlands seeing prices fall by -1%. Transaction volumes However, while new-build house prices are climbing, transaction levels remained muted. During the first half of this year, just 2,605 new-build transactions were completed, -92% less than the first six months of 2020 when 32,453 new-build homes were sold. The North East has seen new-build transactions fall by -95.4%, closely followed by the North West (-94.6%) and the East of England (-93.8%). London is the only region to see a decline in transactions lower than 90%. That said, the number of new-build homes sold in the capital during the first half of 2021 was still some -87% lower than 2020. Managing Director of StripeHomes, James Forrester, commented: “Much like the wider market, the new-build sector has enjoyed a strong uplift in property values and it’s great to see both the West Midlands and North East driving this growth as the best performing regions in England. However, transaction levels have all but ground to a half and this is predominantly due to the requirement of an EWS1 inspection. This requirement has seen many sales drag on four months on end, with inspectors unable to facilitate such a huge level of inspections and banks refusing to provide mortgages until they do. Despite the government’s attempts to address the issue by removing the EWS1 requirement on buildings below 18 metres, we now find ourselves in an industry stalemate. The banks refuse to adhere to these changes until ‘official advice’ is amended. But the RICS, in true archaic fashion, refuses to do so until they’ve ‘undergone a consultative process’ to ascertain if this would be in public interest. Ironically, while they drag their heels, thousands of new-build homebuyers remain in limbo and it doesn’t look as though a solution is on the horizon anytime soon.” Location Average NB House Price (Jan to Jun 2020) Average NB House Price (Jan to Jun 2021) Change (%) Change (£) ENGLAND £298,191 £314,883 5.6% £16,691 WEST MIDLANDS £250,000 £299,998 20.0% £49,998 NORTH EAST £204,950 £239,950 17.1% £35,000 SOUTH WEST £295,995 £337,748 14.1% £41,753 SOUTH EAST £365,748 £400,000 9.4% £34,253 EAST OF ENGLAND £325,000 £345,000 6.2% £20,000 LONDON £547,500 £572,800 4.6% £25,300 EAST MIDLANDS £254,950 £252,498 -1.0% -£2,453 NORTH WEST £224,580 £211,000 -6.0% -£13,580 YORKSHIRE AND THE HUMBER £215,000 £174,950 -18.6% -£40,050 Data sourced from the Land Registry Price Paid Records – Jan to Jun 2020 vs Jan to Jun 2021 (latest available data), excluding properties listed as ‘other’. Location NB transactions 2020 NB transactions 2021 Change (%) Change (n) ENGLAND 32,453 2,605 -92.0% -29,848 LONDON 4,823 619 -87.2% -4,204 SOUTH WEST 2,849 262 -90.8% -2,587 SOUTH EAST 5,362 491 -90.8% -4,871 YORKSHIRE AND THE HUMBER 2,671 219 -91.8% -2,452 WEST MIDLANDS 3,232 234 -92.8% -2,998 EAST MIDLANDS 3,007 194 -93.5% -2,813 EAST OF ENGLAND 3,962 247 -93.8% -3,715 NORTH WEST 4,869 261 -94.6% -4,608 NORTH EAST 1,678 78 -95.4% -1,600 Data sourced from the Land Registry Price Paid Records – Jan to Jun 2020 vs Jan to Jun 2021 (latest available data), excluding properties listed as ‘other’.
The common workplace injuries and accidents include cuts, lacerations, slips, falls, trips, crashes, collisions, inhaling toxic fumes, loud noise exposure, and being hit by tools, construction materials, and other falling objects. The extent of injury greatly affects recovery time. There are also other consequences such as lost wages or the inability to provide financial support to the worker’s family. Workers who sustain injuries or accidents while on duty may run at risk of losing work hours because of the need to recover from their current physical condition. Injuries may range from minor wounds and cuts to major injuries like temporary loss of body part function or permanent disability due to amputation, brain damage, or spinal cord injury. If you’ve encountered a workplace accident, it’s important to know what to do and how to protect your rights by reading below. 1. Talk To A Lawyer Once you’re safe from harm and you received the appropriate medical attention, it’s important to talk to a lawyer from www.mitchelllawcorp.com and other firms immediately. A personal injury lawyer who’s an expert in workplace accident cases is knowledgeable and highly trained in helping clients receive the rightful amount of compensation for their damages. Your lawyer will present the available legal options. In this way, you can choose the next course of action that’s favorable for you. Also, your workers’ compensation attorney can give you a rough estimate of how much you can get from your company’s insurance provider to cover your hospitalization and other medical expenses, as well as your lost wages and pain and suffering. On the other hand, a lawyer may also help you in case the company’s insurance company denies your claim based on unreasonable grounds. Some common reasons why workers’ compensation is disapproved include not being a qualified employee, failure to notify your employer about the accident and the injury, missed filing deadline, or when they find that the injury wasn’t sustained at work. Hence, if you’ve sustained a personal injury at work and you file a claim but have been denied due to any of these grounds, talking to a lawyer would help you move on to other options. They may still help you get the compensation you deserve. 2. Report Properly Right after the incident, reporting to your immediate supervisor is crucial. You may need to collect evidence like photos and videos of your injuries, the cause of the problem, and other relevant scenes. If you work outdoors or in the field, contact your supervisor immediately after the incident. If you can’t do it because of your injury, then ask someone to do it for you. In this way, your manager can report the incident the same day, which can be substantial in your claim. But of course, there are instances when employees can’t report an incident right away such as the victim lost consciousness and woke up the next day. Hence, other workers should report the incident. But if the job is confined and a solo man’s job, then reporting can be delayed to prioritize the victim’s health and safety first. Companies usually have standard operating procedures (SOPs) when it comes to incident reporting. That way, they can report all workplace incidents to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as soon as possible. The OSHA requires employers to report any fatality in the workplace within 8 hours, including severe injuries, like loss of an eye, amputation, or hospitalization, within 24 hours. Employers must keep all records for at least five years. Furthermore, employees can also directly report to OSHA through its website. 3. Demand Just Compensation For Your Damages If you got injured in an accident at work, the damages you can seek compensation for include your physical injuries, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Physical injuries may include minor or major ones, such as spinal injury and permanent disability. For lost wages, it includes all days that you’re absent from work because of hospitalization and full recovery. Moreover, pain and suffering are more difficult to substantiate, but a personal injury lawyer can help navigate this aspect of the case. You have the right to demand from your employer fair compensation for your damages, most especially if it’s not your fault. It’s the responsibility of your employer to ensure that the work area is safe from harmful chemicals, substances, and other safety hazards. Workplace safety should be every employer’s top priority. If the workplace lacks the necessary safety gear and equipment or safety protocols, then there’s a high chance of the incident from happening to other workers. Therefore, the company can be held liable for damages. Your lawyer can help you determine every detail and evidence to prove your claim. Aside from proper compensation, you have the right to demand being retained in your employment even after having permanent injuries, so long as you can perform your tasks. A good employer can assign you to a different department to reduce your workload. 4. Don’t Sign Anything Without Your Lawyer Many employers and insurance companies trick employees into signing a narrative statement of the incident or similar declaration to protect themselves from liabilities. Don’t be a willing victim. If you fall into any of these tricks, you might end up not getting the right compensation or invalidating your claim. If your employer or the insurance company asks you to sign something, make sure you know the content of the document. It’s much better to sign with the presence of your legal counsel. While your employer may seem to offer a very good deal, you just want to make sure that they’ll fulfill their promises following a legal process. Your employer can’t force you to sign any paper against your will. If your employer harasses you or threatens you with losing your job, then report this to your lawyer. The law protects employees under the employment law or labor code, so make sure you’re aware of this. Conclusion Workplace injuries and accidents can change victims’ lives forever. They can
A new central register and a certification scheme have been launched for building safety managers following the final report and proposals for Working Group 8 – part of the industry response group tasked with developing a new framework of competence for the new Building Safety Manager role (part of the Building Safety Bill). The Building Safety Alliance, an independent industry-led ‘not for profit’ organisation, has been formed by representatives of both the public and private sectors. It aims to implement certification of people wishing to deliver the role of building safety manager (BSM) and produce a publicly accessible register of those certified by the scheme. In due course, it will also work with others to evaluate how organisations that wish to deliver the function of the BSM can be assessed as having the organisational capability to do so. It will also look at how to assist contractors and suppliers involved in higher-risk buildings in delivering a competent workforce that understands how to ensure that residential buildings are safe. The role of the Building Safety Manager, which the accountable person will have to ensure is in place, will be to comply with a number of tasks including: Ensuring the conditions in the Building Registration Certificate are complied with to the satisfaction of the Accountable Person and the Building Safety Regulator Ensuring those employed in the maintenance and management of the building’s fire and structural safety have the necessary competence to carry out their roles Engaging with residents in the safe management of their building by producing and implementing a resident engagement strategy Reporting to a mandatory occurrence reporting regime. Building Safety Managers – the future for compliance? Simon Ince, Project Engineer at UL, explores why defining the future role of Building Safety Managers is imperative to improve the standards of building management to protect people from fire and other risks. This is the first of two articles, the second of which can be found here: Competence – A fundamental part of building safety Keeping people safe inside buildings is vital for those responsible for a building’s management, particularly in a multi-occupied residential or a high-risk setting. To keep people safe, those with the duty of care must have a robust management system in place. They must take safety seriously and plan and resource accordingly. Astonishingly, however, many buildings are still managed haphazardly and without structure or control. Sometimes building managers have questionable competence, caused by management teams imposing safety duties on employees without providing sufficient training or support. One new development that will undoubtedly improve the standard of management within buildings is the acceptance of a standard definition of the role of Building Safety Manager (BSM). As part of the work following the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy and the recommendations of Dame Judith Hackitt, this key position has been subject to much discussion. A position which was undoubtedly insufficiently defined, vague and open to interpretation as to what responsibilities and duties were required. More importantly, there was little consensus on which key life safety critical roles BSMs must undertake. How must this position be defined? Currently the British Standards Institution (BSI) is rapidly developing, via its Flex project, a Publicly Available Standard (PAS) document that will provide clear guidance on the role of the BSM. This PAS will draw influence from the recommendations made by the Competence Steering Groups Working Group 8, who published “Safer People, Safer Homes: Building Safety Management.” This document sets out the competences required for any person or an organisation holding the role of BSM. What will a PAS for the BSM facilitate? With good management of a building being so important for safety, having an accountable person with defined responsibilities and duties will help with the routine management of the property. The existence of well trained and qualified professionals overseeing vital maintenance, inspections, procurement and repairs should reduce risk and help ensure that issues are dealt with promptly. In addition to the physical fire protection measures, BSMs will help with engaging with residents, keeping structured records and reducing risk to as low a level as is reasonably practical through a safety case approach. This will help improve safety within those buildings in scope and for those owners’ operators who use the PAS as a guide to compliance. Why is this role innovative? The work around the BSM is part of a wider movement to increase accountability, competence and traceability in the housing and construction sectors, and having a BSM taking control of occupied buildings is a smart and obvious thing to do. Can smart and obvious be innovative? Absolutely, as the role of a professional building safety manager is much needed! UL continues to support the drive in the UK for improved standards by offering independent testing, inspection, training and certification services.
Construction site accidents are very common and can range from minor to fatal. The BLS estimated that around 150,000 construction accidents happen every year in the United States. Insurance should cover you in most instances, but there are cases when things are a bit complicated. You might soon realize that your construction company cares more about their bottom line than you and the insurance company is not on your side. Let’s take a look at a few reasons why you should consider hiring an attorney after a construction accident. You’ll Get Access to their Legal Expertise The first reason why you should work with an attorney is so you can take advantage of their experience. They will be able to answer any questions that you have, but more importantly, allow you to avoid potentially disastrous mistakes. Insurance companies will not hesitate to use dirty tricks to get you to incriminate yourself or try to invalidate your claim. A lawyer will explain how to handle an injury if you’re a construction worker, and the steps you need to take to get full compensation. They will look over the whole facts of the case and have experts to retrieve important information that could help you. They will then be able to tell you what you can realistically expect to get and the proper course of action to take. Help You If Your Claim Has Been Denied Like we mentioned earlier, you should be covered under your insurance scheme if you were injured during work or on the job site. But there are cases when your claim might be partially or totally denied. This can be incredibly distressing to you if you have lost income and are dealing with serious injuries. This is another situation where an attorney could help. They Can Help You With Negotiations There are also cases when you might be able to file a claim directly against your employer. This is often when there’s negligence involved. If it was proven that they were negligent, you may be able to file a liability claim against them. Here, you will either have the choice of going to court or settling. Settling does not necessarily mean that you get less. Lawyers will often ask for a large portion of the judgment if they have to represent you in court, and it’s understandable when considering all the extra resources that have to be deployed. Having a master negotiator by your side will be essential. It’s also important that you choose a lawyer willing to go all the way for you, and they need to have the track record to prove it. Check how many times the lawyer has gone to court and the judgments they were able to get. This will let you know if they’re pushing for a settlement for your interest, or because they don’t want to bother with going to court. These are all major reasons why working with a construction accident attorney could be a good idea. If you feel like you’re being slighted by your employer or their insurance company in any way, we suggest you consult one right now.
