West Dunbartonshire’s MP Martin Docherty-Hughes has given his backing to Injury Awareness Week 2023, calling for better workplace protections for workers.
Research commissioned by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) for Injury Awareness Week revealed that on average 30,000 people each week believe they have been injured or become ill because of someone else’s negligence.
The study by APIL suggests that 25% of those impacted by these types of injuries had to give up work for a period – with 26% of people saying their mental health had deteriorated.
Local SNP MP Docherty-Hughes has been campaigning to strengthen the rights of injured victims of negligence as part of Injury Awareness Week.
Commenting, Martin Docherty-Hughes MP said:
“I’m supporting Injury Awareness Week because I want to see better workplace protections for workers.
“It’s important to recognise the impact of negligence. This week alone 30,000 people in the UK will become injured or ill due to negligence. All too often this happens in the workplace, resulting in life-changing or life-ending injuries.
“I’m sad to say some of my own constituents will be among those affected. As West Dunbartonshire’s MP, I’ll continue working to support my constituents and campaigning to improve safety for workers.”
APIL chief executive Mike Benner said:
“We want everyone to know how unjust it is that so many people are suffering physically, financially, and emotionally because of negligence which is avoidable.
“A key part of Injury Awareness Week is informing the public about the difference between and accident and negligence, as we know this is often misunderstood. An accident is simply an incident which no-one could have reasonably foreseen. Negligence is doing something, or failing to do something, that could cause injury to others.
“Employers have a duty to make sure we return home from a day’s work unscathed, for example, and drivers need to take care to not harm fellow road users.”
Further information about injury awareness week is available here.
