subject: Workers Injuries And The Emergence Of The Modern Day Compensation Lawyer [print this page] Workers Injuries And The Emergence Of The Modern Day Compensation Lawyer
The role of a compensation lawyer has become common place in the modern day working environment. Employers now have a responsibility to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their staff. If they fail to do this and an employee suffers an injury to an accident at work, then they are likely to face a compensation claim for personal injury. However, working conditions and the safety hasn't always been so accountable, as we shall examine here. Dangerous job Prior to the industrial revolution employers the law did stipulate that employers were responsible for the safety of their staff. Yet, the onus was on the worker to prove employer malice or negligence. Even if they did manage to prove negligence then they may still not receive compensation if the employer could show that; the worker knew of the danger and accepted the risk when taking the job, the worker's own negligence contributed to the accident or a fellow worker caused the accident. There were compensation lawyers during this period who would pursue these cases; however they did not specifically represent workplace injury cases, but compensation claims of all types. Unfortunately it was expensive to hire these lawyers, meaning most workers ended up represening themelves. Irrespective of whether a lawyer or the worker pursued the case, the outcome tended to fall in favour of the employer. Impact of the industrial revolutionDuring the 18th and 19th Centuries the industrial revolution changed the face of the workplace forever, with machinery becoming commonplace. The use of this heavy machinery saw more and more work related accidents and thus workers seeking compensation for their injuries. Workers began creating their own groups, that they all paid a premium to and which would pay the cost of employing a compensation lawyer in the event they were injured at work. Yet, even with this assistance, it was still difficult to win their case due to the law very much still favouring the employer. Workers compensation lawsTowards the end of the 19th Century German Chancellor, Otto Von Bismarck, introduced a compulsory state compensation system which served to protect workers. Under pressure for better working rights, the British Government followed suit shortly afterwards along with most of Europe. This was a massive victory for workers and represented a large step towards creating the modern day compensation lawyer.
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