Latest reports from the Health and Safety Executive show that new employees and part-time employees are at greatest risk of having an accident at work.

Organisations might not be providing adequate training and supervision for those at greatest risk of accidents in the workplace. A report by the Institute of Employment Research shows that almost half of all injuries at work happen to an employee with less than six months job tenure. Similarly, employees working less than 16 hours a week are twice more likely to be injured at work than somebody working 30-49 hours a week, when equivalised to a weekly average of 39.5 hours.

In light of these reports organisations should be taking extra precautions to ensure that both new and part-time employees are receiving sufficient training and supervision during the first six months of their employment. Failure to do so is negligent and the organisation should be prepared to face the consequences and employees shouldn’t hesitate in claiming personal injury compensation.

A study on injuries sustained by teenagers in the Washington State, US show that restaurants account for 40% of injuries in the workplace for teenagers. Restaurants are worthy of particular scrutiny due to their high staff turnover and young workforce. These factors mean that the majority of employees tend to work there for less than one year, when most accidents occur and are also part-time employees. In order to keep costs down, new employees receive very little training, especially considering the dangers that they face of having to deal with hot surfaces and carrying heavy piles of plates and glasses and on occasion, during unsociable hours when both body and mind are fatigued.