We cannot stop it falling, but once it settles, should we clear it from our paths, and public pavements? In most situations, the answer is ‘yes’.

The law says that you must take reasonable steps to make sure that visitors to your property are safe. You should therefore try and make your paths safer if you can. If you do this, you have an answer to any claim against you.

With a public pavement, you do not have to clear this, but it is public spirited to do so. So long as you behave sensibly this should not be a problem, so don’t for example pour boiling water on the path which can then freeze and make things worse!

Judges know that “health and safety issues” are used as an excuse for being lazy, and if you are doing your best to be helpful to others, it is unlikely that you will be criticised.

If you have house insurance, then if a personal injury claim is made against you, you simply pass this on to your insurers to deal with – that is what you pay your premiums for.

As The Times said recently ‘The health and safety monster does exist, in the minds of jobsworths, lazybones and buck passers, not in the law. That is the main thing we have learned from the snow’.

Many big insurance companies with expensive public relations departments like to blame claimants and their solicitors for a so-called ‘compensation culture’, and for pushing up the cost of insurance premiums by being greedy. By and large, this is complete rubbish. So often it is the insurers’ own incompetence that causes expense and delay.

To take a particularly blatant example, we acted recently for Mr M from Birmingham. He was at work, as a passenger in a lorry driven by his colleague, which shunted into the rear of a car at traffic lights. Mr M suffered whiplash injuries to his neck and shoulder, and pain in his hand. This is easily the most common type of injury in road accidents.

We arranged for Mr M to be examined by a doctor, and based on his report assessed fair compensation at £2500, including some lost wages and other items.

The insurance company representing Mr M’s company soon accepted that the collision was the fault of their driver, and we suggested that they should pay £2500 to conclude the claim. They wrote back saying they were only prepared to pay £600! When we told them that this was far too low, they phoned up offering £1500. Since that was still too low, we started a court claim. When the court papers were sent to the insurance company’s solicitors, they promptly agreed to pay the full £2500, and Mr M had his compensation at last.

If the insurance company had not been so stupid, they would have saved substantial legal costs and expenses including those of the court claim, and Mr M would have been paid his money two months earlier. And yet some insurance companies have the cheek to try and make innocent people feel guilty about claiming fair compensation!

Over the weekend of 17 & 18th October 2009, Davis Gregory consultant Tim Wheeler with his sons Liam and Samuel and his brother Ryan set out to raise money for the Cancer Research Fund in the most energetic way possible. They planned to climb the three highest mountains in Scotland (Ben Nevis, 4408 feet), England (Scafell Pike, 3210 feet), and Wales (Snowdon (3560 feet), all in the space of 24 hours, including driving between them.

Although the weather on Ben Nevis and Scafell Pike was not as clear as they would have liked, Liam and Samuel achieved their goal in exactly 24 hours, with Tim and Ryan following only 15 minutes later. What is even more magnificent is that they have raised over £1000 for cancer research, and Tim was at his desk on Monday morning!

Tim says: “We are planning another charity event next year, a coast to coast cycle ride of 200 miles from the coast of the Lake District, across the Pennines and the North Yorkshire Moors, to the North Sea. Plenty of hills on the way!”

The photo shows Tim (second from left) and the team at the summit of Snowdon.

Approximately 6,000 injuries occur in the workplace each day in the UK alone. In some cases this may be due to negligence on the part of the employer and if businesses are found to be falling short on their health and safety procedures, the injured parties could be entitled to compensation.

It is imperative that businesses follow the procedures set out by the health and safety inspectorate for their industry to ensure that their employees are safe at all times, if they do not it could prove costly in terms of both productivity and money.

If a business does not satisfy a visiting inspector there are a range of actions that could occur, from a verbal warning to an unlimited fine and up to two years imprisonment. However, it could be much more costly for an individual that suffers an injury at the hands of an inattentive employer.

If you have suffered an injury at work and you believe that the fault lies with the business there are law firms in the Cheltenham and Gloucestershire areas such as Davis Gregory that could help you to fight them in court.

These Cheltenham and Gloucester solicitors can help almost anyone that has suffered an injury at work due to negligence, to recover 100% of the compensation that they deserve. They are fully qualified and well-respected professionals, all claims are personally handled by a top lawyer who has many years experience.

When looking for a professional to aid you in your claim, it is important to look for one that is a member of the Law Society Specialist Personal Injury Panel and the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers.

There is no excuse for businesses to fall short on their responsibilities; 30 million working days are lost each year due to work related ill health. Claiming against these companies with the help of Davis Gregory solicitors can provide compensation but it also serves as a warning to other businesses that are not following essential protocols.