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The Health and Safety Executive's investigation into Richard Hammond's car accident has shed some new light on the issue of work accident claims, particularly for those working in the broadcasting industry.
Richard Hammond was left in a coma after crashing while driving the Vampire, a modified drag racer capable of reaching more than 300 mph, at Elvington airfield on 20th September last year. He was attempting to break the British land speed record when the jet-powered car hurtled towards the grass and span over and over.
The direct cause of the accident was revealed as catastrophic failure of the drag racer's front offside tyre at 288mph. An expert from Fast Car magazine has commented that at such a speed a driver would experience forces similar to those endured by fighter pilots, "These cars accelerate at 6G - the force is breathtaking and stopping is a real difficulty," he said.
After several months of recuperation Richard Hammond is doing fine and has made a full recovery. His clean bill of health is nothing short of miraculous since the accident could have left him with debilitating brain damage and had a significant lasting impact on his life. It is not believed that Richard Hammond will be contacting personal injury solicitors to make a work accident claim against the BBC but things could have turned out very differently.
Thousands are killed in road accidents in the UK every year and many of these are accidents at work. Despite the fact that delivery drivers, taxi drivers and others who drive for a living don't attempt the death defying stunts of Top Gear presenters they still remain at risk of serious personal injury.
Professional drivers spend more time on the road, travel greater distances and are faced with the stress of meeting deadlines on a daily basis. This makes them statistically more likely to be involved in a road accident than drivers who simply commute to and from work.
While working on the BBC2 motoring show, presenters Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May have been filmed taking part in a whole host of risky escapades. They have narrowly escaped being shot at while driving through southern states of the US displaying contentious expressions of gay pride, driven vehicles into alligator infested waters and driven super cars at ridiculously fast speeds on narrow, winding roads. Surprisingly, so far, none of this has led to the need for work accident claims to be made.
Principal Inspector Keith King, who led the HSE team investigating Richard Hammond's car crash, said, "The investigation identified several safety features, which in combination, almost certainly saved Mr Hammond's life. These included: the structural integrity of the vampire, which survived the crash intact; the design of the driver restrain arrangements; the crash helmet selected and the emergency rescue services on site at the airfield. Other precautions adopted included the decision not to deploy camera crews along the margins of the runway.
"The investigation also identified failings in the BBC's safety management systems relating to risk assessment and the procurement of services from others, and by PTLE in their risk assessment for the services they provided to the BBC at Elvington. These failings and other recommendations are being pursued with the two parties involved. However, when viewed against HSE's enforcement criteria, none of these failings merit prosecution."
As a result of this investigation some pressing issues surrounding preparation and training of presenters for dangerous activities such as this have been identified. The HSE has passed these findings on to the Joint Advisory Committee for Entertainment. This should prevent other television personalities like Richard Hammond sustaining serious personal injury in the line of duty. If employers such as the BBC fail to address these issues presenters' lives will inevitably be put at risk, leading to legal action against employers and a resulting influx of work accident claims.
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