Hamilton Ontario Personal Injury Blog

Personal Injury Claims Might Arise From Fire Code Violations

On behalf of The Morris Law Group posted in Personal Injury on Monday, December 3, 2018.

This past week was National Home Fire Safety Week, and authorities reminded property owners that the Ontario Fire Code puts the obligation of ensuring fire safety squarely on the shoulders of property owners. Landlord responsibilities to anyone who rents a home or even just part of a house include fire safety -- regardless of the term of the lease. Specific requirements are contained in the Ontario Fire Code that mandates carbon monoxide and smoke alarm installations and maintenance, and failure to comply might lead to personal injury liability.

What Compensation Can A Personal Injury Victim Expect?

On behalf of The Morris Law Group posted in Personal Injury on Monday, November 26, 2018.

According to authorities, auto accidents are the primary cause of deaths and serious injuries nationwide, including Ontario. Injuries could involve head, neck, back and spinal trauma, bone fractures, soft tissue injuries, torn ligaments, and more. Any of these could have long-term consequences, which might even include disabilities. Personal injury suffering could include chronic pain and mental and physical anguish along with the inability to work and other factors that cause financial hardship.

Auto insurance policies in Ontario offer Statutory Accident Benefits Coverages that provide victims of accidents with compensation regardless of who was at fault. Covered are drivers, passenger, pedestrians or anyone else injured or killed in an automobile accident. Coverage by the victim's own insurance or that of the other party typically includes pain and suffering along with past and future loss of income and medical expenses.

Personal injury: The impact of whiplash injuries on crash victims

On behalf of The Morris Law Group posted in Personal Injury on Monday, November 19, 2018.

Auto accident laws in Ontario allow all injured parties to seek accident benefits and other compensation because it is a no-fault system. Some of the most prevalent types of personal injury suffered in car accidents are whiplash injuries. However, symptoms might be delayed, often causing victims to decline medical examinations immediately after collisions. If left untreated, these injuries could cause long-term health problems.

The injuries result from the whiplash motion of the neck, often when cars are rear-ended or struck on the side. The impact causes the head to whip abruptly from side to side or forward and backward. The force of the movement can damage bones, nerves and muscles in the neck of a vehicle occupant. Strangely, the speed at which this happens is irrelevant, and even at speed as low as 15 mph, the force of the impact can cause extreme strain.

Prevent slip-and-fall accidents to support Senior Safety Week

On behalf of The Morris Law Group posted in Slip And Fall on Wednesday, November 14, 2018.

National Senior Safety Week at the beginning of November each year serves to encourage everyone in Ontario and other provinces to take care of the seniors in their communities and to take steps to keep them safe. Slip-and-fall accidents pose particular hazards because older people are more vulnerable when it comes to broken bones such as hip fractures. Some victims never recover completely after such an accident.

Families who have seniors sharing their homes, or who have frequent visits of older people, can make a point of eliminating fall hazards in and around their houses. Those with elderly loved ones can encourage them to enjoy a handful of nuts like almonds and a glass of milk every day to provide their bones with vitamin D and calcium. They might also encourage their senior loved ones to have their eyes and hearing tested and check the different kinds of medication they take to identify those that might cause dizziness that could lead to falls

Seniors who do not give up driving could cause personal injury

On behalf of The Morris Law Group posted in Personal Injury on Monday, November 5, 2018.

A the start of November each year, it is National Senior Safety Week. One of the matters on which the Canada Safety Council focuses at this time is the challenge that come with age and how it affects the ability to continue driving. For most seniors in Ontario, giving up driving might seem like losing the last bit of independence they still had. Sadly, the truth is that many personal injury lawsuits follow car accidents in which older drivers were at fault.

Ontario people, whose elderly parents still drive their own vehicles, are reminded that part of caring for them is looking out for telltale signs of age-related mental and physical impairment. People age at different rates, and it is crucial to recognize the changes and work on ways to compensate. There are specific things that people with elderly loved ones can monitor to allow them to continue driving for a bit longer without endangering themselves and others.

Legal considerations after a bus accident

On behalf of The Morris Law Group on Wednesday, October 31, 2018.

Whenever people board a bus to commute to work or for a vacation tour, their safety is the last thing they are concerned about. Still, they should remember their safety lies in the hands of the bus driver and the bus company. Accidents can happen. Bus accidents can cause not only the same injuries as car accidents but can instigate unique injuries of their own. These injuries may be far worse than those one would receive in an automobile accident. This is because:

Buses carry little or no passenger safety equipment, such as seat belts
Buses are more prone to rolling over than automobiles
Buses require passengers to keep hold of their belongings. This may lead to projectile injuries if the passengers and objects are thrown around during an accident

Mindsets are shifting on disability employment in some companies

On behalf of The Morris Law Group posted in Long-Term Disability on Tuesday, October 30, 2018.

It is not unheard of for individuals with disabilities to be discriminated against when they apply for a job. However, multiple industry leaders and studies are finding that hiring an individual with a disability can actually be beneficial to a company. The Ontario Disability Employment Network has responded to the growing conversation.

Currently, more than six million Canadians identify as having a disability; globally, this balloons to 1.3 billion. Former Wall Street Trader turned CEO and author Rich Donovan calls this the "world's largest emerging market," controlling billions of dollars in disposable income. He argues that leaving this 24.5 percent of people with a disability out of contention for a job can be detrimental to a company trying to hire the best and brightest, while those who embrace this community can find themselves looking through a pool of untapped talent. Donovan, who has cerebral palsy, counts himself as an example of this.

Chronic pain treatments after personal injury may vary

On behalf of The Morris Law Group posted in Personal Injury on Tuesday, October 23, 2018.

After being in an accident, it is not uncommon for people to experience chronic pain. While this pain can often result from any number of personal injury issues, some Ontario medical professionals admit that many private treatments to such pain are difficult to access in the province. Lack of access to treatments such as acupuncture, physiotherapy and chiropractic treatments mean many are turning to painkillers, even if these treatments can be high-risk and less effective overall.

Those who have insurance or financial means may have a few options in Ontario. For example, medical cannabis is often used by people in the province. Marijuana prescribed for medicinal purposes has a high CBD component, meaning it relieves pain without the "high" from THC. This is often covered by insurance, as well as being a tax deductible expense for patients.

Some fear personal injury risk from impaired driving increase

On behalf of The Morris Law Group posted in Personal Injury on Monday, October 15, 2018.

As Canada moves closer to marijuana legalization, safety advocates are working to raise awareness about the risks of driving while high. According to Ispos, a market research company, almost two million individuals in Ontario have driven under the influence of cannabis at least once. Driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol can cause car accidents that lead to serious personal injury, so raising awareness on the issue is a high priority for many.

The Ispos study further concluded that use of cannabis before driving was happening in large numbers even recently, with 700,000 individuals admitting to driving high in the last three months. A CAA study further noted that along with using cannabis, some of these drivers are also drinking to some degree before getting behind the wheel. Understandably, this combination can create a significant public safety concern.

Pool of water at construction site a slip and fall risk

On behalf of The Morris Law Group posted in Slip And Fall on Tuesday, October 9, 2018.

Some of the most dangerous elements of a workplace may not look threatening at first sight but can in fact be a major hazard. This is certainly the case with pools of water, which can cause slip and fall accidents that lead to serious long-term injury and consequences for Ontario workers and citizens. The Labour Council in Ottawa has recently released a photo of one such hazard in a light rail transit (LRT) tunnel.

The photo dates back to a month ago and reveals a large amount of water filling the tunnel at the result of a leak. Workers need to wade through the water as they do their jobs at the LRT project, a task that causes concern for many. The level of water makes it impossible to see what is below the surface, making it difficult to avoid obstructions or debris that might cause a slip and fall accident.