Personal injury advice from
Thompsons Solicitors
Back Injury at Work Caused by Heavy Lifting
9th January 2007
A man who injured his back through lifting a heavy object at work was recently awarded compensation, with help from our specialist personal injury lawyers.
Manual Handling
The claimant was employed by Goulds and worked in a warehouse. Whilst lifting a large, 17kg roll of plastic pallet wrap from a pallet onto a machine, he injured his back.
He felt that his injury at work was caused by his employer, so began the process of making a personal injury claim.
Employer Liability
The employer’s defence was that they had provided sufficient training in manual handling procedures and carried out a risk assessment of the work.
The claimant argued that they had not made every effort to provide an alternative way of carrying out the job to avoid the heavy lifting altogether.
A previous case heard by the Court of Appeal, where a decision was made that the defendant had failed to prove that it was not reasonably practicable to avoid lifting, was used as an example of this principle.
The Judge found in favour of the employee, accepting that the roll was heavy and the employer had not thought about alternatives to manually lifting it.
Accident at Work Claims
If you have been injured in a workplace accident, which you believe to be the fault of your employer, our solicitors may be able to assist you in making a claim for compensation.
Contact The Legal Line for specialist, cost free advice and assistance on 0800 0328511 or by completing an online claim enquiry form.
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