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Manual Handling - Personal Injury Compensation Claims with clickandclaim's Personal Injury Solicitors
If you have suffered an injury whilst at work as a result of lifting, carrying or moving something that is too heavy or awkward then you may have a valid claim for compensation. The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 (updated in 2002) set out the duties placed upon employers.
Statistics show that the most frequently reported injury from manual handling was to the back followed by the upper limbs (shoulder, arms, wrist and hand). It is stated that 61% of accidents involved pushing or pulling objects that were not supported on wheels. Apparently, 5 million working days each year are lost due to back pain.
The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 require employers, so far as they reasonably can, to avoid the need for employees to undertake any manual handling operations which involve a risk of injury and where they can not be avoided, to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of such operations. Manual Handling Operations are defined as transporting or supporting of a load including lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving – by hand or by using bodily force. The load is deemed to be mainly most things including people (e.g. nurses having to move people), animals (e.g. stockmen moving cattle) and inanimate objects (e.g. stock in a warehouse). The effort involved by an employee can be direct or indirect (e.g. pulling a load on a trolley).
Ideally, an employer should provide suitable lifting equipment (e.g. a hoist or forklift truck) for heavy loads so as to avoid the need for the employee to undertake manual handling.
Where it is not reasonably practicable for an employer to completely avoid the need for employees to undertake manual handling operations, he must (a) make a suitable and sufficient assessment of all manual handling operations in accordance with the regulations; (b) take steps to reduce the risk of injury to employees to the lowest level reasonably practicable; and (c) provide employees with information as to the weight of each load and the heaviest side of any load whose centre of gravity is not positioned centrally. Factors to be taken into account by an employer when making an assessment of manual handling operations include:-
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Column 2 |
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Factors |
Questions |
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1. The tasks |
Do they involve:
—holding or manipulating loads at distance from trunk?
—unsatisfactory bodily movement or posture, especially:
—twisting the trunk?
—stooping?
—reaching upwards?
—excessive movement of loads, especially:
—excessive lifting or lowering distances?
—excessive carrying distances?
—excessive pushing or pulling of loads?
—risk of sudden movement of loads?
—frequent or prolonged physical effort?
—insufficient rest or recovery periods?
—a rate of work imposed by a process?
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2. The loads |
Are they:
—heavy?
—bulky or unwieldy?
—difficult to grasp?
—unstable, or with contents likely to shift?
—sharp, hot or otherwise potentially damaging?
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3. The working environment |
Are there:
—space constraints preventing good posture?
—uneven, slippery or unstable floors?
—variations in level of floors or work surfaces?
—extremes of temperature or humidity?
—conditions causing ventilation problems or gusts of wind?
—poor lighting conditions?
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4. Individual
capability |
Does the job:
—require unusual strength, height, etc?
—create a hazard to those who might reasonably be considered to be pregnant or to have a health problem?
—require special information or training for its safe performance?
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Other factors |
Is movement or posture hindered by personal protective equipment or by clothing? |
The Regulations do provide some guidelines as to what are considered to be inappropriate weights or loads. However, lots of different factors have to be taken into account when an employer assesses the risk of injury.
If an employer does not comply with the requirements of the regulations and as a consequence, an employee sustains injury then that employee would have a valid claim for compensation against his/her employer. In reality, such a claim would be dealt with by the employer’s insurance company.
Compensation claims for accidents at work would include compensation for the pain, suffering and loss of amenity (known as General Damages) as well as other specific items of expense or loss (known as Special Damages) such as lost earnings whilst off work injured, cost of medication/prescriptions, travel expenses, the cost or value of care and assistance provided by others whilst incapacitated etc.
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