Back Injury At Work Claims – Manual Handling
Lifting accidents at work are a major cause of back injury and back pain in the UK. Heavy lifting, bending, twisting, lifting, pushing, repetitive work, static or bad posture are just some of the contributory factors. The accident at work solicitors must prove that the back injury at work was caused by the job and not by some other cause. It must be appreciated that in most cases it is very difficult to identify a single cause of back pain unless the worker suffers immediate pain following a single heavy lifting incident for instance.
Pro-long repetitive lifting at work may ultimately cause back pain, which the worker may not realise is due to work over a period of time. It is therefore very important that specialist accidents at work solicitors are instructed to investigate the cause of back pain or back injury. Not only may the accident at work solicitors be able to claim compensation for the back injury but also stop any further damage and injury to the back.
Since 1992 the Manual Handling Regulations came into force setting out in some detail the employer’s duty to their work force to protect workers from a work related lifting injury. The Regulations define “manual handling” as:
“…any transporting or supporting of a load (including the lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving thereof) by hand or bodily force.
Employer’s Duty To Prevent Back Injury At Work Claims
Employers must undertake a risk assessment to reduce the risk of injury at work and should, so far as reasonably practicable:
- Avoid hazardous manual handling;
- Assess any hazardous manual handling that cannot be avoided;
- Reduce the risk of injury;
The most obvious example to reduce the risk of an accident at work due to heavy or pro-longed lifting is for employers to provide:
- lifting apparatus to help lift patients in a hospital
- trolleys for the ease of transporting goods; and
- ensure two workers are used if something heavy needs lifting rather than one worker.
