Compensation for a Back Injury at Work

At Pearson Solicitors, we come across a wide variety of accidents in the workplace, and sometimes, it is simply a lack of training and not having the proper specialist equipment in place that can lead to an injury at work.

Injury at work - Employers' responsibilities

Employers are responsible for ensuring their employees are safe when at work, and so in these cases, the defendant will usually be your employer in an accident at work claim.

Clients come to us when they have been injured due to health and safety procedures not being adhered to, and they’ve been injured at work, or the incident has worsened an existing injury or condition.

In this case, our client worked as a specialist windscreen fitter on large vehicles, trains and buses.  The installation of one of these huge windscreens involved several awkward and heavy manual handling tasks. Our client alleges he did not receive adequate training from his employers, and the culmination of having to carry out these tasks caused injury to his back and sciatic pain in his legs.

Some of the screens used weighed between 50 and 60kg and, in many cases, had to be lifted above head height.  In addition, when being fitted, they had to be dragged into place, and when being removed, they had to be manhandled into skips when broken.  In this case, there was an accumulation of unacceptable working practices.  Our client stated that before going off sick, the only manual handling training he was given was how to lift a box.

His employers, a nationwide glass and glazing company, admitted liability, and we settled the case for our client, who received £40,000 in compensation.

Employers duty to provide a safe workplace

Your employer has a legal duty to ensure your workplace is safe. They must always:

• Maintain up to date training, keep a log of all training activity and ensure you are trained for the actual job you are doing.
• They must also do risk assessments across the workplace
• Provide work and personal protective equipment as necessary
• Minimise risks to employees' health and safety and provide safe working systems

Any injury in the workplace should be covered by the employer's insurance policy.

Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969

The Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 imposes a requirement for all business owners to insure against liability for bodily injury or disease sustained by their employees during the course of their employment.

“Above all, when going to work, you should feel safe.  You do not leave home and expect to return injured and unable to carry on working,” said Solicitor and Head of Personal Injury, Mike Talbot.

“In this case, clear and specific training should have been given to our client, and the employer failed to carry out their legal duty.  In all cases of manual handling, when an employer does not properly train staff or provide them with adequate protective equipment, they put their staff in jeopardy.”

“Our client’s employers breached several workplace liability regulations.  As well as manual handling breaches, they exposed him to the risk of injury and failed to operate, or ensure, a safe system of installing, loading, and unloading windscreens, also failed to take adequate care for the safety of their employees,” said Mike Talbot.

“My client underwent months of physiotherapy as part of his rehabilitation.”

How can we help?

Our personal injury solicitors offer a No Win No Fee on accidents and injury claims at work. If you have been injured at work, contact our team on 0161 785 3500 or email enquiries@pearsonlegal.co.uk

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Please note that the information and opinions contained in this article are not intended to be comprehensive, nor to provide legal advice. No responsibility for its accuracy or correctness is assumed by Pearson Solicitors and Financial Advisers Ltd or any of its members or employees. Professional legal advice should be obtained before taking, or refraining from taking, any action as a result of this article.

This blog was posted some time ago and its contents may now be out of date. For the latest legal position relating to these issues, get in touch with the author - or make an enquiry now.