Manual Handling Injury at Work

Our client suffered a manual handling injury whilst at work and made a successful claim against his employers with help from the Pearson Personal Injury department.

He was working at the Royal Oldham Hospital when he was asked to move a filing cabinet through a narrow doorway. The space was too small to fit the cabinet through, so it had to be tipped at an angle. In doing so, the cabinet dropped from his grip, and when our client tried to stop it, he sustained a manual handling injury.

Our client was seen in the accident and emergency department and was advised that he had a tear in his left biceps tendon.

A safe system of working

In this case, it was established that the defendant, Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, had not provided a safe system of working.  It was found that they had not only failed to provide an adequate number of staff to complete the task, this was a job that should have been done by 3 people, but no assessment was made on how to safely move the large piece of equipment.

“Our client had a few weeks of pain and inconvenience as a result of this accident,” said Head of Personal Injury Mike Talbot.

“He had to rely on family members for personal care, was unable to drive, and was unable to enjoy his hobby of maintaining a small holding for quite a few weeks following his accident.”

Injury at work claims

Whether you work in an office, factory, shop, on a construction site, or you drive for a living, accidents can happen. Your employer has a legal obligation to make sure your workplace is safe. In some cases, the employer can be strictly liable in law for an injury. In others, it may be necessary to show that your employer was negligent.

Our personal injury solicitors were able to settle the manual handling injury out of court, and our client was awarded £12,500 in compensation.

How can we help

If you have had an accident at work or in a public place our Personal Injury Solicitors can help. Contact us on 0161 785 3500 or email enquiries@pearsonlegal.co.uk for free initial legal advise and a No Win No Fee service.

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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.