Manual Handling Accidents

“Where and in what jobs are the most common types of manual handling injuries sustained?

There are a number of different ways in which you can sustain such injuries.

The injuries generally come about from performing actions that involve:

• Lifting
• Pushing
• Carrying
• Lowering
• Raising Items
• Moving
• Pulling

Because of this, some of the jobs /industries below are the most affected by manual handling injuries and these include those who work in:

• Construction and Warehouse
• Transportation and storage industries
• Agriculture, forestry and fishing
• Human health and social work activities
• Supermarkets
• Offices
• Shops
• HGV workers
• Stacking shelves
• Fork lift driving duties
• Order picking
• Shelf stacking
• Delivery drivers
• School working
• Hospital portering

How Can Your Employers Avoid Being Held To Blame For These Manual Handling Accidents?

In order to avoid their employees suffering from manual handling injuries, all employers must be able to prove that they have RISK ASSESSED the lifting pulling pushing task before it is completed in accordance with health and safety guidelines.

These regulations that apply to this risk assessment are:

The Manual Handling Lifting Regulations.

Carrying out regular risk assessments that address all potential for harm in the workplace, including types of manual handling injuries that could occur.

The Management Regulations.

Your employer must give employees information about the risks that are in their workplace and how they will be protected, and in addition there must be instruction and training employees on how to avoid manual handling in the first place. This information has to be more than a quick verbal toolbox talk and usually has to be in writing.

In the case of manual handling, employers must take specific care to instruct their employees on the correct way to lift and move heavy loads, to avoid any potential musculoskeletal injuries. This should certainly be a priority for employers, as studies have estimated that these are some of the greatest risks to injury in the work place.

There is no higher or lower maximum weights involved but guidance is given generally with an ergonomic approach favoured by the courts.

Manual handling injuries cost businesses over 1 million working days every year.

The UK’s Health and Safety executive have in recent years reported that the British workforce are losing more than 1.6 million working days due to manual injuries every year, underscoring the importance of adhering to the Manual Handling Operations Regulations.

These injuries causing days lost are usually referred to as musculoskeletal disorders but they also include injuries such as strains, sprains, trapped fingers, cuts from sharp objects or any other injury arising from carrying, lifting, pulling or pushing heavy loads.

This staggering figure highlights the need for greater awareness surrounding our manual workforce culture and the importance of manual handling training along with general health and safety knowledge on both the employer’s and employee’s part.

Can I make a manual handling claim?

If you have injured yourself at work because of your employer’s inability to provide the correct training, then you may be able to make a manual handling compensation claim. We can help you to provide the right evidence to support your case and get the compensation that you deserve for your manual handling accident.

We are manual handling experts.

Our Solicitors have acted for the biggest unions in the country for many decades and have successfully ran many cases of this nature through the courts so we know what to expect.

We have over 60 years of experience.

If you can, you should take photographs of any work equipment which gave rise to the manual handling injury. Take the details of any worker who saw your accident or who can confirm what you were doing at the time you were injured.

You won’t know if you have a claim without the expert advice from Solicitors such as Faircloughs.

If your case has been turned down and closed previously, call us to

How long will my manual handling injury claim take?

Every injury is different and recovery time is different from person to person.

We shall obtain the best expert medical evidence on your behalf and seek to recover your lost wages and a figure for pain and suffering to the maximum extent possible.

There are two parts to the process. These two stages are:

Firstly, it has to be determined who is responsible for your injury. In cases like this, your employer will most likely be responsible for your manual handling injury compensation claim.

Secondly, the medical evidence from your injury must also be assessed in order to determine how it has affected you and therefore how much compensation you can claim.

If you require multiple medical assessments, then your overall claim time could potentially take longer. However, with the right legal assistance you can be sure your rights will be protected.

It is important that loss of wages and other expenses are recovered and we will move as quickly as possible but it takes time to ensure we recover the maximum on your behalf.

On average with an early admission of liability and modest /minor injury it takes up to 6-12 months but each case depends on its own facts and circumstances.

We operate on a no win no fee basis.

We do not charge insurance at the end of the case and the maximum you will pay will be 25% of your Damages which is standard in Personal injury claims.

Safe Use Of Ladders And Step Ladders Whilst You Are Working

It is a myth to suggest that the use of ladders in the workplace is against health and safety. However, having said that the use of ladders without proper precaution, risk assessment and a planned working environment can subject the worker to a serious risk of injury.

Ladders therefore can be used for work at height when a risk assessment of the risks of carrying out a task has shown that using a ladder can offer a high level of fall protection. If the task requires staying up a leaning ladder or step ladder for more than 30 minutes at a time it is recommended by the health and safety executive that your employers use an alternative piece of work equipment.

Your employers are under a legal duty to adopt, maintain and enforce a safe system of work and/or safe place of employment at all times.

To use a ladder the employee must have been trained in its use and if necessary be working under the supervision of a competent person. Of course, competence has to be measured and this is the duty of the employer and competence can only be gained through a combination of training, practical and theoretical knowledge and experience.

The health and safety executive provide specific guidance on the use of ladders and step ladders and employers can check the HSE website in order to obtain appropriate health and safety advice and no cost at all.

By means of general guidance when using a ladder you should have access to the user instructions from the manufacturer in case you may need to refer to that at a later date.

A detailed check of the ladder needs to be made to ensure there are no visible defects and that the ladder is therefore safe to use. The following is a short checklist of precautions employers should take, as follows:

That the stiles are not bent or damaged

• The feet – if they are missing, worn or damaged the ladder could slip. Employees should check the ladder feet when moving from soft or dirty ground to a smooth, solid surface to make sure the actual feet and not the dirt chippings etc are making contact with the ground before going up the ladder.
• The rungs – if they are missing the ladder could fail.
• Any locking mechanisms – do they work properly?
• The step ladder platform – is it unstable and likely to collapse?
• The steps or treads on step ladders – are they contaminated or slippery?

The above are only a short summary of what you should look for before working on a ladder.

Employers are under a duty under a work at height regulations to risk assess any work that they carry out.

There is also a general duty under the management regulations 1999 to carry out a risk assessment.

If you have been unfortunate to have an accident involving a ladder at work or a work accident of any kind then you can rely on over 60 years experience at Faircloughs Solicitors.

Carrying out a Manual Handling Risk Assessments in Your Workplace

Employers have a duty to carry out a general risk assessment in connection with any work task in accordance with the Management Regulations 1992 to prevent manual handling injury claims.

Regulation 3(1) of the Management Regulations and following a risk assessment in relation thereto may indicate the possibility of an injury from a manual handling operation.

In those circumstances employers have to carry out a risk assessment. If possible, employers should avoid the need for manual handling. If that is not reasonably practicable then a more specific risk assessment is required by Regulation 4(1)(b). There are various factors in Regulation 4(3) and schedule 1 to the regulations and they set out the factors at which the assessment should take into account including the tasks, the loads, the working environment and individual capability.

Who should carry out the risk assessment?

As an employer or a relevant self-employed person, you are responsible for health and safety in your business and whilst you can delegate this task, at the end of the day it is your responsibility. Proper risk assessments are crucial in preventing injuries and supporting manual handling claims in case of negligence.

Your employer should ensure that the person carrying out the assessment is competent, and he should where possible, involve your workers in the process and if he believes the task is beyond him, the employer should as a matter of good practice, employ a specialist outside the company to carry out this task.

Those responsible for risk assessments in relation to manual handling tasks should keep a full record of the risk assessment.

The Health and Safety Executive website provides details of the kinds of risk assessments that should be carried out in relation to manual handling operations.

Those responsible for assessments should be familiar with the requirements and be able to:

Identify hazards and assess risks from the type of manual handling being done at the premises.

Use other sources of information as appropriate.

Draw valid and reliable conclusions from assessments and identify steps to reduce the risk of injury.

Make a record of the assessment and communicate this to supervisors and workers.

Call on outside help to undertake the assessment if required.

Training should be a follow up requirement following a risk assessment and then all employees should be aware of the contents of the assessment and be properly trained in relation to manual handling tasks.

How should the assessment be carried out?

Following consultation with your workers, you should use practical experience of how this type of work is being done. Each job is different but carrying out a practical assessment will help you devise appropriate training to avoid the risk of injury.

There is an important difference between the employer’s assessments required by Regulation 4(1)(b) and the everyday judgments which supervisors and others have to make in dealing with manual handling operations. Any assessment should identify the predictable problems likely to arise during the lifting operations and the measures needed to deal with them. Measures will include training to enable supervisors and employees to cope effectively on a day-to-day basis with manual handling tasks.

It is important that staff are provided with proper training in order to carry out risk assessments which will allow them to make judgements that will inevitably be necessary to deal satisfactorily with an emergency incident and this is known as a dynamic risk assessment.

Assessments for moving and handling people

In this respect, two types of risk assessments may be needed in accordance with the HSE guidelines; a general assessment for the setting and the individual assessment for the person who needs to be moved.

Any general risk assessment for moving and handling people should consider the following;

The type and frequency of moving and handling people

Overall staffing and equipment needs for example hoists

The environment – using an ergonomic approach

When moving and handling, what moving and handling would be required in an emergency

Training needs to staff to meet the mobility needs of the expected patient/client group

Of course, an individual person assessment should consider the specific moving and handling needs of the person being cared for as part of their care plan.

Risk assessment for moving/handling people can be a complex task which requires consideration of the medical condition of the person, their capabilities and needs. There has to be a balance with their human rights and needs of those involved to enable them to participate as fully as possible in activities, normal daily living and rehabilitation, whilst managing the risks to themselves and others.

The above is only a general guide as to the manual handling and risk assessment and each case has to be dealt with on its merits and individual circumstances.

You should seek specific guidance from an engineer or other health and safety expert before undertaking any kind of manual handling task. Each case is different. You should carefully review the documentation that is available on the Health and Safety Executive website. The above is only intended as a general comment on the duties of employers and should not be regarded as definite legal advice in each situation as this varies from case to case.

What Are Manual Handling Injuries

During the course of your work, manual handling injuries can happen as a result of lifting, carrying, pulling or moving an object during the course of your employment.

Manual handling injuries happen frequently in the work place and they are one of the most common types of accident at work.

Injuries of this nature can vary from cuts, bruises and pulled muscles to more serious injuries including back injuries with permanent disabilities.

Accidents can happen as a result of employers failing to carry out proper risk assessments before the lift takes place or if the employer forgets/ignores the need to carry out a risk assessment in relation to the manual handling task at hand.

If your job involves heavy lifting then your employer should make sure you are properly trained to do the job safely.

If there is a failure by the employer to do all of these things, this may lead to a claim for damages.

We have over 60 years’ experience of dealing with manual handling and lifting accident in all industries including;

• Construction work – When you may have been injured as a result of moving heavy equipment for example jack hammers, Hilti guns, cement bags, bricks and pallets;
• Care home – You may have suffered an injury whilst moving a patient at a care home which has caused a back strain and injury;
• Factories – A factory accident where you have had to push pull or lift a heavy load without appropriate equipment to assist you.

Every case is different but generally if you are successful, we will be able to recover the following losses and expenses:

• The cost of any medical treatment you have had to pay for including prescription costs
• Any loss of wages or income as a result of the injury
• Travelling costs including hospital parking charges
• Pain and suffering and loss of amenity as a result of being able to enjoy your life as a whole.

However, if you have had a manual handling accident you should contact Faircloughs Accident Claim Solicitors on their website at www.faircloughs.net or telephone them on 01942 665 700 / 01942 724 928. Personal injury lawyers at Faircloughs can assess your case, determine potential compensation, and provide dedicated representation to ensure your needs are prioritized throughout the legal process.

The initial consultation will be free.

No win no fee no worries!