Case Study: Lifting without Training

Compensation: £9,500

With JMW's help a man has received £9,500 for a back injury caused by heavy lifting without manual handling training.

Mr A, a 47-year-old design engineer, was asked to tidy up a store room by his employer. This was not something he would normally be expected to do or has been asked to do in the past. He has also never received any manual handling training.

The injury

Mr A was lifting and moving heavy boxes all morning. The boxes were not labelled and so Mr A was not aware of what was in them and more importantly, could not guess their weight. By the end of the day, he had developed back pain.

Mr A did not think much of it and continued working for another month, by which time the pain became unbearable and he decided to see his GP. During the consultation, he was told that he had strained muscles in his lower back when lifting the heavy boxes and was signed off work for a month. His employer was not happy about paying Mr A while he was off. The situation was even more difficult for Mr A as he was a carer for one of his family members.

Making a claim

This is when Mr A contacted JMW. He spoke to one of our solicitors who explained that Mr A should have been trained before undertaking any manual lifting work, especially when Mr A’s job was a ‘desk job’. Mr A was worried about making a claim against his employer but after having a chat with the solicitor he decided to go ahead.

The employer was difficult from the beginning of the claim. He didn’t accept any fault for the injury and said he was not going to pay any compensation. At that time, Mr A was told that the problem with his back was permanent, and Mr A and his solicitor decided to take his claim to court.

The settlement

The employer changed his position just before the hearing, and Mr A did not have to go to court. Mr A received £9,500 in compensation for his heavy lifting injury and the money he lost whilst not working. He was extremely happy with that outcome. He said that the amount of compensation he received was more than he had ever expected.

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