Spinal Injury from Heavy Lifting

Mr P sustained a back injury at work in January 2010. He was employed as a kitchen fitter and sustained a prolapsed disc in his lumbar spine as a result of lifting a table weighing approximately 40 kgs, on his own. The allegations against his employers at the time were that they should not have expected him to manually handle the table on his own.

Mr P's employers argued that he was not expected to carry the table on his own and should have waited for assistance.  Mr P also alleged that his employers had failed to reduce the risk of injury caused by manual handling to its reasonable lowest level under the Manual Handling Regulations 1992 (Regulation 4).

We obtained a report from a consultant orthopaedic surgeon which suggested that the prolapsed disc was not directly caused by the incident, but the symptoms had been brought forward by a period of 3 to 5 years. Mr P had about 6 months off work as a result of his injury and claimed 6 months' loss of earnings.

We issued proceedings on Mr P's behalf in December 2011. However, the case continued to be denied. Disclosure was given, and witness statements exchanged. Mr P's employer continued to contend that Mr P was the author of his own misfortune. The action was due for trial in January 2013 and a settlement was achieved, 3 days before trial, for a sum in the region of £17,000.00.

Steve Webb handled the claim on Mr P's behalf. If you have been injured at work and think that you may have a claim please do get in touch with our team here to arrange your initial free evaluation of your case.