Musculoskeletal Injuries

Musculoskeletal injuries relate to conditions that can affect the back, joints, and limbs. They can occur due to repeated unsafe movements such as sustained work of excessive force or work of a repetitive nature. It can also occur due to a single instance such as a fall. These injuries can not only cause you pain in the short term they may prevent you from carrying out your job for some time. As stated above an employer has a duty to, as much as reasonably practicable protect their workers from harm at work. So, where a musculoskeletal injury has occurred due to the working conditions, the job an employee has to do or the actions of a fellow employee the employer may be liable for the injury. 

 

The most common areas on the body for these injuries to occur are: 

• Lower Back; 
• Neck and shoulders;
• Arms and legs;
• Hands and feet; and 
• Hips.

 

If the employer is liable for the injury due to a failure to meet any of the factors mentioned in the introduction above (competent workforce, adequate material, and equipment, a proper system of working, and a safe workplace) then it will allow the employee to claim compensation. 

Examples of activities at work that can cause musculoskeletal injuries are: 

 

Manual Handling

Manual Handling is defined by the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 as ‘any transporting or supporting of a load (including the lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving thereof) by hand or by bodily force.’ The load for example can be a box but is not limited to inanimate objects it can also include people or animals. Manual handling can often be the cause of muscle injuries in the workplace. 

 

The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 provides that an employer must as far as reasonably practicable: 

• Avoid hazardous manual handling; 
• Assess the risk of injury from any hazardous manual handling that cannot be avoided; and
• Reduce the risk of injury from hazardous manual handling.

 

Manual handling is going to be necessary in some occupations, in this case, the employer should reduce the risk of injury from the manual handling. They should also, if possible, break loads into smaller consignments and ensure the work rate is not excessive and to unreasonably tight deadlines. If an employer fails to do all which is reasonably practicable, they could be liable for any injuries suffered by their employees. 

 

Vibrations 

The vibrations from things such as power tools or jolts from driving certain vehicles can cause long-term damage to individuals. The common injuries can relate to hand or arm injuries from the use of a tool or back injuries from driving certain vehicles. If an employer does not take reasonable steps to protect their workforce from these injuries, they can be liable to compensate the employee for the damage. 

 

An employer is required (as far as reasonably practicable) to reduce the vibrations which an employee may feel when handling such tools or vehicles. They can do this by providing their employees with tools with the least amount of vibration possible which are suitable for the job. Limit each worker’s daily exposure time to the vibrations to as short a time as possible with regular breaks, operators of these tools should be encouraged to exercise their fingers.

 

They should also be provided with the information and training to use the tool correctly. They should also conduct health surveillance on anyone whose use of these tools is above the Exposure Action Value of 2.5 m/s2. For guidance on how to calculate the Exposure Action Value: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/1093/schedule/1/made

 

Early signs of vibration caused hand and arm injury:

• Numbness in the fingers, 
• Lack of feeling in the fingers,
• Reduction in hand strength,
• In the cold, your fingers may go white then red before being painful.

 

Ultimately this can lead to:

• Permanent numbness, 
• Difficulty picking up small objects,
• Permanent loss of feeling, 
• Pain when trying to grip things in your hand. 

 

As mentioned above vibrations caused by jolts or shocks from driving certain vehicles can lead to back pain. If an employer fails to provide reasonable protection for their employees from these vibration-related injuries and does not take the steps mentioned above it can result in them being liable for the injury of an employee sustained this way. 

 

How we can help

The main issue in regard to musculoskeletal injuries is proving fault, if there is a chance that the injury could be attributed to your life outside work such as playing an impact sport (rugby etc), doing strenuous gardening and so on. Ultimately it would depend on whether you can state, with a fair degree of certainty that the injury was caused by an employer breaking their duty of care towards you, essentially the criteria for a claim depends on proving negligence. If you believe that there is a fair chance of a claim then you would need to open a case so that your personal caseworker can being the process, to initiate a case simply click on the link at the top of the page, activated by the link at the top of the page, should you wish to start a case the caseworker will send you the suitable payment link.

 

To quantify compensation our legal team will appoint consultants (either Health and Safety, Medical or both) to assess your situation, they are privately contracted by us (and therefore their cost would be classed as a disbursement). To quantify the potential claim in regard to mental trauma we would suggest an additional report from our psychological team.

 

The claim will consider two types of damages:

• General damages- this compensates the victim for the pain and suffering endured, and for the loss of enjoyment of life as a result of the negligent act.
• Special damages- this compensates the victim for any personal costs incurred as a result of the negligent act. It can also cover any additional costs required in the future such as remedial surgery to remedy the mistake, mental suffering and so on.

 

Please note your caseworker can only give generic advice, their role is to prepare your details for handling by our legal team and medical consultant and to act as your point of contact, they will also issue you with your Password and PIN, these will be needed to log onto your client dashboard. From your dashboard you will be able to manage and view every aspect of your case, upload documents, images, files etc.