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When you think about the employees with the greatest likelihood of suffering a back injury at work you tend to think of those workers who perform physical tasks, usually involving heavy lifting; nurses, construction workers, engineers, shop workers. But it is the humble office worker, who sits down at 9am and perhaps doesn't leave their chair for a couple of hours who is also at the greatest risk of suffering pernicious damage which could lead to back injury.
For many office workers, when they start a new job, they are shown to a desk and that is that. They will have been allocated a chair and they are expected to sit in it, but it is this very piece of equipment which has the greatest potential to cause an office employee a personal injury.
According to the Campaign for Better Seating back injury complaints cost the NHS £480 million each year. They say that good posture is in decline and that poor seating has the potential to force a person to adopt damaging posture.
The best work chairs, they say, allow the seat to be angled slightly forward. The back of the seat pan should be two to three inches higher than the front and this should be an independently adjustable feature to that of seat height and arm rest adjustment. They suggest that for chairs where the seat pan is either flat or sloping backwards, it may be possible to use a wedge shaped cushion to enable the correct position for the user.
The height of the seat needs to be considered carefully in relation to the floor and the work surface. Feet should reach the floor and not be higher than the hips; the backrest should be at least as high as the shoulder blades and whilst it should not be pushed so far forward that it forces the spine into an unnatural shape, it should not be angled back too far.
The organisation suggests that even a good work chair won't automatically give you good posture, but a bad chair can make it impossible to achieve a comfortable and safe working posture.
Employers have a responsibility in law to provide their workers with the correct equipment so that they may carry out their day-to-day duties safely and without the risk of suffering a work-related injury. If an employee feels their office chair is unsuitable, they should bring it to the attention of a suitable person who can investigate the possibilities of changing the equipment or perhaps correctly adjusting an existing chair.
Claim compensation with YouClaim for a back injury at work
Whether you sit at a desk to operate a computer or as a customer service clerk, or as a bus driver or a dentist, you have the right to suitable equipment for the job. If you have suffer back pain or have been diagnosed with a back or neck injury and you feel it may be attributable to your work chair, you may be able to make a claim for 100% compensation with the experts at YouClaim.
Work injury claims are all carried out on a no win no fee basis, so that you can rest assured you will not have to pay any legal costs, fees or disbursements. What's more, in a won case we guarantee you will receive 100% compensation – as we never take a cut.
So, if you have suffered a back injury call our knowledgeable legal advisors today on 0800 10 757 95 to see if one of our personal injury solicitors would be able to help you make a claim.
Alternatively, you can contact us via echat or by filling in an online claim form so that we may call you back at a time to suit you.
