Manual handling and avoiding an industrial accident

Manual handling is one of the most frequent causes of personal injury in the workplace. Employees should receive appropriate training if they are to be involved in manual handling, or they could suffer from the effects of a painful industrial accident.

Avoiding the accident
The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 state that UK employers should try to avoid any manual handling that carries risk, if that is reasonable. If not, any potentially dangerous handling should be assessed and the risks of receiving a work injury minimised.

The Health and Safety Executive offers a Manual Handling Assessment Chart, or MAC, which is available online. This offers guidelines to assess the risks that cannot be avoided, such as the weight and shape of objects, their location, and how far they are to be carried. However, it does not replace a full risk assessment. Download the MAC. [http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg383.pdf]

Training in the assessment of manual handling risks is available from several sources, including the Health and Safety Laboratory www.hsl.gov.uk, an agency of the HSE. Machinery, pallets and personal safety gear is also widely available to help with this issue.

Location of an accident
While manual handling is most obvious in locations such as warehouses, stockrooms and construction sites, it may be found in almost all workplaces. Moving a computer or a box of stationery, or even collecting an unusually large delivery of post, could be a manual handling issue in an office, and may lead to a work-related personal injury.

Claiming for compensation after a manual handling injury
A manual handling injury, if caused in the process of performing your duties, may be classed as an industrial accident. If you have received a personal injury in this way, you may be eligible to make a compensation claim on this basis.

Here at YouClaim, we can give you access to a personal injury solicitor from our team of workplace law experts. You can rely on the quality of our lawyers, as all work within firms covered by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

You can also rely on our promises to act on an entirely free basis in all workplace injury cases, and to pass the full 100% compensation to you. We work on a no win, no fee basis. If we win, we will charge our fee to the losing side, and take no cut from the damages awarded. In the unlikely instance that the claim is unsuccessful, we will claim our costs back from our insurance. This means you are completely protected from all costs and fees.

To discuss your claim with our advisors, simply call 0800 10 757 95, or chat to us online. You can also complete a claim form and specify a time for us to call which is convenient for you. We can help you decide whether an industrial accident claim is the right option for you, and - if so - we will strive to ensure that your claim ends in success.