A manual handling injury claim seeks compensation for the personal injury suffered at work when lifting, shifting, pulling and dragging an object as part of your job.

A nurse can suffer a manual handling injury while helping a patient, a warehouse employee may be injured while unloading a delivery, and construction workers who clear rubble regularly suffer this type of personal injury.

The back injury, the shoulder strain, and the nerve damage you suffer at work in a manual handling injury will impact your life.

A manual handling personal injury claim can get compensation for the impact of the injury on your life.

Ross Aldridge Solicitors are experienced No Win No Fee personal injury solicitors in Cheltenham and will help you make your compensation claim.

Table of Content

What is a manual handling claim?

A manual handling injury claim is the legal process you follow when seeking compensation for the effects of a personal injury on your life.

Current statistics show that over 540,000 UK employees have a musculoskeletal disorder injury, MSD, associated with manual handling accidents at work. 17% of all workplace injuries are directly due to manual handling tasks, with over 2.8 million working days lost to this personal injury type. 43% of MSD injuries at work are to the back, 37% to the upper limbs and neck, while 20% of these personal injuries are to the lower limbs. 

UK workplace legislation requires employers to assess every manual handling task to reduce the risk of an employee suffering a personal injury.

If you suffer a manual handling injury at work due to your employer not following workplace legislation, you may have a compensation claim.

Can I make a manual handling injury claim?

Yes, you can make a manual handling injury claim if you can show the injury is a result of your employer not following workplace legislation regarding moving goods.

Every employer has a duty of care to employees, and that duty of care covers all aspects of your working day, from sitting at a desk to unloading goods in the warehouse.

If you can show your employer breached their duty of care to you, the breach of duty caused you an injury, and that the personal injury impacted your life, then you may be able to make a workplace injury claim.

Ross Aldridge personal injury solicitors in Cheltenham can make your manual handling injury compensation claim.

Common manual handling injury claims

Common manual handling injury claims in the UK range from the back injury at the factory to slips, trips and falls while lifting goods in the warehouse. 

Every workplace has its manual handling hazards, but the employer should identify and minimise the risk to all employees.

Types of manual handling injury claims

  • Back and spinal injuries in the workplace
  • Shoulder, neck, and arm injuries while at work
  • Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI) from working without a break
  • Slips, trips and falls while lifting or moving goods at work
  • Hernia due to workplace lifting

Back and spinal injuries in the workplace

Back and spinal injuries in the workplace due to manual handling errors keep employees off work, and some even need to change jobs as part of their recovery.

Types of back and spinal injuries from manual handling:

  • Back injury when shifting office furniture
  • Disc damage when moving goods in the factory
  • Nerve damage due to lifting without the required lifting equipment

Ross Aldridge Solicitors can make a manual handling injury compensation claim for back and spinal injuries.

Shoulder, neck and arm injuries while at work

Shoulder, neck and arm injuries while at work are very common in the UK workplace and are often due to negligence by the employer.

Types of shoulder, neck, and arm injuries in the workplace:

  • Torn shoulder ligaments due to a lack of manual handling training
  • Neck muscle damage when moving equipment in the office
  • Arm injuries due to lifting goods without a risk assessment

You may have a compensation claim for the shoulder, neck and arm injury while at work.

Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI) from working without a break

Repetitive strain injuries from working without a break or change of task are seen in UK employees by doctors and hospital consultants treating long-term complaints.

The employee may not realise their sore back or elbow is due to work and the lack of duty of care by their employer.

Types of claims seen for RSI in the UK:

  • Back injury from lifting goods in the warehouse without a break
  • Tennis elbow from continuous manual handling work
  • Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in the catering industry from lifting utensils

Ross Aldridge Solicitors can make your manual handling injury compensation claim.

Slips, trips and falls while lifting or moving goods at work

Slips, trips and falls happen in every UK workplace, but if you slip, trip or fall when moving goods, the consequences can be very serious.

Personal injury claims for slips, trips and falls at work:

  • Back injury from a slip on a wet surface while moving goods at work
  • Neck injury from a trip on uneven grounds while moving goods
  • Shoulder injury in a fall while lifting boxes in the store room

Ross Aldridge Solicitors will make your personal injury claim for a manual handling injury at work.

Hernia due to workplace lifting

A hernia caused by workplace lifting can be a straightforward injury compensation claim.

The medical evidence of a hernia is clear, and if you can show your employer was negligent in their duty of care to you, you may have a compensation claim.

You can get a hernia when lifting in the workplace due to:

  • Lifting equipment without the proper training
  • Lifting goods that are too big or too heavy for one person
  • Lifting goods without access to suitable lifting equipment

Any workplace injury due to negligence by an employer can lead to a compensation claim: poor training and a lack of lifting equipment cause manual handling injuries that can impact your life.
Ross Aldridge personal injury solicitors in Cheltenham have the experience to make your manual handling workplace injury claim.

How much compensation can I claim for a manual handling injury?

Compensation for a manual handling injury claim can go from less than £10,000 for some injuries to amounts over £1 million and closer to £10 million in some personal injury claims.

A compensation claim is for the impact of the manual handling injury on your life and the losses you suffered when injured in an accident that was not your fault. When making the claim, you are seeking compensation for the physical, emotional, and financial impacts on your life and that of your dependents.

Sample manual handling injury compensation payments:

  • Shoulder injury with chronic pain and discomfort from £12,220 to £19,200
  • Upper limb injury, such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, from £10,750 to £23,130
  • Soft tissue back injury, possibly needing surgery, from £38,780 to £69,730
  • Nerve root damage in the back or neck and shoulder from £74,160 to £88,430
  • Pelvic injury in a slip, trip or fall, doing manual lifting from £78,400 to £130,930
  • Severe brain injury in a manual lifting accident from £282,010 to £430,990

(The figures given here are for General Damages, the pain, suffering, and loss of amenity following an injury when at work. In the personal injury claim, you may also receive compensation for any financial losses and other Special Damages you incur due to the accident. Figures are taken from Judicial College Guidelines 16th Edition and are accurate as of April 2023.)

Your Ross Aldridge personal injury solicitor will explain how damages in a personal injury claim work and how to combine them when making a compensation claim.

Who can make a manual handling claim?

Any employee who suffers a back injury, a torn shoulder ligament, or any injury when lifting in the workplace may be able to make a manual handling claim.

Some employees may not even realise that they can make a manual handling injury compensation claim, but it does not matter what industry you are in; if you are injured at work, you can have a claim.

Types of workers who make manual handling claims with Ross Aldridge Solicitors:

  • Warehouse workers
  • Care workers
  • NHS staff
  • NHS medical staff
  • Construction workers
  • Office workers
  • Factory workers
  • Delivery drivers
  • Warehouse employees
  • Farm workers
  • Fishing industry workers
  • Council employees
  • General labourers

Our experienced team of legal experts make successful claims with clients all the time. We work with employees in all sectors to make manual handling at work claims for compensation.

Ross Aldridge Solicitors are expert personal injury solicitors in Cheltenham and work hard for all our clients.

Contact Ross Aldridge Solicitors today

Contact Ross Aldridge Solicitors today to make your personal injury claim for a manual handling injury.

At Ross Aldridge, we have the experience and the team in place to cover all types of injury claims. We are specialist personal injury solicitors in Cheltenham and work tirelessly for our clients.

If you suffer a manual handling injury while stacking shelves in the supermarket or turning a patient on the ward, you could have a compensation claim for the effects on your life.

Ross Aldridge No Win No Fee personal injury solicitors in Cheltenham can make your manual handling injury compensation claim.

FAQs about manual handling injury claims

Reading through our FAQs can be a big help when planning a personal injury claim. If you cannot find the answer to your question, please do not hesitate to contact our offices in Cheltenham.

Yes, you can make a claim even when your employer says it was your fault. If you can show there was a lack of training at work or you were not provided with lifting equipment, you may make a claim.

Shared liability, where you and the employer share the fault in an accident, allows you to claim for the share of the injury due to an employer’s breach of duty of care.

Yes, you can claim if you were not given manual handling training, indeed it is often the first question we ask clients who have a personal injury from lifting at work.

A lack of training may be a breach of duty of care by an employee, especially when they ask you to do a task that requires the proper training.

Yes, you can still make a claim even if you are still employed at the factory, warehouse, office or by the NHS. It is illegal for an employer to sack an employee for making a compensation claim.

The employer cannot bully you, intimidate you at work or threaten to sack you when you claim for a manual handling injury.

The time limit for making manual handling claims in the UK is three years. All personal injury claims have a three-year time limit, regardless of the injury type.

The three-year limit to claim only begins on the date you realise you have a manual handling injury due to what happened in the workplace.

Your No Win No Fee personal injury solicitor can tell you the exact rules around time limits for making a claim.

A No Win No Fee personal injury solicitor takes your claim but does not charge you a fee if you do not win the case.

When you win a personal injury compensation claim, it is usually the other side who pays the legal fees. Our solicitor will explain fully how a conditional fee agreement works and how it will benefit you.

You should not be out of pocket for making a personal injury compensation claim.

Our clients choose Ross Aldridge personal injury solicitors because of our reputation for working tirelessly on behalf of all clients.

Our experienced team of No Win No Fee personal injury solicitors are on your side from day one. We will know from looking at the evidence that you have a valid claim and the damages you can claim for the manual handling injury.
Our success rate in personal injury claims is high, and we use our experience to settle claims quickly and in the client’s favour.

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