You may be looking into manual handling claims because you’ve suffered an injury in a workplace accident that wasn’t your fault. If so, you may be able to receive thousands of pounds in compensation if you’re able to prove that your injury was caused by employer negligence. This guide will show when you may be able to claim for a manual handling injury as well as answer the following questions:
- What losses could I recover when making a manual handling injury compensation claim?
- What are the advantages of using a No Win No Fee agreement?
- How do you claim for an injury from manual handling?
Our advisors have years of experience with manual handling claims so, if you have any queries about the claims process, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re available 24/7, so we can give you free legal advice at any time using the details below.
- You can call us using the phone number above.
- You can write to us using the Live Chat function on your screen.
- Alternatively, you can contact us via our website.
Please read on to learn more about claiming for manual handling injuries using the services of No Win No Fee personal injury solicitors.
Manual Handling Claims
Select a Section
- What Is A Manual Handling Injury?
- How Do Manual Handling Injuries Occur?
- What Are The Most Common Manual Handling Injuries?
- Manual Handling Injury Statistics
- Average Compensation Payouts For Manual Handling Claims
- No Win No Fee Manual Handling Claims
- Get More Help With Manual Handling Claims
What Is A Manual Handling Injury?
Manual handling is when you use your body to lift, move and carry objects. Making a successful manual handling claim depends on where and how this incident occurred, as well as who was responsible for it.
For example, you may be able to claim if you experience this injury while working and it wasn’t your fault. This could happen in a construction site or a warehouse, for instance. There are clear regulations in place that are designed to make sure you’re as safe as reasonably possible while performing these roles. Legislation that defines these regulations is called The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992.
This is important because this is ultimately your employer’s duty of care in this regard. They need to make sure they’re adhering to these regulations and, if you’ve been injured because they haven’t, you could receive compensation. This is because your employer may have breached their duty of care.
One of the most important aspects of successfully making a personal injury claim is proving that third-party negligence caused your injury. Therefore, regarding manual handling claims, you need to prove that the third party’s actions, or potential lack of actions, led to them breaching their duty of care, resulting in your injury. As such, you would need evidence to prove this.
To learn more, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. Our advisors are available 24/7, offer free legal advice and can tell you in just a few minutes if you’re able to claim. Contact them today using the details above.
How Do Manual Handling Injuries Occur?
You may be wondering, “what are the different manual handling injury types?” Many different types of injuries could cause you to claim, such as a knee injury. This section will highlight different incidents and oversights, that may have occurred due to your employer, that could lead you to claim.
- You may be asked to carry a load or object that is too heavy, large or difficult to grasp.
- Sufficient safety precautions may not be in place for you to lift something. For instance, you may be looking into manual handling claims because you were asked to lift an object, even though you needed another person’s assistance with it.
- You may have slipped while carrying something because of an uneven floor or exposed wiring that you employer was aware of. This could cause a wide variety of injuries at work, such as a toe injury. The employer should reduce or remove these potential hazards.
- You may not have the required experience or training to lift a particular object and were asked to carry out the task regardles. Therefore, you may be reading about manual handling personal injury claims because you suffered a type of back injury, such as an injury to the spine, after carrying something incorrectly through no fault of your own.
What Are The Most Common Manual Handling Injuries?
Common manual handling injuries include:
- Back injuries
- Sprains and strains
- Hand injuries
- Foot injuries
- Musculoskeletal injuries
- Slip, trip and fall injuries
These are some of the common injuries because manual handling involves stretching and putting strain and stress on your body due to the physical nature of the role.
If you believe you’ve suffered a manual handling injury at work, seek medical advice. Though we can’t help with this, we can offer free legal advice. Our advisors are ready whenever you need them.
Manual Handling Injury Statistics
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) provide manual handling injury statistics for Great Britain to provide people with a better understanding of the injuries that can occur in work environments. With that in mind, as you can see above, there were 481,000 reported musculoskeletal disorders (new or longstanding) related to the workplace in 2019/20.
Of these, 212,000 caused injury to the upper limbs or neck, while 176,000 related to the back.
You don’t have to feel like you’re unable to claim. These kinds of injuries are reported regularly. You may be able to receive compensation for the injury if it wasn’t your fault, and we can tell you in just minutes if you’re eligible to claim.
Call our advisors using the phone number above. On the other hand, if you prefer, you can contact us through our website when it suits you.
Average Compensation Payouts For Manual Handling Claims
When making manual handling claims, there are two potential heads of claim:
- General damages relate to the psychological and physical damage caused by the injury.
- Special damages, meanwhile, relate to the financial losses suffered by this.
However, if you don’t receive any general damages compensation, it means that you won’t receive any compensation for the claim. This is because it would be deemed that the third party in question was not liable for your injuries.
Regarding the amount of compensation you could receive for a manual handling injury compensation claim, guidance from the Judicial College can help. They analyse payouts from manual handling claims and compare them to the severity of the injury. Therefore, they’ve built potential compensation brackets for many different types of injuries.
We use these brackets to provide you with as accurate an estimate as possible regarding what you could receive from manual handling compensation claims. Please see below for a series of injuries and their relevant compensation brackets. The Judicial College provides these figures.
| Area of Injury | Severity | Amount of Compensation | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neck | (b) Moderate (i) | £23,460 to £36,120 | Injuries in this bracket include dislocations or fractures leading to severe and immediate symptoms which could lead to requiring spinal fusion. |
| Neck | (b) Moderate (ii) | £12,900 to £23,460 | This bracket includes soft tissue injuries or severe disc lesions leading to a serious limitation of movement or recurring pain and discomfort. |
| Back | (a) Severe (ii) | £69,600 to £82,980 | Injuries in this bracket include ones that lead to nerve root damage with an associated loss of sensation, impaired bowel and bladder function and sexual difficulties. |
| Shoulder | (a) Severe | £18,020 to £45,070 | Shoulder injuries in this bracket cause severe symptoms that include damage to the brachial plexus. |
| Shoulder | (c) Moderate | £7,410 to £11,980 | Injuries in this bracket include suffering a frozen shoulder, severely limiting movement for about two years. |
| Injuries to the Pelvis and Hip | (b) Moderate | £24,950 to £36,770 | An injury in this bracket means that the significant injury to the hip or pelvis did not cause a major permanent disability with any future risk of further damage not great. |
| Elbow | (a) A Severely Disabling Injury | £36,770 to £51,460 | Elbow injuries in this bracket are of a severely disabling nature. |
| Wrist | (c) Less severe injuries | £11,820 to £22,990 | Injuries in this bracket are less severe than more disabling ones, but still cause some form of permanent disability such as, for instance, persisting stiffness and pain. |
| Hand | (h) Moderate Hand Injury | £5,260 to £12,460 | Injuries in this bracket include penetrating wounds, crush injuries and deep lacerations. |
| Fingers | (f) Severe Fractures to Fingers | Up to £34,480 | This bracket includes severe finger fractures that could lead to partial amputations and an impairment of grip. |
If you can’t see your injuries in the compensation table above, or you’d just like your injuries valued for free, why not call?
No Win No Fee Manual Handling Claims
You may be wondering, “what are the benefits of using a No Win No Fee personal injury lawyer when making manual handling claims?” A personal injury solicitor or lawyer can help you build your case by gathering information and evidence about your injury.
A conditional fee agreement between you and your lawyer means that they’ve agreed to provide their services on a No Win No Fee basis. Advantages of specifically using the services of No Win No Fee solicitors include:
- Not having to pay legal fees during the process
- Not having to pay legal fees if your claim is unsuccessful
- Your solicitor taking a legally-capped amount of compensation as payment for the legal fees. They will take this if your claim has been successful.
Another important aspect of claiming is making sure that you do so within the personal injury claims time limit. In most instances, you need to claim within three years of the injury or three years from you becoming aware of the injury being caused by negligence. This can affect your ability to make manual handling claims as you wouldn’t be able to claim unless you began proceedings within this timescale.
However, there are exceptions to this time limit. Call us if you’d like to know how much time you might have left to claim.
Why Not Get In Touch?
If you have any other questions or queries, please don’t hesitate to contact our advisors. They are available 24/7, offer free legal advice and can tell you in just a few minutes if you can make a manual handling claim. Our panel of solicitors work on a No Win No Fee basis. Their experience could be vital in you receiving compensation.
- You can call us using the phone number above.
- You can write to us using the Live Chat function on your screen.
- Alternatively, you can contact us via our website.
Get More Help With Manual Handling Claims
To know more about making manual handling claims, please use the links below.
To learn about types of reportable incidents in the workplace, visit the HSE website.
The HSE also have a brief guide to manual handling at work.
Why not check out more of our accident at work claims guides below:
- A guide to accident at work claims
- Claim compensation if you’ve been injured by a moving object at work
- How to claim compensation for hand injuries at work
- How to claim compensation after a head injury at work
- A guide on claiming compensation for a workplace injury
- Claim compensation after suffering a finger injury at work
- How to claim compensation for eye injuries at work
- Forklift accidents at work
- How to claim compensation for a knee injury at work
- Back injury at work claims
- How to make a fall from a height claim
- Finding construction accident solicitors
- Making a claim for a sprained ankle at work
- Making a claim for a concussion at work
- How to make factory accident claims
- How long do I have to claim after an accident at work?
- What are my rights after an accident at work?
- What do I need to do after an accident at work?
- Working with serious injury solicitors
- A guide to claiming compensation for fatal work accidents
- How to make a work injury claim
- Tips on preventing an accident in the workplace
- Can my employer sack me after an accident at work?
- How to claim for an accident at work
To know more about manual handling claims, please contact our team for free legal advice at a time that works for you.
Written by DUR
Published by VIC