The Manual Handling Operations Regulations actually state that an employer must, where possible, avoid the need for any manual handling to take place at all. Where it cannot be avoided, tasks needs to be risk assessed and staff need to be comprehensively trained in safe lifting and carrying techniques.
Lifting large loads on stairs and steps is always going to be dangerous – so what if you are injured in an accident doing this? Can you make a claim for personal injury compensation?
Risk assessments need to take in to account important factors like:
- The size and weight of the load
- The route itself and any obstacles on the route
- The amount of staff required to assist
- Whether equipment can be used
If you’re told to move a desk or a large box up or down stairs, you will likely need more than one person involved. But the employer is ultimately responsible for ensuring that staff are not injured in the workplace by carrying out manual handling which are deemed to be too dangerous. Handling large loads on stairs is obviously going to be dangerous – space is limited and it will be a struggle to move it upward or downward safely.
So what if the load falls and injures someone because it is too heavy or large? What if you manage to get it up or down the stairs but you sustain a muscular injury in doing so?
If we can show that your employer is in breach of the regulations in instructing you to perform a task that is too dangerous, we can win a claim for personal injury compensation. If we can show that the task should not have been carried out at all, or that the task could have been done in a safer way, we can argue the case for you.
Even if you are fully trained that doesn’t stop you from being at serious risk of injury when moving heavy loads up and down stairs. If the task was too dangerous, you can make a claim.
If the task was safe enough but a colleague injured you through poor handling techniques then you may still have a claim. The negligence of a colleague is the responsibility of the employer- known as vicarious liability – which we can establish as a claim against your employer.
For help and advice call 0800 634 75 75. In cases like this it is always worth contacting us as we can normally assess a claim in minutes.
