The idea behind The Manual Handling Operations Regulations is to avoid the need for any kind of lifting in the workplace as much as possible. Equipment is a great way of eliminating potentially dangerous manual handling activities – but what happens if that equipment is broken and is taken away?
What happens if you are then forced to carry out manual handling activities as a result of the equipment that is used to eliminate the need for manual handling suddenly becoming unavailable?
When it comes to manual handling in the workplace, there can be no excuses. If equipment becomes unavailable, your employer must then take all reasonable steps necessary to ensure that any manual handling activities that cannot be avoided are carried out safely and without the risk of injury.
In general, the regulations confirm that any such activities must be avoided where necessary, but where they cannot be avoided, they need to be:
- Fully risk assessed to ensure people are not lifting items that are too heavy or large
- Carried out correctly by trained and supervised staff
- Carried out with the correct amount of assistance needed
You cannot just expect staff to know what to do safely when equipment is suddenly removed from the equation. The duty an employer has can be strict, and with good reason. Back and other associated muscular injuries from manual handling can be very dangerous and can leave a victim suffering badly for a prolonged period of time. The excuse that equipment has suddenly become unavailable is not a good enough one.
So what are your rights?
If you are injured because you have been expected to carry out dangerous manual handling activities due to equipment being unavailable, you may have a claim for a work injury compensation. If the injury is caused due to any of the following in the absence of such equipment, you stand a good chance of winning a case:
- Excessive lifting – either by there being too much weight or to high volume of lifting
- Inadequate assistance
- Inadequate training
Call our free claims helpline on 0800 634 75 75 for help and advice today. We work on a No Win, No Fee basis and our initial advice is of course free and is entirely on a no obligation basis. So what have you got to lose?
