A delivery man has been awarded £17,500 compensation after he was injured whilst making a delivery. A crate fell and struck him on the head. He was knocked to the ground and became trapped beneath the crate. As a result of the accident, he suffered injuries to his back, shoulder and arm. He had been a keen footballer but was unable to play for a number of weeks. The injuries also meant that he had to take time off work and when he returned, could not complete the same level of duties as before. The back injury compensation payment will help to balance the loss of earnings and will go some way to recompensing for the pain and suffering caused by the injury.

This case demonstrates the dangers to workers as they carry out everyday tasks. Employers are responsible for ensuring that every precaution is taken to prevent accidents such as this. Back injuries can be excruciatingly painful and can impede movement. Serious back injuries can even cause paralysis because the spinal column is protected by the vertebrae of the back and if it is damaged, nerve signals from the brain to the rest of the body are disrupted.

Careful rehabilitation is extremely important following a back injury to ensure that the injury is not worsened. A worker for a bakery company injured his back. He wanted to return to work as soon as possible but his doctor advised that he wait until the condition of his back had stabilised. This meant that he was off work for six weeks. During this time, he visited a physiotherapist once a week and completed the exercises that they suggested. When he returned to work, he worked reduced hours, had a reduced manual workload and attended a manual lifting training course. Full rehabilitation after he had returned to work took eight weeks.

Without proper rehabilitation, the worker could have suffered an even more serious injury when he returned to work.

However, not all those who suffer back injuries are able to return to work. Earlier this year a construction company was prosecuted by the HSE for breaching regulations after a construction worker fell three metres during the course of his work on a building site. He suffered a fractured vertebrae which has left him with a long-term disability. There were no guardrails in place to prevent the fall and the company admitted negligence. With more careful attention to the safety of their workers, they could have avoided this devastating accident.

In addition, the HSE had not been informed of the work that was taking place. A HSE Inspector commented that, “If HSE had been correctly notified that work was going to take place, it could have inspected the site and the injury may have been averted. The measures in place at the time simply did not amount to a safe system of work, and as a result [the worker] sustained a serious, long-term, fall from height injury.”

In cases such as this, where the injury was not the fault of the worker, it is possible to claim back injury compensation. Although compensation cannot make up for the pain and loss of mobility, it can help to counteract the loss of earnings.