Thompsons Solicitors in Scotland were contacted by Mr Ronald Brown, a 62-year-old HGV driver, via his union, Unite, in relation to the manual handling back injury he sustained during the course of his employment.

The background

On 29 August 2019, Mr Ronald Brown of Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, made a delivery trip to a Co-op supermarket in Dalbeattie. During the drive, some of the cages had come loose in his HGV and as our client began pulling them out of his truck at his destination one fell towards him. Mr Brown felt sure the cage was going to crush his legs so he attempted to stop it. In doing so he suffered a back injury.

Following the incident and despite being in pain, Mr Brown knew there was no one available to step in for him so carried on with his shift. At the end of the day, following advice from his shift manager, he attended a pharmacy where he was advised to take pain relief medication.

The consequences

Mr Brown woke the following morning in significant pain. He realised that his injury would prevent him from performing his job so called in sick and attended his GP. Further to this he saw his GP on another two occasions.

Mr Brown's injury temporarily reduced his level of independence and mobility – it even prevented him from putting on his own socks – and resulted in him being absent from work for six weeks.

The settlement

Thompsons' manual handling injury solicitors in Scotland intimated a workplace accident claim against Mr Brown's employer on the basis that his injuries were caused by incorrect loading of the vehicle.

The employer accepted liability and made an offer of £4,000 to settle the claim. Mr Brown accepted the offer and compensation was finalised on 3 February 2020.