October

October 23rd, 2009 by Administrator

The Barrow-based cleaning products manufacturer Robert McBride Ltd recently paid 17,500 pounds as compensation to one of its employees in an out-of-court settlement for a permanent injury to his shoulder at the workplace.

44-year-old John Sides from Barrow in Furness, a team leader at Robert McBride Ltd., was asked to use a hand-held grinder for removing the paint from the floor. He was new to using the machine and operated it without realising the consequence of being exposed to such high vibration for a long time. After two days, he started having severe shoulder pain. The vibrations generated by the machine he was handling had caused a permanent damage to his shoulder muscles.

Sides can no longer lift his arm above his shoulder height and he has been rendered incapable of household tasks like painting, decorating etc.

Sides registered a complaint with his union, the GMB, which asked its lawyers Thompsons Solicitors to file a suit for compensation for the employer’s negligence. Robert McBride accepted their liability for the permanent injury received by Sides and settled the claim outside court.

Paul Morpeth of Thompsons Solicitors expressed the view that the company was at fault because it introduced a new machine without proper risk assessment and relevant training. The GMB Regional Secretary Tom Brennan seconded this opinion and said the accident could have been easily avoided had the worker been trained to use the machine in a way that minimised vibrations. He slammed the employer for being negligent towards workers’ safety at the workplace.

The Manual Handling Operations Regulations require employers to conduct risk assessments of manual handling activities and to provide appropriate training for their employees. The Manual Handling Courses, available through the Workplace Law Network, will benefit organisations in attaining Legal compliance with the requirement to train persons involved in manual handling activities along with a reduction in the risk of injury.