Manual Handling Claims Rejected

The Victorian County Court has recently rejected two separate claims for compensation where the respective tasks were routine manual handling, and largely considered low risk.

Painter Required to Bend at Angle

In the first case a painter claimed compensation because his task required him to bend at an angle to roller paint a low sectrion of wall.

The court accepted the job involved some awkward posture but concluded that even if the worker was injured to the extent alleged, which video surveillance contradicted, the worker failed to prove how the employer breached it’s duty or offer evidence of how the employer could have eliminated the risks of hazardous manual handling.

Rotating Bottles in Display Refrigerator

In the second case, a judge has overturned a jury award of $225,000 to a worker who injured her thumb rotating a two litre bottle of soft drink in shop display refrigerator.

The employer, Coca Cola, applied to have the jury finding set aside as it contended it was not supported by evidence or legislation.

The judge ultimately concluded the worker failed to present evidence of a viable alternative system of work that would would have prevented the injury eg employers only required to prevent injury where reasonably practicable to do so.

There was a lack of evidence to support the contention a different risk assessment or different training would have eliminated the repetitive manual handling risk.

Conclusion

These two cases show the courts do take into account whether it is practical or possible to eliminate certain manual handling tasks, and where employers can show they have identified the potential risks and implemented reasonable precautions they can receive some support from the courts against common law claims.