Back Injury At Work – Can You Claim Compensation?

By Ian Morris | Updated December 12th, 2022

241 questions have been answered on this subject - ask us your question

Whatever your job, your employer has a duty to keep you from injuring your back by providing the right training, equipment and a safe working environment. Here we look at how to claim if you injure your back at work and what level of compensation you can expect. While most back injuries are usually caused by lifting heavy items or falls at work, they can also result from repetitive tasks, prolonged time in one position or poor seating that doesn’t support the spine, neck or shoulders properly. Back injuries can have long-lasting implications, and as such, compensation amounts can be fairly substantial.

Employer responsibilities to ensure safe lifting at work
If you’ve had no manual handling training and injure your back
Can you still claim if you’ve had manual handling training?
The maximum weight you should be lifting at work
How to claim for a back injury at work
What if you have a pre-existing back injury that’s made worse by your job?
Back injury compensation amounts
Can you be sacked for making a back injury claim?
Comments – your questions answered

Employer responsibilities to ensure safe lifting at work

Most back injury claims arise from lifting or moving heavy items at work. All employers have a responsibility to ensure that staff members are adequately trained in how to lift items safely. Safe lifting and carrying is commonly known as manual handling training.

Your employer’s duty of care in this respect is set out by the Health & Safety Executive in the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992. This requires an employer to implement policies and procedures to ‘prevent or reduce the risk of injury’ faced by workers required to perform manual handling.

This applies whether you are loading and unloading deliveries, an NHS or care worker handling patients, shifting stock in a shop, or simply moving boxes in an office.

Good employers will ensure new staff undergo a basic health and safety induction to the workplace, as well as manual handling training to prevent back injuries.

As well as training new staff, employers should also ensure that existing staff are provided with regular refresher training (usually every 3 years) and updated guidance.

If you’ve had no manual handling training and injure your back

If you work for an employer who has not provided proper manual handling training, and you hurt your back lifting or moving objects, you will have a very strong work injury claim. They are putting all staff at risk of injury and could be liable to pay manual handing injury compensation as a result.

Can you still claim if you’ve had manual handling training?

Yes, you can still claim. We regularly help workers who have had manual handling training claim for back injuries. Commonly, they have been forced to work in places that prevent them lifting or moving safely, or have not been provided with the correct equipment to do so.

Providing manual handling training does not mean an employer is not responsible for any back injuries caused by lifting at work – it’s also essential to provide an environment that enables staff to work safely and in accordance with that training.

The maximum weight you should be lifting at work

Health and safety guidelines recommend that no person should attempt to lift an item that exceeds 25kgs in weight without the assistance of a second staff member or hoist.

Trolleys should also be provided to move items once lifted, as this will reduce the stress placed on the employee’s lower back.

If you work for an employer who expects you to lift items of 25kgs or more without assistance, you are likely to suffer a back injury, and if so, would have a very strong claim for compensation.

However, some types of back injury, such as a slipped disc, can be caused by lifting light items, so the weight of what you’re lifting isn’t the only factor at play.

How to claim for a back injury at work

Whatever the cause, a back injury claim will only succeed if you can prove your employer is at fault because they were negligent. In other words, that they failed to prevent or minimise the risk of a back injury. The HSE provides specific advice for employers on how to protect workers from back pain.

If you or your colleagues already warned your employer that a potential risk of back injury existed due to unsafe lifting practices, the weight of an object, a lack of equipment or otherwise, try to find a written record or witness evidence of this.

To make a claim, you will at least need to ensure that your injury is properly reported and recorded and medical treatment is received.

If your employer refuses you access to the accident book, you should contact us for advice. There are still things you can do if no record of the accident has been made.

You should also see your GP or attend an A&E department to ensure that the details of your back injury are noted on your medical records as this will provide evidence to support your claim at a later stage.

Don’t worry if this all seems a bit complicated – if you are in any doubt about what to do and need some clear, honest advice, tell us about your situation and we’ll be glad to help.

What if you have a pre-existing back injury that’s made worse by your job?

Having a pre-existing back injury does not prevent you from claiming compensation. If it is made worse, you can claim for this aggravation. If you have a previous history of back problems reported on your medical records, they will be taken into account when determining what you can claim for.

Back injury compensation amounts

How much you can claim for a back injury at work depends on the severity of the injury and how it impacts your life. Minor soft-tissue injuries will obviously be valued lower than severe spinal injury claims.

Settlement values are comprised of what are known as general and special damages. General damages cover the injury itself and the effect it has on your life. For instance, whether the injury affects your ability to earn money, do your job, perform your usual activities outside work and how long you are likely to experience such problems. Special damages cover the financial costs you incur because of the injury – lost income, medical treatments, travel expenses, property damage, for example.

The table below provides a guide to average compensation amounts for back injuries suffered at work, not including the special damages element of a claim:

Severity of back injury	Compensation amount
Severe	£36k - £151k
Moderate	£12k - £36k
Minor	£2k - £12k

Can you be sacked for making a back injury claim?

Making a back injury claim against your employer can be a worrying prospect. You may be concerned how it will affect the business and your job security, or that of your colleagues. Rest assured, these worries are typically unfounded.

Firstly, it’s your employer’s liability insurance that will pay any compensation, rather than the business itself.

Secondly, employers are not allowed to dismiss you or threaten you with the sack for making a claim. Your employer has responsibilities to injured staff and you have rights after an injury to help you recover, which includes claiming compensation.

At Direct2Compensation making a no win no fee claim for back injury compensation is easy. With over 25 years’ experience, you can use our knowledge and expertise to get your claim off to the best start. There is no charge for assessing your case, so you have nothing to lose and much to gain if you can make a successful claim. It’s usually really quick for us to find out if you have a valid claim, just leave a question below, call us on 01225 430285, or .

241 questions have been answered on this subject - ask us your question

Comments & Questions

Read on for questions and advice about claiming, plus work back injury claim examples...

Can an employee who injured themselves lifting heavy boxes without using the knees, be terminated?

If an employer has provided manual handling training and an employee then injures themselves through lifting, having chosen to ignore or not follow the training guidance, they cannot then pursue a claim against the employer for personal injury as the employer has not acted negligently.

As to whether the employer could then dismiss the employee is unclear. Failing to follow training to lift safely, is unlikely to be seen as gross misconduct, so dismissal from the workplace for such an incident would seem unfair and unreasonable. However, if the employee has repeatedly failed to follow training and has an existing disciplinary record, the employer may dismiss them.

I would like to get some information on a back injury on the job, about 5 years ago. I have bulging discs and from that time I have often been in pain and lost income. What can I do?

Unfortunately, UK personal injury law applies a strict 3 year claim limitation period and if you do not pursue a claim within 3 years of the date of your injury, you are statute barred and cannot pursue a claim for compensation.

I work in a steel factory and got a back injury due to defective equipment and no assistance when I asked for it. My employer is denying liability and saying that the injury is my fault, yet the equipment I was using was changed a short time after my accident! I have also been followed by a private investigator??

Was a private investigator sent to investigate me because they haven’t a leg to stand on because of the defective equipment, so they’re looking to catch me out? Could there be another explanation for this? How long will I be followed for and do they stop following me if they have something on me, or stop when they see that I’m genuinely in pain or will they keep going? I hope you can help me on this please.

The denial of liability is something that is frustrating, but given the defective equipment and your ignored requests for assistance prior to sustaining your injury, it is not something that should overly concern you at this stage.

In your case, if your injury was reported promptly and medical attention was obtained quickly, there can be no argument that the injury was caused at work and the two sides will then fight over liability and based on your description, you appear to be in a good position on that count.

In terms of the investigator, that will be the defendant insurers who have decided to undertake this surveillance of you. They will be checking on you periodically over the coming weeks and months in order to see if they can obtain evidence of you undertaking activities that you have claimed you cannot do. As an example, if your claim states that you are limited with mobility and strength due to your back injury, they’ll be hoping to get footage of you running, mowing the lawn and undertaking the activities of a person who is not claiming for a disabling injury. So long as you are not doing anything you’ve claimed you cannot do, you have nothing to worry about and if you do notice an investigator, just wave to them!

Thank you ian just one more question please if the insurance company didnt think I had a good case against them would they still send out a private investigator or would they still do it if I didnt have a case against them?? Can you please explain if you can I’d greatly appreciate it.

Thank you

It is impossible to be certain, but it would be highly unlikely that an insurer would go to the cost of instructing a private investigator (it is quite an expensive speciality to recruit) to undertake surveillance on you and your activities if they didn’t feel that your case had good prospects of succeeding. Defendant insurers would usually use such operatives in an effort to discredit or undermine a claimant that would otherwise succeed with their claim and at a substantial settlement cost.

Have you informed your Solicitor that you are being followed? If you have had a medical examination for the purposes of your claim and both sides have agreed on the contents of the medical experts report, it may well be possible to get the defendant to withdraw the covert surveillance.

Hello,

I’m currently working for company where we do picking, the limit weight is 15kg, last time i released that we was lifting up to 20 kg so breaching the contract. No rotation provided for me, so that i was kept in heavy workload when others are rotated between soft work and hard work, following those circumstances i start feel hard pain. I ask for a preventive action to avoid aggravating my health, they ask for GP, in the same time they put me through occupational health process. The OH report ask for rotation and provided me with therapy, the report was challenged and my health have being aggravated, i take decisions to take sick off for 1 month justified with sick note to care about myself, when i return to work i got warning that i breach the policy of absence / attendance.

They breach the contract when lifting up to 20kg, no training, they affect my health, and then gave me warning for taking care about myself, can i claim?

Has your employer provided you with manual handling training? If not, you may be able to pursue a claim against them for employer negligence as employers have an obligation to ensure that adequate manual handling training to prevent back injuries is provided to staff that will be expected to lift and move items during their working hours.

If you would like further help, please call us on 01225430285.

Hurt my back bending down in the racking after being told to put products away, only been working for the company for 2 weeks.

Has your new employer provided you with manual handling training? Were you expected to move items of excessive weight or in a position that would make following manual handling guidance impossible? These are some of the questions we need to get the answers from in order to advise you fully, but it would certainly seem that you have valid grounds to make a further and more detailed enquiry with us.

Hi, my employer made me walk for an hour with a very heavy battery in my delivery backpack after my bike broke, as a result I now suffer from back pain. Is this something I can claim for?

If the bike was the property of the employer, you may have grounds to pursue a claim – albeit it’s unclear if you could succeed with such action. You would have to establish that the battery in question exceeded the safe lifting limit and that your employer had failed to provide adequate training or assistance. You may also have a hurdle to cross with regards to causation – establishing a link between the carrying of the battery and the back injury you have sustained.

Hi, I worked for a a company collecting and delivering furniture .
Most of the 4 years I was there they sent me alone to do the job, I hurt my back a couple of years ago then again about 2 months ago. I was on sick leave for 3 weeks I’ve since left.
They also made me go into the cellar which is approx 5ft ceiling height and carry furniture and heavy bags in and out.
The health and safety officer I believe told them we was not allowed to use it but they carried on sending me in.
Also cut my head open numerous times while being sent in there.
There attitude was basically it’s your job.
I’ve had a MRI on my back and it’s wear and tear due to age and lifting.
I’m waiting on the doctors to get back to me about therapy. I’m in constant pain everyday .
Tony

Were any of the injuries you had at work within the last 3 years recorded in the employers accident book? If so, you can seek to pursue a claim for compensation.

I sustained a back injury working at a foundry. My GP was concerned enough to send me to A&E to check it wasn’t Cauda Equina Syndrome. I sustained the injury moving an object in excess of 25Kg. The damage is to my tendons luckily, so I am not going to end up in a wheelchair this time. The issue is, I’m now in too much pain to work and the Hospital has advised a minimum of four weeks to recover. My employer has provided manual handling training, but there are no mechanical aids to assist in the lifting of heavy object in my area. Am I likely to have a claim?

You appear to have a very strong claim against your employer on the basis of their negligence in their failure to provide manual handling training and aids/equipment to enable you to move items exceeding the safe lifting limit safely.

We would be very happy to help you pursue your claim and believe that you would be successful in such action. If you do pursue a claim, our Solicitors will seek to recover compensation for the injury you have sustained as well as recovery of any incurred costs or lost income caused by the injury and employer negligence.

I have been working in a sheet metal factory for 4 months and for every night since then and in the mornings I have a sharp lower back pain from lifting at work, I kept asking them to give me a site induction when I first started and still not had one, and haven’t had No Manual handling training whatsoever, what should I do? I’m going to leave this Employment soon anyway.

You should make sure that any injury symptoms are reported to the employer in writing. It is unlikely that an accident book would be the right place to log the injury as there hasn’t been a one off incident or accident, but you can write to or email your employer stating what symptoms you are having as a result of their failure to provide you with manual handling training to prevent back injuries or a site induction.

Given the failure of the employer to provide adequate training, it’s more than likely that you have a strong case to succeed with a claim for personal injury compensation. We can certainly help you to pursue such a claim which if successful, would see you recover compensation for the pain and discomfort of the injury but also open the possibility of obtaining specialist rehabilitation therapy to ensure that your injury is sorted as quickly as possible and that you can return to normal activity at the earliest opportunity.

It was decided that within the two offices, my team would be moving office. We did such and (without training) we all proceeded to move equipment.
This wasn’t at the instruction of my employer, however as far as I know he was aware that we were moving. As a result of moving this equipment, I have suffered a lower back injury that A&E have described as a mechanical injury, and overuse of my back. I have never had manual handling training. It has only been a few days since the injury so I am unaware about how much time I will have to take off or do a reduced work load, do you think I still have a claim?

You appear to have a valid claim on the grounds of the employers failure to provide you with manual handling training or clear instructions as to the move of offices.

If you would like further help with a claim, please use the ‘start your claim‘ page of our website and we’ll be have this matter investigated for you.

I work sorting heavy parcels and had a serious back injury, also a very bad hernia which needs surgery. i had no health and safety induction when I started.

Your employer appears to have failed to ensure that the risks of you being injured whilst performing your duties were minimised. An initial health and safety induction is vitally important in workplaces where physical work such as lifting and moving or the use of machinery will be undertaken. In your case, not only should you have had an initial induction, but you should also have had the appropriate manual handling training to ensure that you knew how to lift and move packages safely and how to identify any items that exceeded the safe lifting limit.

We can help you to recover compensation for your injuries and recover lost income if our Solicitors are successful with your claim. To give your claim the best chance of success, make sure that the details of your injuries are recorded within the employers accident book and also ensure that you seek medical attention from your GP to ensure that medical evidence will be available to support your Solicitor.

I am 46 years old and I worked for OneStop company for around five years. Most of the time, I am moving and pushing cages of at least 150 kg (often up to 200 kg) because I work in the loading area. Many times when doing this work, I have slipped as in winter the load bay is full of water and slippery.

After leaving work, I always have strong pain in my back and neck every day and I wonder if I can make a claim?

I left the company around 2 years ago but this pain in my back unfortunately affects my life.

It would appear that you may well have a valid claim against the former employer for the back injury/neck pain you are suffering with. Our only concern at this time, is whether you are still within the 3 year claim limitation period.

In the UK, the law requires that you pursue a claim within 3 years of the date of an injury. When did you first attend your Doctor or seek medical help with the back/neck pain?

I recently had a lower back injury in work over-stretching to unload a vehicle that should have been unloaded ready for my shift. I went to see the doctor and he signed me off for one week with a sick note. I’m still having minor issues with my back and have been given Naproxen by the doctor but my employer refuses to give me anything more than SSP.

Unfortunately, unless your contract of employment specifies that your employer will pay your usual salary during a period of sickness, there is no legal obligation for the employer to pay anything more than statutory sick pay (SSP) if you qualify for the scheme.

The only way you can recover your lost income (the difference between the SSP you have received and your usual salary which is £229.70 per week) or any other costs you have incurred because of the back injury, will be by pursuing and succeeding with a claim for personal injury compensation against your employers insurance cover. As your back was injured whilst lifting and moving items it may well be a matter our specialist Solicitors can assist with successfully.

Hi I hurt my back at work, been of sick. I didn’t put in the accident book, can I still claim?

Whilst an accident book report is a useful piece of evidence to support a claim for compensation, the lack of an accident book entry is something our Solicitors can work around during the claims process.

Hi, I work in a builders warehouse picking orders for delivery. I lift heavy and awkward materials day in day out and have done fir the last 5 years. The orders can range from anything we have in stock and the quantity can be huge. I do about 20.000 steps a day and like I said lifting all day as well. The time I have had off sick is through injury to my back or because of tennis elbow. I have had wrist pain but mostly back pain. My workplace has promised to move me to a different role a number of times but nothing has ever been done and it’s got to the point where I think I’m going to have to go on the sick to recover. Is there anything that can be done?

You may well be able to pursue a claim for compensation against the employer, if it can be established that your employer has been negligent and could have taken action to reduce the risk of the injuries you have sustained, but failed to do so. Negligence in this scenario would likely be the employers failure to make provision of adequate and regular training, inadequate tools and equipment to enable you to work safely and requiring you to lift or move items that exceed safe lifting limits.

You have up to 3 years from the date of the onset of symptoms (the date at which you became aware that they were more than just a minor niggle and were likely to be work related) in which you can make a claim.

I recently had an injury at work whilst lifting a very heavy item to throw into a waste bin. The item weighs about 60 kg. I felt a sharp and extreme pain in my lower back that resulted in me dropping the weight and landing onto my right knee causing a cut to my knee for which first aider had given me plasters.
Following the accident I was in severe pain and had to visit the walk in centre which was diagnosed as a pulled muscle. I have been off sick since but now getting further complications like a shooting pain which runs from my buttocks down to my leg which leaves me with temporary paralysis on that side.
I have never had any manual handling training to complete this particular part of my job. Am I to be blamed for my injury due to not lifting correctly, do I have a case for compensation?

The cause of your injury can certainly be assigned to employer negligence. Not only were you expected to lift an item of extreme weight – that should not be lifted by one person without lifting equipment, but you have also not had any manual handling training to prevent back injuries. As such, you can make a claim! Our specialist Solicitors will work for you on a No Win No Fee basis and will seek to recover compensation for your injuries – the value of which will be based on medical evidence and how your recovery goes – and also recover any loss of income or incurred costs caused by the injury.

I can’t work due to my disabilities because of lifting heavy patients over a period of 32 years in different hospitals and care homes without hoists as there was only any lifts for helping with bath times.

When did your symptoms develop? To pursue a claim, you would have to act within 3 years of the date at which you became aware of the symptoms.

I was in work in Tesco packing shelves while I was doing that I felt a sudden pain in my back and couldn’t barely bend or move, so I reported it to my boss and they sent me home.

I’ve been out of work for the last 5 weeks now with my back and have just returned to work. Would I qualify for compensation? Thank you

If your employer has not provided you with manual handling training (how to lift and move items safely), expected you to lift items exceeding the safe lifting limit or provides a working environment that makes it impossible to work in accordance with manual handling training guidance, you can make a claim for your injury.

In your case, it is certainly worth us looking in to this for you.

Hello. I’ve worked over the last 12 years as a cleaner, housekeeper and a carer. I’ve never had health and safety training for the cleaning job which damaged my neck with lots of heavy lifting. My neck problem has progressed into s severe spondylitis and I’ve developed osteoarthritis in my neck and shoulders. With the care jobs I’ve always had handling and lifting training and they say you shouldn’t lift but you can’t help lift people with bed baths you’ve to lift legs and roll heavy people assist the up off the toilet etc. I’ve had an MRI scan and I’ve got degenerative decease in my lower spine and bulging disks in my neck and spine. I’ve had to give up my care work job and I’m finding it very difficult to find a job that doesn’t involve physical work as I can’t do this any more. Do you think I could claim compensation?

You can make a claim as long as you are doing so within 3 years of suffering the injuries. This is clearly a factor in whether or not you can pursue a claim for compensation. You need to consider when you first realised that your symptoms were work related and when you first attended the Doctors regarding the same.

I was hurt at work and went to the Doctors. They did x-rays and said that I had three bad discs in my back.

I gave the paperwork to my employer who never filed it. I couldn’t work so I had to quit and now he won’t pay.

If your injury happened within the past 3 years, please call us on 01225430285 so that we can further discuss your work and what you did. We would like to know what, if any training your employer provided regarding safe lifting and moving and what equipment they provided to minimise the risks of injury.