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...

I’ve been lifting 50kg at work for ten years. My employer has sacked me I now want to see if I can claim because I have a bad back every other day. I think I put it in the accident book a couple of years ago. I didn’t suffer every day because I was a supervisor and didn’t lift every day. But my new job involves lifting for 10 hours a day and I’m in constant pain.

You can look in to making a claim on the basis of being asked to lift and move dangerous items of excessive weight. The issue you may have is one of limitation and being out of time.

Hi I am a nurse and first injured my back/slipped a disc whilst driving to a patient’s house. I went over an enormous speed bump in the dark which resulted in left to right, right to left motion – I couldn’t get out of bed the next day. This was five years ago. I have had to be careful about how I do things ever since. Subsequently I recently took three weeks off work after hurting my back dealing with my mothers freezer. When I returned to work my back was pain free. The first night back at work I had to deal with a patient falling out of bed, to prevent this I had to physically manoeuvre them back onto the bed twice during the night. Now my back Is painful again and I feel back to square one. What’s the best thing to do please?

There is clearly a pre-existing issue with your back and one that your employer is aware of. Whether or not the employer could be held liable for exacerbating your condition is far from clear. If you are not fit to do the nursing work you have trained for, your only option is to seek an alternative role – either elsewhere or within the current employers workplace and it is unlikely that you could hold your employer liable for your situation.

Hi
I am a warehouse worker employed in a small warehouse company where there is an awful lot of lifting and carrying. I have been lifting bags of items packed which weigh between 15 and 25 kgs and as a result have picked up a back injury which has forced me to take time off. The problem is the repetitive moving of the weights which can be up to 50 bags per day being picked up from ground level moved from the packing workstation up to the despatch area manually by hand as there are no lifting aids and then hand lifting again from the warehouse despatch area on to the collecting vehicle. There is also lifting of boxes that are regularly over 25 kgs in weight that are carried by warehouse workers including myself again without any lifting or moving equipment such as a trolley. The only moving equipment in the warehouse is a pump truck for moving of pallets. I have been forced to hand in my notice from this employment after 4 years working there. This is due to me physically struggling with the job, i am now 55. No employee in this company has ever been trained in lifting and handling of loads. I consider this to be employee negligence. Do you think i have a case for complaint? The bad back injury came on overnight so have not filled in accident book as at the time there was no apparent injury suffered. As i said it is an accumulated injury to the repetitive lifting of heavy items.

Given the apparent lack of training and guidance in terms of safe manual handling and the apparent lack of equipment to move heavy items safely (trolleys etc), it would appear that your employer has been negligent towards your health and safety.

Before you leave the company, you should make a written complaint/report to them regarding why you have left and the injury/pain to your back. You should make mention of the lack of training, the repeated heavy lifting and the fact that you are expected to lift items exceeding 25kgs without assistance.

We work on a No Win No Fee basis and given your description of the situation, my initial view is that you have a valid claim for compensation.

Hi, I’ve been off work for 5 weeks from my warehouse job with nerve and back pain due to excessive lifting on my own at work. They have now served me my notice. They have provided no manual handling training and put pressure on you to work faster and expect to lift 30kg plus on your own.

Your employer had an obligation to ensure that you could work safely and that the risk of injury was minimised. For this reason, employers must provide adequate manual handling training to their staff in any workplace where lifting and moving of items is a requirement. Clearly in a workplace like a warehouse, lifting and moving is a pre-requisite of any employees duties and for your employer to not provide you with manual handling training is likely to see them found liable of employer negligence. As you have suffered a debilitating injury to your back as a result of your employers negligence, you have a valid right to make a claim for worplace injury compensation.

Please use our ‘start a claim’ page or call us on 01225430285 to speak with our staff.

Hi, I have been lifting plaster board at work on my own which is clearly stated on the boards to have two people carrying them as they are over 25kg. I now have had two weeks off work and will most likely continue to have some more time of work. The last two weeks have been a struggle as I and my partner have 5 children. I am also self-employed and sub contracted. Is there any leg to stand on with a claim?

Self-Employed workers do have a right to claim compensation, but it can be harder to prove negligence against a contractor or company that has employed the self-employed worker.

It is important that you make sure that your injury is recorded at work and that the cause of your injury (working alone to lift items exceeding 25kgs) are noted with the employer.

The best course of action would be to use the ‘start a claim’ page of our website to make further contact with us so that we can look further in to making a claim for you.

Hi my name is darren. I work in a builders yard. I previously had back pain from my job as a carpenter. But since working here my problems have got a lot worse, due to the over weight products I lift and the height of the racks to which they go in. Health and safety have been notified about the poor working situation and keep leading us on saying it will get fixed. Nothing has been done. I’m in constant pain and sometimes I can hardly move. I’m really struggling to cope outside of work and feel hopeless due to the pain. And I also feel like I’m being managed out due to my problem.

Given that you have had trouble with your back for a while, it is important that you look further in to making a claim for compensation at the earliest opportunity. You have 3 years from the date of an injury in which you can make a claim for compensation and given that you mention some back pain previously, your claim period could be well underway.

If your employer has not provided you with any manual handling, has a working environment that makes safe working impossible or very difficult and they’ve asked you to lift and move items of excess weight, you most likely have a claim.

Hi I hurt my back 6 months ago at work without having manual handling or any other training on how to lift. I slipped a disc and twisted my spine. I Let my boss know & went to my GP and then went to A&E, but didn’t put it in the report book. Would I still have a claim?

The lack of an accident book entry could make life more difficult with regards to a claim for compensation, but it wouldn’t in and of itself prevent you from succeeding with a claim for compensation.

An accident book entry is one of the forms of evidence that can be used to support a claim for personal injury compensation. In this case, there is also an obligation on the employer to have evidence to support their defence of any claim – such as providing training records to show that they had fulfilled their obligations and trained you properly to work safely. As they are unlikely to be able to provide the same, there is still a chance that your claim for the slipped disc could succeed.

Good afternoon, I am a nurse in a nursing home, I am currently 6 months pregnant and I am now expected to carry out the duties of a carrer as we have reduced staff levels, i have not had any manual handling training, i have been with the company for just over 3 months, i have been experiencing very painful back symtoms since having to carry out manual handling and am being fourced to take my maternity leave early because of my difficulties. Where do i stand in regards to this matter?
Kind regards.

You need to make sure that the back pain you are suffering with is reported to the employer and recorded within your employers accident book. You should also make a report – in writing – regarding the lack of manual handling training and make a Doctors appointment to discuss the back pain.

I work in the nhs and hurt my back removing the end off an operating table, the muscles in my neck and back were pulled badly I have had physio, this hasn’t helped and I have had to cut down my hours of work because of this. I was off work for three and a half months, I am now back at work on a phase to return but finding it difficult to do my job as it’s very demanding at times, do you think I have a claim?

To succeed with a claim for compensation from the nhs for the injury to your back, we would need to establish negligence against the employer and show that the injury was avoidable. In this case, we need to know how you were injured and whether there was a fault with the operating table end that caused you to be injured or whether the end of the table was heavy and you were unaware of this as a risk of injury.

If you could elaborate further on these points, I can advise you further as to whether or not you have a valid claim for compensation.

The injury wasn’t avoidable the operating table end is heavy . I was injured by taking the end off the table two other people had to push the button either side for me to be able to take the end of the table off, this resulted in me injuring my back as I pulled it off.

Hi 2 weeks ago I was lifting a whacker plate into the van as we do every night, however this night the whacker was wet and slipped from my hands. I jolted my back as it slipped. I went to the doctors the next after being sent home by the owner because of the pain, not been to work since, had bloods done, mri scan sun just gone. Slipped disc, no accident reported though as it was the last thing to do before we went home and we work on several sites but it was witnessed, just wondered where i stand?

You should make a report of the incident and describe what happened (as you have in your comment here), with specific mention of no handles to lift the item and send that to your employer in writing.

You are likely to have a valid claim for compensation for the slipped disc you have sustained and we would like to help you pursue your claim. If successful, you would be able to claim compensation for the injury and importantly recover any lost income or incurred costs relevant to the injury.

Your employer has a duty of care to ensure that you are trained in safe lifting and that you are not expected to lift heavy items without adequate training or assistance. In your case, the lack of any such training and handles to lift the whacker plate could well see the employers insurance having to admit liability.

Please use the ‘start your claim’ section of our website to make further contact with us.

I worked in a convenience store 5 years ago. I was unloading a delivery in limited space area, when on last few items my back really twinned in resulting me to take time off work through my GP. To this day I am still suffering, ongoing GP visits, now for the 2nd visit to Physio Gym sessions, 4 more to go. It is constantly painful, annoying as it inhibits my movement on bad days. I work now as a cleaner. I am mobile and I cope with the pain, discomfort with pain killers. It’s when I stop i feel it more. As I relax I get constarted spasms in my lower muscles when I move.

Unfortunately, it would appear that you are now out of limitation with regards to taking action against your former employer. UK Personal Injury Compensation law applies a strict claim limitation period of 3-years from the date of an injury in which a claim must be made.

I hurt my back through lifting a patient in work. I use a mangar elk lifting cushion, i was doing this with a colleague but had to lift the patient from the mangar elk and my back went. I have had back problems since this happened in july 2016, i have a left sided paracental disc extrusion at L5/S1 and suffer with my back regularly.

If you believe that your employer was negligent and failed to provide the correct equipment and training/support to allow you to work safely and minimise the risk of injury, you could seek to make a claim for compensation.

I carried a empty blue pallet approx 10 meters and hurt my back. The following week I was in dispute when telling the manager. I had to unload 2 pallets which further aggravated my back even more. At work, we don’t have a pallet pump and have no accident book (it is a service station too).

It’s been 2 weeks since the injury now and the pain hasn’t gone but got worse. I’ve been to see the GP who has issued a sick note for light duties. We are told to move the pallet as it’s dropped off by cash and carry to front of shop on forecourt in the way.

Your employers failure to provide training in manual handling lifting and equipment (pallet truck) to move this item is likely to be seen as employer negligence. As such, my initial view is that you have a valid claim for compensation. Given the lack of an accident book at work, I feel that you should put something in writing to your employer (perhaps in email or by letter) outlining what happened to your back and the lack of a pump trolley.

We would be very happy to pursue a claim for you in this matter and I therefore invite you to use the ‘start a claim’ page of our website to take this further.

I injured my back over a year ago whilst trying to pull a heavy pallet over a badly iced up trailer have prolapsed disc and bad sciatica still struggle to drive, so I can’t return to my driving job for the foreseeable future. I have been on full pay luckily, although the impact psychologically has really had an affect on me. Do have I grounds to claim? I don’t want to, but I see no end in sight to my pain at the moment. I’m awaiting spinal injections or possible surgery.

My initial view is that you are likely to have a valid claim against your employer. Whilst they have paid you – which is very good to read – you could still pursue a claim for the pain, distress and discomfort caused by the injury and also, should your employer stop paying you, you would also be able to recover any loss of income or future loss of income should you be unable to return to work.

Indeed, with this in mind it would be wise to pursue a claim before you are out of legal limitation as you must protect your own interests and future.

Thankyou very much for the reply the issue I have is If I claim and they stop paying I will find myself unable to pay my bills and mortgage which is putting me off as I’d lose my house.

Your concerns regarding a loss of income after an accident is one shared by the majority of claimants.

If an employer does stop paying a staff member when they are off work, it is not because they are making a claim for compensation, but because they are not at work. As we have stated previously, the law does not oblige an employer to pay usual salaries to staff who are away from work due to illness or injury – even if the absence is due to an incident that happened at work.

If you do lose income, the only way to recover that is by making a claim for compensation and succeeding with it. Any successful claim would allow you to obtain a settlement for the injuries sustained and also recover any lost income and incurred costs by way of the special damages element of your claim.

I have worked as a kitchen assistant for 17 years. I got a note off my doctor to say that I can only lift up to 10 kg as I have spondylosis and sciatica and lower back pain. I have reduced my working hours from 20 hours a week to 16 hours. I also had an additional cleaning job for 20 hours for 8 years which I have had to leave because of the pain. My manager knows about my medical condition but I am not getting any additional help.

Sadly, if you are no longer fit to carry out the duties that you were employed to do, your employer is not obliged to retain your services. An employer may provide light duties if they are able to do so but if not, they will have to go through due process with you before terminating your employment.

I hurt my back while at work helping a driver unload a lorry, I recorded this in the work accident book, I have never receved manual handling training regarding my role even though some heavy lifting is involved, do I have a good claim for compensation?

My initial response in your situation is that you have a very strong claim against your employer. Manual Handling training is given to enable employees to work safely and to minimise the risk of painful injuries to the back when lifting is involved.

As your employer has failed to provide you with such training despite the requirements of your work to perform lifting duties, employer negligence would attach and you should pursue a claim against them.

Please call us on 01225430285 if you would like to take this claim further.

Hi there I worked for a skip hire company for 8 years, my job was separating all the materials from the emptied skips. This involved lifting, twisting and throwing in different directions heavy items included boilers, washing machines, stone and heavy metals. On average I was lifting 4 tons of material every day. I suddenly developed back pain and was unable to move. I have 2 herniated discs in my lumbar spine and 1 in my neck which I will soon be getting surgery for. Also no lifting and handling training was ever given. Do you get awarded more money for multiple Herniation or is it the same as just one?

If you have suffered this injury within the last 3 years, you should make a claim for compensation against the employer as their failure to provide you with training and a safe working environment is employer negligence.

Regarding a possible settlement value, when you make a claim for compensation the appropriate value of your claim will be reached on the basis of medical evidence of the injuries sustained. Therefore if you have more than one injury, the value of the claim would be higher than if you just had one.

My partner injured his back at work lifting something that was far too heavy and in an awkward position, he has since had one operation and is waiting to have another. The accident was last Aug, his employer is now ending medical insurance payments the end of this month also his contract of employment, meaning he wont be able to have the second op privately. They suggested that we take over the insurance but it will cost £400 a month which is impossible as we are family of five with a mortgage and now no real income, how do we stand?

The employer may well be within their rights to cease the insurance payments and even terminate your partner’s position of employment if he is unfit for work and all correct procedures to attempt to return to work by the employer (including looking at a job change) have been exhausted.

The situation you are now in, including having to deal with a loss of wages as a result of an accident at work is one of the key things that leads people to having to consider making a claim as this is likely to be your partner’s only option of recovering any loss of income and accessing funding for private treatments.

If your partner’s employer failed to provide adequate training or didn’t correctly mark the weight of heavy items then it is likely that employer negligence would attach and he could succeed with a claim for compensation to recover damages for his injuries, costs for medical treatments and any lost income.

I lifted a heavy pallet at work and i injured my muscles, the doctor said i have tendonitis. Can i sue my employer?

Under UK Law, employers have a statutory duty to ensure that the risk of injury to all staff is minimised so far as practically possible. Therefore, if an employer requires employees to perform lifting duties, they are obliged to ensure that the staff are provided with manual handling training to reduce the risk of lifting related injuries, along with being given appropriate equipment and tools to lift heavy items.

If your employer hasn’t provided you with training, you could seek to make a claim against them on the grounds of inadequate manual handling training, which is likely to succeed on the basis of employer negligence.

I injured my lower back at work 15 months ago. I have had to see my Doctor every month since then and have been off work for the last 8 months. I made a claim with a Solicitor, but recently they told me that the employers insurance have denied liability. I only had a 5 min chat regarding health and safety and they crossed my accident out in their accident book. Do you think I have still got a claim?

The fact that the defendant insurers have denied liability indicates that it is going to be a struggle to succeed with your claim for back injury compensation against the employer. Given that you have already instructed a Solicitor, you should discuss the denial of liability with them and make clear your comments regarding your view that the employer failed to provide adequate training to you.

As your injury is to the back, we assume it was caused as a result of lifting at work. All employers have a duty of care to ensure that all staff are shown how to lift and move items safely and must ensure that manual handling training is provided to all staff to reduce the risk of injury as far as possible.

If your employer failed to provide such training you should appeal to the defendant insurer regarding this issue.