Why hasn’t Leanne reported her Accident at Work?

Accidents at work

Any Coronation Street fans will be aware that one of their main characters, Leanne Battersby, has recently been experiencing back pain after she was manually handling a barrel at work without any help.

Following the accident, she was urged by Nick Tilsley, to report her injury.

However, she refused saying it was her fault as she turned down the help of a colleague.

Speculatively, Leanne hasn’t had any manual handling training in this new job, meaning that her employer, Valendros, shouldn’t have tasked her with this in the first place.

Under the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, they have a duty to ensure that all employees are adequately trained and assessed to ensure that they can carry out such actions safely, without putting themselves or others at risk.

It appears in this circumstance that they have failed to adhere to this requirement and thus failed in their duty of care to Leanne.

In line with this, the fact that she turned down help from a colleague doesn’t necessarily mean that she is to blame for the accident occurring.

If Leanne’s injuries were to continue and she wanted to make a claim for the pain and losses subsequently experienced, two important actions to take would be to seek medical attention as soon as possible (and thereafter for continued symptoms), and to report the accident to her employer so that it is put into the accident book.

Going to see a doctor not only means getting treatment to aid your recovery, it also ensures that there are contemporaneous entries within your medical records to confirm your injuries, along with when and how they happened.

Reporting it to your employer and putting it in the accident book also helps with the latter of this, with the added benefit that it should prompt them to review their existing manual handling processes and consider any changes that may be required to help reduce the risk of such an incident happening again.

WHAT TO DO NEXT

If you have been injured whilst carrying out a manual handling task, and want to find out whether you can make a claim, you can for a free claim assessment and advice. Alternatively, call our accidents at work department: 0113 200 9720.