Last updated on November 30th, 2021 at 11:43 am
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Ms K worked as a nursery practitioner in London. She started working for the company in October 2012 and worked in several nurseries owned by it until settling in a permanent position at the nursery in which the accident happened.
Pots had to be carried downstairs
On the day on which the accident happened, Ms K arrived at the nursery in the morning and was assigned to work in the room known as ‘toddler 1’ on the upper floor. The children’s lunch was served on this floor, after which the pots had to be carried on a tray down to the kitchen, which meant going down 2 flights of stairs that spiral around. Ms K had previously complained to her manager that this was hurting her arms and he had told her not to do it any more.
However, after lunch on this day, the room leader told Ms K to take the pots downstairs, which she did. The tray was quite heavy, containing pots and left over food. Ms K took the pots downstairs, leaning against the wall to steady herself. She could not see the steps in front of her. About 3 steps from the bottom she missed her footing and fell, landing on her right ankle.
Injuries sustained due to fall down stairs
Ms K’s manager was at the bottom of the stairs and, embarrassed about the accident, she apologised to him for making a mess, aware that it was close to some of the children’s picking up time. He cleared up the mess and left Ms K sat on the floor. She told the manager that her foot was really hurting and he called the deputy manager to come and help. With the help of a photographer, who was visiting on the day, Ms K was taken back up the stairs, her weight being held by the 2 helpers. She sat down and put her leg up on a box. Her manager asked if she wanted a taxi to take her to hospital or home, but her leg hurt so much she asked for an ambulance to be called.
The ambulance took Ms K to St Thomas’ Hospital, where xrays were taken, but no fracture was found.
Four months off work and lifetime symptoms
Still in pain after several weeks, and with a dislocated knee also, Ms K was told that she had ligament damage and she would need physiotherapy and hydotherapy. Ms K had to use crutches for four to five months and had to take four months off work, after which she returned on light duties. She was eventually diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome and has been told that she will probably suffer symptoms for life and will have to do exercise for the rest of her life. She subsequently had an operation on her knee to repair a ligament that had ruptured due to constant dislocation.
Manual handling training after the accident
Ms K did undertake manual handling training – but this was four months after her accident! She contacted Graysons to see if she could claim compensation from her employer and we took up the case. We contacted the nursery but it argued that Ms K had no need to go down the stairs to the kitchen as there was one on the floor on which she was working, and that she had not fallen in the way she had described. We were able to prove that Ms K did, in fact, have to take the pots to the downstairs kitchen, as that is where the dishwasher was. As the nursery would not accept liability, we issued court proceedings, but the nursery decided to settle before the case got to court and our experts were able to negotiate a settlement of just under £10,000 compensation for the ankle injury.
Employer obliged to reduce risk of injuries
In addition to other safety obligations, under Regulation 4 (1) of the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, employers must reduce the risk of injuries to their staff that arise from manual handling, and on this occasion the nursery did not do that.
If you have been injured in an accident at work and you want to find out if you are entitled to claim compensation, please contact our experts now. We will asses your case and use our considerable expertise to secure the best outcome possible.
You can find out more about claiming compensation for accidents that happen at work on our website.
