REPETITIVE STRAIN INJURY CLAIMS – What They Are & How To Make a Claim

All employers owe a duty of care to their employees to make sure that they are safe in the working environment and are unlikely to be injured when carrying out their normal working duties. 

 

The protection is provided under common law and through a number of Health and Safety Regulations. Employers must risk assess all aspects of an employees duties to comply with their duty of care. 

 

Many jobs involve an employee repeating a certain task. In such circumstances an RSI can be caused. Sometimes this manual task cannot be carried out mechanically or by any other means. The employer must still reduce the risk of injury to the lowest reasonable practicable level. This might include, for example, giving the employee more ‘breaks’ or swapping with another employee to share the repetitive task. 

 

• Keyboard operating 

• Vibrating tools 

• Lifting heavy objects 

• Operating machinery 

• Poorly designed workspace, such as in an office 

 

An RSI often shows itself by muscle or tendon pain, ache, stiffness or numbness. Common injuries of this type affect the wrist or elbow when hand or arm movements are repetitive in the work task. Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) and gofers elbow (medial epicondylitis) are the names for the conditions which affect that part of the body and are often the subject of an RSI. Other conditions may include bursitis, dystonia and carpal tunnel syndrome. 

 

Inform your manager and a doctor if you notice any of the symptoms. Do not ignore them as this could result in them becoming permanent and long-term damage. 

 

Contact us and we will deal with the legal stuff for you. 

 

Like the majority of personal injury claims a Claim Form must be lodged at Court within 3 years from the date of onset of the injury. It is essential to contact us at the first possible opportunity. 

 

Yes, when there are reasonable prospects of success we will take on all claims of this type under a No Win No Fee Agreement. 

 

This will depend upon the severity and duration of the injury. Any direct loses suffered will also be recoverable such as, for example, loss of earnings and treatment costs 

 

We have successfully started Court actions in claims of this type when liability has been denied. We are happy to continue to receive instructions and investigate accordingly, in these cases. 

 

If you require any legal advice with regards to repetitive strain injury or medical negligence or require any other legal advice, look no further then Avery Walters where some of West Yorkshire's leading personal injury and medical negligence solicitors and lawyers based in Leeds will take you through your repetitive strain injury case and any and all clinical negligence claims. Do not hesitate to get in touch with us today. 

 

 

If you feel you may need to make a personal injury or medical negligence claim, or to speak to a member of the PI negligence team for advice, please call us on 0113 2007480 or fill in our contact form and one of the team will call you back.