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| The claimant, a 50-year-old woman, received £3,237.70
for the repetitive strain injury sustained during the course of her employment between
April 1998 and June 2000. The claimant suffered pain in her right arm and
shoulder. |
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| Claimant: Female: Between 44 and 46 years old at date of
accident; 50 years old at date of award. |
Employers’ Liability: Between 6 April 1998 and 6
June 2000, the claimant was employed by the defendant as a personnel administrator.
During the course of her employment, the claimant had to rotate her neck in order to
see the computer monitor. The claimant’s computer monitor, instead of being
placed in front of her, was placed initially at the extreme right hand side of the desk
and from late 1998 or 1999 further to the right partly on the desk and partly on a
pedestal set of drawers. The position was aggravated by the type of desk and chair
provided. The desk had pedestal drawers underneath on the right-hand side which meant
that her legs were impeded if she swivelled to the right, resulting in more rotation of
her head.
The claimant spent between four and six hours a day using the computer
carrying out administrative tasks and some data entry work although none of the tasks
required fast repetitive work.
In October 1999, the defendant moved the
claimant’s computer monitor in front of her at the claimant’s
request.
The claimant sustained injury and brought an action against the
defendant alleging that it was negligent and/or in breach of its statutory duty under
the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 in failing to operate
a safe system of working. The claimant alleged that there was a foreseeable risk of
injury as a result of the inadequacies with her workstation.
Liability disputed.
The defendant’s argued that there was no foreseeable risk of injury.
At
trial, the judge held that there was a foreseeable risk of injury both in negligence
and under the 1992 Regulations. There was a breach of the common law duty of care in
the wrongful placing of the claimant’s monitor to the right of her desk instead
of in front of the claimant and in thereafter making matters worse by moving the screen
yet further to the right. Under the regulations, there was a failure to carry out
adequate risk assessments, particularly in April 1998 and the judge was satisfied that
such failure was causative of the injuries complained of. |
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| Injuries: |
The claimant suffered from repetitive strain injury during the course
of her employment. |
| Effects: |
The claimant’s pain symptoms progressed gradually. She suffered
pain and tingling in her hand from December 1998 when she was diagnosed with carpal
tunnel syndrome.
From April 1999, the claimant suffered with a painful shoulder.
On one occasion, she experienced shooting pains in her right arm and collapsed when
someone brushed past her. |
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