Swain v Denso Marston Ltd: CA 12 Apr 2000

An injury suffered by the claimant when stripping down part of the conveyor system at his employer’s premises. To replace bearings, he had to remove various components and then the roller itself. Unexpectedly the roller was solid metal, weighing about 20 kilograms and he suffered a crush injury to his right hand when the roller was released. There had been no relevant risk assessment, notwithstanding that the employer had a health and safety officer. The conveyor system was described as ‘specialised plant and machinery’ and an assessment would have considered whether repairs and non-routine maintenance should be carried out by the employer’s staff or the manufacturer and would have considered the manual handling tasks involved in repairs and maintenance.
Held: There was ‘no systematic assessment under the control of either an outside consultant or the health and safety officer (even if part of the task was delegated to a person who was an experienced employee).’

Judges:

Stuart-Smith, Walker LJJ

Citations:

[2000] EWCA Civ 3021, [2000] ICR 1079

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Manual Handling Operation Regulations 1992

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedSloan v The Governors of Rastrick High School CA 29-Jul-2014
The claimant appealed against dismissal of her claim for personal injuries. She was employed as a teaching assistant providing support for children with mobility issues. She said that she suffered a soft tissue injury in her cervical spine and in . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Personal Injury

Updated: 24 July 2022; Ref: scu.330958