The Court of Appeal has ruled that a company failed in its duty to protect a labourer who injured his back while moving heavy equipment.

It will now be liable to pay him damages for his injuries. The company had appealed against a court ruling that it had breached the Manual Handling Operations Regulations because it had not taken the necessary action to reduce risk to the lowest level possible.

The court heard that the labourer was one of four men asked to move machinery weighing up to 3,100kgs. There was expert evidence to suggest that the force the men had to exert exceeded health and safety guidance. The labourer who was injured had to apply a level of force that was between two and four times above guideline figures.

The judge said the company should have carried out a risk assessment and had it done so it could have identified several ways to reduce the chance of injury. For example, the men could have been given more help, specialist contractors could have been called in or a fork lift truck could have been used.

The Court of Appeal upheld the judge’s ruling and said he was right to conclude that the company had failed to act appropriately to reduce the risk.

There will now be further discussions to determine the level of compensation.