Strain and Manual Handling Injury Case

Tina Bowen, a kitchen worker at Pengar School in Llanelli, was left in agony after repeatedly lifting sacks of potatoes onto a trolley.

The potato peeling machine in Tina’s school kitchen had been broken for a long period of time and, as a result, she used a machine at a different school, so she would manually lift the heavy sacks of potatoes onto a trolley and push them across a car park. Tina would then have to load the clean potatoes back onto the trolley in order to take them back to Pengar School to be cooked.

During one trip, Tina felt severe pain in her left shoulder. She was then off work for six months, during which time she lost vital earnings and struggled with the simplest of day-to-day tasks.

We supported Tina in her successful claim for compensation.

Tina said: “I can barely describe how unbearable the pain in my shoulder was during those six months.

“My movement was so restricted that I could hardly even dress myself. I wish that the management had fixed the potato peeler earlier or provided me with a safe alternative; this could all have been avoided.”