An employee in the Southend-on-Sea Borough Council was given ten thousand pounds in compensation because she was forced to use a damaged chair that resulted in her developing a severe slipped disc.
Thompsons Solicitors informed that the employee Mrs Kay Fagg, a sheltered house officer in the council, had to be operated when the council did not give her a new chair in spite of her chair breaking in the beginning of 2003. The wheels attached to Fagg’s chair stopped functioning, which restricted her movement. She reported the problem to the council but no new chair was provided. Her chair was replaced only after it came to light that Mrs Fagg had a slipped disc and when she joined her job again. She is more than sixty years old and has been suffering from prolonged pain in the lower back since her surgery which ultimately compelled her to resign from her job.
Ann Vinden, UNISON’s Head of Local Government in the Eastern Region, stated that the employers should have changed Mrs Fagg’s chair soon after coming to know about the difficulty. Instead, her health condition was allowed to deteriorate, till there was no choice left for her except to get an operation done and to leave the work that she enjoyed doing. She added that employers should pay attention to the complaints of their workers and address them at the earliest possible time, and that they should realise the importance of health and safety checks at the workplace.
Kam Singh, an attorney at Thompsons Solicitors, reported that Mrs Fagg had to use an unfit chair for around nine months. He said that there are stern health and safety regulations for workers who work on computers, and that there should be necessary equipment provided for ensuring that they do not face health issues. The employers in this case should have addressed the problem by evaluating the risks and should have immediately provided another chair, he said.
The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations require that employers assess the risks to employees of work with computers. DSE Training can be of benefit to an organisation in instruction on how to assess workstations and provide information to ensure that the workstation and working environment are satisfactory for all employees. Employers will learn how to meet their responsibilities under health and safety legislation and minimise their own and their employee’s exposure to risk.
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