Amazon Workers Getting RSI after Surge in Online Shopping
Posted on: 3 mins read
Personal Injury & Disease Litigation Solicitor
Our Industrial Disease Solicitors have recently taken on several Repetitive Strain Injury Claims on behalf of Amazon warehouse workers who have been diagnosed with repetitive strain injuries (RSI), particularly shoulder, back and foot problems.
The nature of their work - regularly lifting and moving heavy boxes at speed - leaves them especially vulnerable to RSI if the correct preventative safety measures aren’t put in place.
With the ongoing Covid-19 situation and with many shops now closed until at least December 2nd, online retailers are likely to face even higher demand, and potentially increased sickness leave, which may put greater pressures on their employees.
So it’s vital that employers in the e-commerce sector, such as Amazon, do everything they can to keep members of staff safe and reduce the risk of them developing repetitive strain injuries.
If you believe you’ve developed RSI because of working practices and conditions in an Amazon warehouse, get in touch with our expert Industrial Disease Solicitors.
We offer a free claims assessment and will be happy to speak with you about your situation and how we can help you. We could handle your RSI claim on a No Win, No Fee basis - ask us for details.
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We’re handling several RSI claims for compensation for people who have worked or are currently working for Amazon.
One of our clients worked as a warehouse operative at Amazon for more than three years and regularly had to pick up boxes from the floor weighing between 25kg and 35kg. He was given what he felt were unrealistic targets and believed the boxes were too heavy to carry safely, yet had to lift them continually for ten hours a day.
He started suffering pain in his lower back and was given a sick note from his GP, which said he should only be working two days a week. Despite this, his employer, Amazon UK Services Ltd., told him he had to work four days a week, and he was given heavier boxes to handle. This led to him being diagnosed with a herniated disc, and suffering with pain in his lower back, both legs and ribs.
This client hasn’t been working since 2019, so is now making an Industrial Disease Claim for compensation to cover the financial losses he’s had because of his work-related injuries.
Our Industrial Disease Solicitors are also acting on behalf of a woman who has worked for Amazon since 2018. Her job involves loading lorries and carrying heavy boxes up steps. But as the steps don’t reach the top of the lorry, she has to stretch to put the boxes up.
The size of the teams she worked in were reduced to just two because of Covid-19, but the weight of the items they moved remained the same, and she often had to carry boxes weighing more than 25kg on her own because of social distancing rules.
After noticing pain in her right shoulder, she went to her GP and was diagnosed with RSI. This client was signed on light duties by her doctor but this was ignored by her employer. She got in touch with our Solicitors to claim compensation for work-related RSI, and told us that she had to work under immense pressure, due to the scale of the demand and there not being enough staff.
If you have developed work-related RSI symptoms, our specialist Industrial Disease Solicitors are here for you. If it can be proved that your employer should reasonably have foreseen there was a chance of you developing RSI because of your work, and didn’t do enough to manage this risk, you could be entitled to compensation.
Get in touch with us for a free, no obligation claims assessment, so we can talk with you about your situation and see if you have a claim.
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