Grandison v East Lothian Council ? Haddington Sheriff Court, 28 February 2008

The Pursuer was employed by the Defenders as a slater/builder. He and a colleague were instructed to remove slabs from the garden of a property owned by the Defenders. Part of the operation involved breaking up a concrete block and they did so using a pickaxe and a large hammer. As the Pursuer tried to lift a section of concrete, he felt pain in his back. It was discovered that brick work had become attached to the under side of the concrete. The Defenders had carried out a generic risk assessment in relation to dealing with paths and slab work. Having heard evidence, the Sheriff found that the Pursuer's back injury was caused by the Defenders' breach of their obligations under Regulations 4(i)(a) and 4(i)(b) of the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992. He held that the Defenders had not done all that was reasonably practicable to avoid the need for the Pursuer and his colleague to undertake a manual handling operation that involved a risk of injury. It was self evident that an operation which required the Pursuer or his colleague to lever up a section of concrete and then to try and break it up using a hammer was going to involve a risk of injury.  On that basis, the Defenders had to try and avoid the need for that manual handling operation.  The Sheriff held that the use of a pneumatic drill or jack hammer would have been reasonably practicable. The use of a small mechanical digger would also have been reasonably practicable. There was an enhanced risk from the concrete area because of its construction and the prospect of brick being attached to its underside.  That risk should have been considered. The Sheriff decided that, even if he was wrong in his approach to Regulation 4(i)(a), the Defenders had separately breached their obligation under 4(i)(b) for largely similar reasoning. The fact that a generic risk assessment had been carried out did not necessarily avoid the need for a more specific review. In his view, there had not been “suitable and sufficient assessment of manual handling operations”.