Firm pays worker £3,000 after RSI

A factory worker has received £3,000 from his employer after he developed a repetitive strain injury (RSI) from his job in its finishing department.

Companies have been warned to take action against allowing such accidents at work to occur after Geoffrey Coleman, 41, suffered a ligament strain in his forearms.

Mr Coleman worked at a factory in Cumbria, where he packed large sheets of paper into a plastic bag with a colleague,which weighed about 50kg when full. The repetitive nature of the product packing caused him to develop RSI.

He has since recovered and returned to work at the factory, but the union Unite reminded employers that risk assessments and rotating workers who are doing repetitive jobs is essential to prevent injury claims. 

Paul Finegan, Unite's regional secretary, said: "To the company's credit they did all the right things once Geoffrey had been injured. Following the incident they did a root cause investigation, brought a specialist in and highlighted the problems that caused the injury and put a safer system of work in to prevent his happening again."