WATKINS v VALLEY VIEW POULTRY PTY LTD [1995] NSWCA 496

WATKINS v VALLEY VIEW POULTRY PTY LTD SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COURT OF APPEAL

CLARKE, MEAGHER and SHELLER JJA 5 May 1995, 5 May 1995

[1995] NSWCA 496

WORKERS COMPENSATION ACT — APPEAL — "REPETITIVE STRAIN INJURY" — NO QUESTION OF PRINCIPLE

Clarke JA This is an appeal from the rejection by Judge O'Meally of a claim made by the appellant that she had suffered incapacity as a result of injury at work. I will in this judgment use the expression "repetitive strain injury" as a term to describe the injury of which she complained. In doing so, however, it should not be thought that I am using it other than as a fairly loose overall description of the various complaints which the appellant made.

Her case was that having been out of the work force for a considerable period of time she returned to work for the respondent on 9 February 1989. Initially she was involved in a job which imposed on her three tasks, the first was operating the chicken packing machine, the second was taking the bagged chickens out of the bin under the machine and packing them into cartons and the third was hanging chickens. Her work had to be done at speed and there was the lifting of some weights involved. She said that between two and four weeks after starting this work she first suffered symptoms. I will put to one side for the moment the precise nature of those symptoms. When she complained of her problems she was taken off the work that she had been doing and given light duties for about two weeks. Although the history is not entirely specific or clear it would appear that before that occurred she had been off work for some time. In any event during the whole of the rest of her employment with the respondent she took a number of periods, whether they be daily periods or longer, off work. She remained on light duties about two weeks and was then transferred to the canteen where she worked five days per week doing broadly speaking waitressing work.