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IT'S a piece of advice that's all too often heard and all too often ignored: be careful when lifting heavy objects.
Mr Joseph Reggy Veerasingham, 51, claimed he had tried his best to carry heavy goods the right way, yet he injured his back and ended up having to quit his job.

The former senior storekeeper also had to get help from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to get his last month's salary.

His employer had owed it to him for almost two months .

Mr Veerasingham, who is claiming he injured his back at work, also wants work injury compensation from the company.

He resigned on 30 Sep last year, after working at Singapore Precision Repair and Overhaul (S-Pro) for two years.

As a senior storekeeper, Mr Veerasingham claimed he often had to lift heavy equipment and aircraft spare parts. Each box would usually weigh between 40 and 50kg, he said.

The store where he worked had a forklift, but he claimed that workers there did not usually use it as it was faster to move the boxes manually.

He said the forklift was used only when the equipment came in crates that were too big for men to lift on their own.

Mr Veerasingham, who has four children aged 13 to 16, said: 'We sometimes had to rush to meet delivery times.

'It's our rice bowl, so we would feel very pressured to move the boxes on our own.'

He began to get pain in his lower back early last year, but he said he initially ignored it, thinking he was just exhausted from work.

But on 10 May, while lifting some aircraft tyres, he claimed he had cramps on his back, and his 'body became stiff'.

'Felt like ice'

He told The New Paper at his Bedok Reservoir Road maisonette: 'It felt like ice in my muscles. I was so worried I would be handicapped or paralysed.'

After work that day, he saw a doctor at the Tampines Polyclinic and was given medical leave for two days.

But his condition deteriorated a few weeks later, he claimed. He was referred to a specialist at Changi General Hospital (CGH), who put him on light duty for a week.

He returned to normal duties after that and was given painkillers.

He went back to CGH for a follow-up on 10 Oct.

Said Mr Veerasingham: 'The doctor took an X-ray and said my back was in terrible shape, it was wornout.'

His medical report stated that there was paravertebral spasm and stiffness of his back.

He also suffered spondylolisthesis, which means a bone in his spine had slipped out of alignment and moved backwards.

If there is too much movement, the bones may irritate the spinal cord, causing numbness, tingling or weakness in his limbs.

He was given hospitalisation leave from 10 to 24Oct.

On his doctor's advice, he quit his job to look for one which would not strain his back.

On his last day at the company, he said he was asked to sign a document stating that he had no further claims against his company.

He refused to sign, as he wanted to claim compensation for his injured back.

The company then held back his pay, until MOM ordered it to make the payment by last month.

MOM is looking into Mr Veerasingham's workplace injury compensation claim.

S-Pro declined to comment.

Said Mr Veerasingham, who now works as a bus driver and a taxi driver: 'I'm really thankful to MOM. They were really efficient and helped me so much.'

This article was first published in The New Paper.