Stephen John Roberts, then 49, worked in November 2007 with a small, Fyshwick-based engine repair business which dealt with equipment such as lawnmowers, chainsaws, and leaf blowers.

Mr Roberts, one of five people engaged with the business, was employed as the workshop manager, dealing with phone bookings, invoicing clients and repairing items himself.

In late November 2007, he was loading a pressure cleaner into the side of a commercial van, which was owned by ACTEW. Two ACTEW employees were on one end of the 105kg cleaner, while Mr Roberts was lifting the other end by himself.

The ACTEW workers put their end of the cleaner inside the van, but its wheels had not properly cleared the step up to the van's floor level.

The cleaner began to roll back out of the van, and Mr Roberts tried to take its weight.

He felt pain and a burning sensation in the lower left side of his back. He claimed he immediately told other staff about it, and then went home, before going to his doctor the next day.

That began a series of continuing treatments for his back pain, including repeated nerve block treatments, none of which have been able to alleviate the pain he feels in his back.

He later left the business, and was forced to quit another job with the retailer BCF due to the pain.

Mr Roberts was diagnosed with a protruded disc, which resulted in nerve pain in his spine.

He took the company to the ACT Supreme Court over his injury, saying it had breached its duty of care.

Supreme Court Master David Mossop said Mr Roberts was "clearly in pain during the course of giving his evidence". But the defendant said there were measures in place to lift heavy items into or out of vehicles.

The company's director said there was a forklift on site, with a qualified operator, and ramps that were designed for getting heavy wheeled items into or out of vehicles.

But Master Mossop said, despite that evidence, there was no safe system of work in place, with no evidence of a "system, instructions or directions to ensure that the forklift or ramps policy was complied with".

He said he was not satisfied that there were ramps available to Mr Roberts at the time of the accident.

Master Mossop did not find Mr Roberts had failed to take reasonable care for his own safety by not using the forklift. He did note that the worker must have known what he was doing was "at the margins of what was physically possible.

The court awarded Mr Roberts $1.4 million in damages, economic loss, future earnings, and out-of-pocket expenses.