Miners Knee (Beat Knee) has been a recognised medical condition for a while now. However, only recently has the Government paved the way for possible compensation claims relating to this. This has come about because of Osteoarthritis being added to the list of conditions that qualify for Industrial Disablement Benefit.

Any occupation whereby you are required to work in a kneeling position will inevitably put enourmous pressure on your joints and over a long period of time will cause long-term damage. This is why the condition is commonly found in ex-miners who were forced to work in these conditions over a long period of time without any protective knee pads or safety equipment.

Symptoms to be aware of: swelling, sharp pain and stiff joints.

Test cases for compensation are currently being litigated in the Courts on behalf of coal miners who have suffered knee conditions as a result of their working environment in the coal mining industry.

The test cases currently running through the courts involve British Coal and the National Coal Board and will ultimately determine whether or not the employers were negligent for not seeing the potential risks to health for their employees.

When these test cases have concluded there will be a definite answer as to whether you are eligible to make a claim and if so, how much. Despite this uncertainty, we would strongly encourage any ex-miners to make a claim for Miners Knee, VWF or Osteoarthritis as early as possible and join the que so that you would receive any payout much earlier than you would otherwise.

Until the outcome of these test cases are known, it is very difficult to advise with any degree of certainty whether any compensation claim for miner’s’ beat knee would be successful.