1.
This case is concerned with an alleged accident during employment that occurred on 5 January 2020 when the Applicant, an Enrolled Nurse working for the Respondent, sprained her back and suffered injury. By her the Application dated 31 December 2021, the Applicant claims compensation pursuant to sections 9, 10, and 10A of the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance,
Cap 282
(the “Ordinance”).
2.
The Applicant was born on 13 April 1990. At the time of the accident, she was 29 years old. There is no dispute her salary for the month preceding the alleged accident was $23,024.
3.
Both liability and quantum are disputed by the Respondent.
The Applicant’s case
4.
It is the Applicant’s case as pleaded and as set out in her amended witness statement that on 5 January 2020 at or about 11:30 am, whilst she was working at the Caritas Medical Centre dispensing medication, she was instructed by her supervisor, a Registered Nurse whose name is Debbie So Hiu Yan (“Debbie So”) to change the bed linen and the pillowcase for a bed-bound patient by herself because the pillowcase and bed linen had been dampened by antibiotic drip. In accordance with Debbie So’s instructions, the Applicant performed the following duties during which her back was sprained:
(i) First, the Applicant stood on one side of the bed and bent forward to roll over the patient to his left and to the side opposite to her such that she could untuck the linens underneath;
(ii) Next, she moved to the right side of the bed in order to insert and tuck in a clean bed sheet for that side;
(iii) After the clean bed sheet was halfway tucked in, she then moved back to the left side of the bed and pulled the clean bed sheet from the other side by running it underneath the patient with one hand while stabilizing the patient his left lateral position with her other hand;
(iv) After having wholly tucked in the clean bed sheet and when the Applicant drew herself up from the flexion position, she was struck by an immense pain over her lower back with radiation to her left lower limb and toes (the “Incident”).
5.
She then went to the nurse station and told Karen Lau, the Advanced Practice Nurse in charge of the ward at the time, and told her that her back was painful after changing a bed sheet, and wished to apply for sick leave. She then went to the Accident and Emergency Department (“A&E Department”) for medical treatment. According to the Applicant, she did mention about the suspected injury on duty at the triage counter but she herself did not know whether the incident could be reported as injury at work. She asked the treating doctor who said it was not within his scope of duty and was reluctant to discuss further.
6.
She was given sick leave for two days. She handed the sick leave certificate to Karen Lau an
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