Melbourne woman’s wrist injury from extracting pig semen leaves her with limited career options

When Sunshine woman Maxine began work collecting pig semen for breeding top quality pork at the age of 18, the job paid well and it was far more interesting than an office job.

More than 10 years later, she is still suffering from ongoing wrist pain, which has required major surgery and has prevented her from working in her other chosen fields such as floristry, drycleaning, rubbish removal and demolition. The 31-year-old is investigating legal action against her former employer’s insurer for loss of earnings, medical costs and pain and suffering.

“On a big day it was working with roughly 25 to 30 pigs, collecting their semen in a milkshake cup for artificial insemination,” Maxine said.

“The wrist injury was caused by having to hold the penis still as the pigs move around quite a lot. I used my right hand at first and my manager suggested using my left hand as the right hand became sore. I was crying while sweeping the floor one day as I was in a lot of pain so my manager said I should go to the GP. After a while, they moved me into the lab. I worked at the business for five years in total.”

While Maxine was thankful her manager at the time encouraged her to make a WorkCover claim, she wants to warn other young workers to be careful not to overwork.

“I was doing such damage to myself by trying to keep up with the workload. It’s created a long-term injury. I’ll never be able to go back to physical work. It’s changed my whole outlook on life and my ability to work. There is no chance I can earn enough from working to buy a house at this point,” she said.

“I had to wait for the injury to stabilise and by that time I was no longer receiving WorkCover payments. While working at the drycleaner for just a few months and on restricted duties in recent years, I suffered a flare up in a different area of the wrist and I had to apply for WorkCover assistance again. I did a pain rehabilitation program in 2018 and I’ve been managing with the pain ever since. Ultrasounds and MRIs confirmed it was the same injury I had suffered 10 years ago but dramatically worse.”

“I can’t really do buttons or anything too finicky like tying things up. I must be careful about how much water I put in the kettle and can’t lift the inside part of the slow cooker. It just about takes me all day to chop up vegetables. Raw chicken needs to be precut as I can’t cut through it. I even own a special brush to be able to brush my hair. My weeks are planned out so I can pace myself without getting high levels of pain but so I can still get tasks completed.”

Slater and Gordon Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Michelle Cavalieri, who is representing Maxine is a workers’ compensation claim against her former workplace’s insurer, said repetitive movements and high workloads without adequate breaks were often the cause of workplace injuries.

“An injury from repetitive movements and a high workload can happen no matter what age you are. Maxine thought she was building muscle, but she was actually doing damage to herself. Maxine has just had a major surgery on her left wrist to remove inflammation from an injury she suffered a decade ago. It’s likely the other wrist will require surgery too,” Ms Cavalieri said.

“No matter what the injury is, if it happened at work and you’ve lost wages, it’s best to lodge a WorkCover claim. Pursuing your legal rights can help you recover loss of wages, any future economic loss, as well as medical costs and potentially compensate you for pain and suffering you’ve experienced.”

She said wrist injuries were common in many workplaces and often ruled workers out from participating in a lot of physical roles in future