Kevin Rowan column
May 23 2005 By Kevin Rowan, The Journal
Far from being in the grip of a `compen- sation culture', evidence shows that the vast majority of workers injured or made ill by their employment fail to get any recompense.
A TUC report last week shows less than one in 10 receive any compensation from the state or from their employers.
"A little compensation", in the latest edition of TUC-backed health and safety magazine Hazards, says every year around 850,000 people suffer an accident or develop a disease as a result of their job, but only 80,000 receive any compensation.
Every year 60,000 apply for assistance under the Department for Work and Pensions Industrial Injuries Benefits Scheme, but less than half the claimants are successful and most successful claims receive no cash payout.
The cost of compensation is dwarfed by the costs borne by workers and their families. The annual cost of compensation under common law and industrial injuries benefit is less than £1.5bn, yet costs to victims and their dependents are estimated at up to 10 times that.
The TUC report shows occupational deafness, breathing disorders and vibration white finger are work-related ailments most likely to receive compensation. Repetitive strain injury and stress victims are more likely to lose out.
There were just 3,000 successful strain injury cases in 2001, a year when the Health and Safety Executive estimates that almost half a million people developed work-related strain problems.
Although six-figure payouts occasionally make headlines, these are extremely rare. The average claim is just £10,000.
Only half the 2,000 or so people who die every year from asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma received benefits from the DWP, and less than 100 people each year who suffer from lung cancer as a result of asbestos exposure get any help. pWorkers are losing out on billions of pounds, yet many may never work again.
The UK's current system needs a complete overhaul to give injured and ill workers better and quicker access to justice.
But the way to end the UK's disposable worker culture is not higher and more compensation.
It's for more employers to take health and safety responsibilities more seriously.
Kevin Rowan is North-East Regional Secretary of the TUC
