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Attention: industrial, business, health and legal correspondents, health and safety media

Employers pay the price for poor health and safety

Over the last ten years employers who have shown scant regard for the health and safety of their workers have wasted £3 billion meeting the cost of accidents at work and paying people made ill by their jobs, according to a TUC report out today (Saturday).

Focus on union legal services for injury victims - the latest report to be published in the TUC’s Trade Union Trends series - says that in 2001 (the year that this report covers), trade unions secured £305 million in personal injury cases for 39,024 employees whose bosses had not done enough to make their workplaces safe.

The report says that unions would prefer to operate in a world in which all workplaces were completely safe and healthy. But whilst accidents go on happening and people’s jobs keep on making them ill, there is a need for unions to take personal injury cases and win compensation on for their members.

Focus on union legal services for injury victims says that in 2001, unions took on 53,222 new legal cases - a slight increase (3%) on the previous year. Stress claims continued to be a major issue, with 2,503 new cases started, and 1,029 asbestos cases were taken on. Assistance with road accident claims remains the main non-work related legal service provided by unions.

TUC General Secretary Elect Brendan Barber said: 'Union members would prefer an injury free workplace - and if the worst happens they would like to be back at work as fast as possible. When that doesn’t happen, they can rely on their union to secure the fairest compensation possible. We would like to work more closely with employers and insurers to make sure accidents are avoided and illness prevented, but until workplaces are safer, we will continue to make sure victims get justice.'

Focus on union legal services for injury victims features a number of case studies including:

• Alison Booth was a professional dancer who was forced to give up her career following time spent in the cast of the American tour of ‘Spirit of the Dance.’ The conditions she had to work in were appalling - unsprung dance floors, travelling for hours sitting in the gangway of a crowded bus, and working a packed programme with no days off and no formalised warm-up or warm-down sessions. The pressure increased as other members of the cast became injured, and Alison found herself dancing for most of the 90 minute show. She received a substantial payment after Equity claimed the company had been negligent. Alison, who had trained at the Royal Ballet School, developed terrible pains in her shins and ankles and was forced to return to England, bringing her promising career to a close. Source: Equity Journal, Summer 2002

• After a long battle, fought with the help of the Society of Radiographers, Pip Wheatcroft has been awarded a six figure sum for loss of earnings. At just 40 years old, Pip had to retire from her position as a senior radiographer. In 1996, Pip became allergic to latex because of its use in latex gloves. She was able to control it but, two years later, the hospital management laid a flooring that contained latex. This lead to Pip becoming sensitised to latex and she began to suffer from occupational asthma. Because of her allergy, Pip had to leave the National Health Service and now works as a horticulturist for the National Trust. Source: Synergy News, March 2002

• Prospect member Roy Gill won £600,000 in compensation following a serious accident in 1999. A keen musician, Roy was playing his B flat bass in a brass band on the back of a lorry during the City of York Lord Mayor’s parade. The lorry braked suddenly and Roy was flung from the lorry. Significantly, the lorry had no side panels and the surface was wet from rain, offering no resistance. Roy was rushed to hospital but his condition deteriorated and he developed blood poisoning and muscle wastage. As a result, he suffered permanent damage to his neck and spinal cord. Roy had to give up his job as a Health and Safety Executive railway inspector, as he is paralysed on the left side of his body and is confined to a wheelchair. Source: Prospect Bulletin February 2002

Focus on union legal services for injury victims shows that many unions (four out of five of those responding) offer legal support to cover their members’ families, suggesting that unions’ legal expertise could be available to up to 18 million people. Services offered by unions include 24-hour helplines, free will writing, help with medical negligence cases and assistance with public liability claims.

As part of its continuing campaign to improve the safety of UK workplaces, the TUC will be:

• Looking at the possibility of unions working with insurance companies to use the prevention expertise of unions to prevent accidents from happening in employers’ premises.

• Promoting effective rehabilitation services which assist injured workers to return to work quickly but not before they are ready to do so.

• Proactively involved in the Government’s review of employer liability insurance to ensure that any changes continue to deliver justice for victims.

Notes to Editors:

Focus on union legal services for injury victims costs £30 and is available from TUC Publications (0207 467 1294). It was written for the TUC by health and safety consultant Nigel Bryson OBE. Forty unions replied to the survey, representing some 6.5 million workers. The report contains details of a number of personal injury cases won by unions, which were first reported in union journals. There are case studies covering accidents in Neath Port Talbot, East Anglia, Doncaster/Leeds, Wakefield, York, Royston, Ripley, Corby, Lincoln and Bournemouth.

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Media enquiries: Liz Chinchen on 020 7467 1248 or 07699 744115 (pager) or email media@tuc.org.uk

Press release (1,100 words) issued 12 Apr 2003