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Attention: industrial, legal, health, social affairs correspondents, health and safety media

TUC dispels UK compo culture myth and says most injured workers miss out

Less than one in ten people made ill or injured by their work ever receive any compensation from the state or from their employers, says a report from the TUC published today (Friday), shattering the myth that the UK is gripped by a compensation culture.

‘A little compensation’, which appears in the latest edition of the TUC-backed health and safety magazine Hazards, says that every year around 850,000 people suffer an accident or develop a disease as a result of their job, but no more than 80,000 receive any compensation either from their employer or from the state for their pain and suffering.

Every year 60,000 injured or ill workers apply for assistance under the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Industrial Injuries Benefits Scheme, but fewer than half the claimants are successful and the majority of successful claims receive no cash payout.

The cost of compensation for work-related disease and injury is dwarfed by the costs borne by workers and their families, says the report. An analysis of official and insurance industry statistics reveals that the annual cost of compensation payouts under common law and industrial injuries benefit is less than £1.5bn, yet the costs to the victims and their dependents is estimated at possibly as much as ten times that, at between £10.1 and £14.7 billion in 2001/2.

‘A little compensation’ says that occupational deafness, breathing disorders and vibration white finger are the work-related ailments most likely to receive compensation, with RSI and stress sufferers more likely to lose out. For example, there were just 3,000 successful strain injury cases in 2001, a year when the HSE estimates that almost half a million people developed work-related strain problems.

Although six figure compensation payouts always make the headlines, these are extremely rare says the report, with the average compensation claim standing at just £10,000. When legal fees and admin costs are taken into account, it is unlikely that the average claimant will even see half this.

The UK’s state compensation system can also make it difficult for people who are made very ill by their work to receive any payment for their suffering. Only half the 2,000 or so people who die every year as a result of the 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.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'Some employers and commentators would have us believe that the UK is caught up in a compensation culture frenzy, where at a whim people who are ever so slightly injured at work get to walk away with huge payouts. The reality is very different for the hundreds of thousands of workers made ill or injured by their jobs each year.

'Workers are losing out on billions of pounds, yet many of them may never work again. The UK’s current compensation 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 payouts, it’s for more employers to take their health and safety responsibilities more seriously.'

Hazards Editor Rory O’Neill said: 'The antiquated UK compensation system provides consolation for some, frustration for most and proper compensation for almost no-one suffering as a result of their job. Deafness, vibration white finger and breathing problems still make up lion’s share of payouts. A system that primarily compensates conditions found in mines, mills and manufacturing is no good in an economy built on services, shops and science.

'Under the existing rules you can even die an excruciating death from asbestos cancer and more likely than not receive nothing from the government scheme supposed to compensate victims. And the chances of getting any compensation from any source for some of the top occupational diseases of the 21^st century - strain injuries, stress and depression and heart disease - are worryingly small.'

NOTES TO EDITORS:

The full Hazards article can be found at www.hazards.org/compensation

The Summer 2005 issue of Hazards is out now. For subscription inquiries or orders contact Jawad Qasrawi on 0114 201 4265 or email sub@hazards.org

A number of case studies are included in the report, and several solicitors who have worked with the victims of workplace injuries and diseases are available for interview.

Britain’s top workplace health problems in order are: musculoskeletal disorders, stress depression and anxiety; breathing problems; hearing problems; and heart disease (source: HSE).

Workplace health problems most likely to result in common law compensation payouts in order are: Deafness, vibration white finger and lung diseases. These conditions together make up over three quarters of all common law settlements (source: ABI).

Workplace health problems most likely to receive DWP payouts in order are: Deafness, breathing problems, and vibration white finger. These together make up over half of all claims (source: DWP).

Occupational stress and related health problems including heart disease, depression and anxiety is one of Britain’s top occupational health problems. Occupational stress is not a government 'prescribed disease' so no DWP occupational disease payouts are available. Stress made up less than 0.5 per cent of all common law compensation settlements in 2003, the latest year for which figures are available.

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Press release (1,000 words) issued 20 May 2005