Compensation gains


The £600,000 in compensation secured by the Scottish education union EIS last year demonstrates that “there is still a long way to go towards the aim of eliminating injuries in our schools, colleges and universities” said the union’s general secretary Larry Flanagan. 


Dismissing notions of a “compensation culture” he said that costly medical and legal bills would not be incurred if insurance companies admitted liability sooner. He pointed out that the most common causes of injuries are “entirely avoidable” slips, trips and falls and he also reported an “alarming rise” in the number of work-related stress illness and injury claims over the past few years.


He said that sickness absence management triggers were compounding the problem, with many teachers returning to work, when they clearly should still be off sick, for fear of being disciplined.


“Factors such as budget cuts, and the declining number of teaching and support staff have had a significant impact on the workload demands placed on teachers and lecturers,” he added.

www.eis.org.uk/public.asp?id=3510&dbase=2