Yesterday it was reported that Kelly Jones has withdrawn her claim for compensation. You may recall that in April the WPC was pilloried in the media for submitting a claim against the owner of a petrol station when she tripped up and was injured on the forecourt. At the time it was extensively publicised as yet another example of the ‘compensation culture gone mad’. Funnily enough there was very little publicity about her withdrawing the case yesterday; perhaps there was no case to answer. By coincidence there was also a report yesterday which didn’t get much publicity either. It could have been classified in the ‘compensation culture as normal’ group. Apparently 2,000 workers at Harland and Wolff shipyard, in Northern Ireland, who were employed before the yard was privatised in 1989, have received around £60 million in compensation for asbestos related diseases. It is likely that in some cases it will have been the respective worker’s family that were paid, as the individuals themselves would be dead. The Department of Enterprise in Northern Ireland anticipate that it will pay out another £89 million for people yet to be diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases: with claims expected to continue up till the year 2040. The total compensation bill is anticipated to be around £150 million. The myth gets publicity and reality is invisible. [The number of compensation claim settlements under Employer Liability insurance has plummeted by 57% in the last 6 years.] Of course it will soon cost workers significant amounts of cash to even start a claim, courtesy of the Government’s Red Tape Fallacy initiative. This move – apparently - will prevent the collapse of the UK Employer Liability insurance sector, thus securing bonuses for many impoverished executives – allegedly. Cheers. Nigel

Nigel. My thanks too.

Thanks for the update.. Btw I am in a union as I feel we have politicians who will not support employees against employers

NigelB I have no doubt that your intentions are excellent yet I regret that you have fallen into the trap of simply adopting the same ploy as those whose motives you challenge. Instead of relying on descriptive statistics from third parties, the safety profession would increase its credibility if its members used tools of statistical analysis, such as structural equation modelling, to test models of 'compensation culture' and determine the level of validity they may or may not have. In principle, a fair culture, at work and in society, includes compensating anyone for avoidable injury. It is a mark of professional knowhow to apply available statistical methods to argue the case rather than simply rely on rhetorical exchanges which have, since the time of Socrates, been biased in favour of those intent on abusing power. Statistical analysis is also more effective than as you can check by reading the material published by OSH professionals in other countries (e.g. research published on burnout by researchers in the Netherlands) as well as the material used by trade union negotiators in Germany and Sweden.

What's this story about a collapse of the Employers' Liability insurance market? Who is saying that? Are they suggesting that some of the UK's major insurance companies are going to be driven to the wall by problems with EL insurance? And think about this: EL is a compulsory class of insurance. If an insurer pulls out of the EL market and doesn't offer it to potential policyholders do you think that the insurer will get a chance to quote on any of their other business? No chance....! EL is - 99 times of out 100 - wrapped up with Public Liability, Fire, Theft etc etc. Where do these strange stories come from? Phil

Many thanks Nigel - excellent info'.... as always.