In Ireland in 2008, a total of €31.4 million (£28 million) was paid out in employers’ liability insurance claims – almost half of which went to people injured while working in the construction and manufacturing industries, according to recent figures released by the Irish Personal Injuries Assessment Board.
The average payout worked out at around €32,000 (£28,700) per claim. The majority of the accident claims related to slip, trip, or fall incidents, and three-quarters of all the compensation payouts were made to male workers.
Claims by construction workers made up 28 per cent of the damages, while the manufacturing industry accounted for 20 per cent.
Patricia Byron, chief executive of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, said: “This review of 2008 employer liability awards provides a valuable insight into workplace accidents in Ireland, and specifically highlights the most significant causes of accidents and those sectors most at risk.
“This data will assist health and safety professionals in their risk assessment and enable them to focus scarce resources on the most critical areas. Significant steps have been taken in recent years across the economy to improve health and safety in the workplace, but vigilance must be constant. Cutting down on investment in a safe workplace can be an expensive false economy.”
The chief executive of the Irish Health and Safety Authority, Martin O’Halloran, also commented, saying: “Unsurprisingly, the awards reflect the types of accidents and injuries we see in our inspection activity every day. These accidents are foreseeable and preventable and I urge all employers to ensure they have the appropriate safety, health and welfare measures in place. Apart from the legal duties all employers have, it’s always far more cost-effective to prevent an accident happening in the first place than to deal with the consequences afterwards.”
In comparison, the amount of compensation awards made under employers’ liability insurance in the UK in 2008 was £1.3 billion.
According to the Association of British Insurers, the lead to a loss of £200 million, adding that the employers’ liability sector has only made a profit once in the last 10 years.
A spokesperson for the ABI explained that this was due to ever-increasing legal costs, which are often disproportionate in terms of the amounts of compensation paid out, and the fact that, as in most sectors, investment returns are not as high as before.
