Pay-outs for injuries to council employees

SLIPS, trips and falls have resulted in Oldham Council paying out £3 million to staff in compensation claims.

The council made the pay-outs to 152 staff over the past five years in work-related accidents.

It was one of 13 local authorities forced to pay over £1 million in compensation to staff after admitting liability for accidents.

The biggest payments by Oldham Council, which include total costs and legal fees, were all for back injuries — £195,140 was paid out last year (2010-11), £128,896 in 2006-07, and £117, 940 in 2007-08.

It came second only to Birmingham City Council which topped the table after paying out £4.9 million in 274 settlements during the same period.

Claims across all local authorities which responded to a Freedom of Information request included serious assaults and injuries, trips and falls, and assaults on teachers.

Others included:

l Lancashire County Council paid £5,500 to an employee who fell out of bed and injured their back while answering a phone call from work.

l Lewisham Council paid nearly £6,000 to an employee who broke their wrist when they fell over during a demonstration on a first-aid course

l Birmingham Council awarded £1,750 to an obese staff member who was injured when using a defective toilet unsuitable for a very heavy employee.

Some of the biggest payments were for people who had developed mesothelioma — a malignant tumour of the chest cavity, common in people exposed to asbestos dust — but none of these were by Oldham Council.

Councillor Abdul Jabbar, cabinet member for finance and resources, said: “Like most local authorities, Oldham Council has a policy with an external insurance company to cover the risks of injury at work — they independently investigate and handle these claims on our behalf.

“This data — from 2006 to date — relates to claims settled within a three-year period and which will have arisen in earlier years.

“Of the payments made a substantial proportion will relate to claimants’ legal costs, which the council is obliged to pay in any claims it agrees to settle.”