Injured teachers paid £18 million in compensation last year
Last year over £18 million was paid out by schools to teachers that were the victims of injury, discrimination, or bullying.
Payouts for injuries are at record levels, with school staff members being awarded more compensation for accidents and employment disputes than ever before.
Figures from the National Union of Teachers show that 16 teachers received compensation for accidents like tripping over classroom chair legs or slipping on wet floors and food left in corridors.
One such claimant was a teacher in a Kent school who was awarded almost a quarter of a million pounds after a box of paper fell on her head from the stationery cupboard.
Another teacher slipped on ice in the school car park, leading to a fractured wrist. As grit had not been laid down successfully the victim was awarded £8,500.
Claims like these lead to the amount of compensation being paid out to teachers for personal injury to exceed £18million, a figure greater than that of compensation awarded in cases of criminal assault.
The majority of the compensation payments have been made by the schools and local education authorities that employ the teachers.
Schools have fallen under criticism for failing to carry out their responsibilities with regard to the health and welfare of staff. A spokesperson for the NASUWT Teachers Union “Millions of pounds of public money is being paid out to people who quite rightly deserve that compensation, but are for incidents that could have been preventable.”