The EIS teaching union has revealed details of nearly £300,000 of awards made to members injured or assaulted at work over the past year.
The biggest settlement was for £130,000 after an assault claim.
The EIS member was struck on the head by a stone deliberately thrown by a pupil, suffering a head injury that caused a brain bleed, impaired vision and headaches, and was absent from work for nine months.
EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley said: “All teachers and lecturers deserve a safe place in which to work. Employers have a duty of care to their employees, and must take all possible steps to ensure a safe working environment.
“The settlements secured by the EIS, in cases where the employer has failed in their duty of care, offer some compensation to our members who have been injured or assaulted at work.”
The only other assault claim led to a £10,597 award made to a member who had been “called upon by a colleague to help assist with a pupil”; the pupil attacked the EIS member, causing head and knee injuries.
The most frequent cause of injury continues to be accidents caused by slips and trips. The total of £295,597 awarded to EIS members in 2022 includes seven accident claims as well as the two assault claims.
The largest of the accident-related settlements was £45,000: when the member left work early because of bad weather, a gate or barrier in their car park fell through the car’s windscreen and struck their head, causing a jaw fracture and leading to stitches for a head wound.
Another person was awarded £40,000 when, while walking to the classroom, their foot slid and they landed heavily, resulting in a broken coccyx.
Other 2022 settlements:
- EIS member fell and sustained injuries to knee, shoulder and neck, and was left with mobility issues (£25,000).
- Member slipped on black ice, breaking ankle in two places (£15,000).
- Member slipped on wet vinyl floor after heavy rain, suffering a double closed fracture of the tibia and fibula (£13,500).
- Member tripped over a large boulder, only realising afterwards that it was cemented into the ground, suffering a fractured left elbow and sprain to right hand (£8,000).
- Member was walking and slipped in the school car park, which had not been gritted, and sustained head injuries (£3,000).
Ms Bradley said: “While the EIS will always be diligent in pursuing appropriate compensation for our members, our clear preference would be for this area of our work to be unnecessary. If workplaces are properly maintained and safe, the chances of any employee suffering injury are substantially reduced.
“All employers must treat the health and safety of their employees as a priority, so that injuries to employees - and costly financial settlements - can be avoided. It is in everyone’s best interests for our schools, colleges and universities to be safe places to work and to study.”
Ms Bradley added: “The settlements that the EIS has secured for its members are to compensate them for the impact of their injury - including pain and suffering, loss of earnings and future losses. Every case is calculated with the aim of restoring members to the position they were in before they were injured at work.
“No one wants to be in a position where they are claiming compensation of this type but, where our members are injured through no fault of their own, it is right that appropriate settlements are pursued and achieved.”
