From the teacher who got two black eyes after being hit in the face with a ball, to the teacher hit by a pupil with a plastic chair, hundreds of thousands of pounds’ worth of compensation payments were made to school staff in Scotland this year, following injuries caused by accident, assault and poor working conditions.
In total, almost £230,000 in compensation was awarded in 2018 to members of the EIS teaching union, with the largest payout of £50,000 going to a teacher who was signed off work with work-related stress and depression and who eventually resigned.
Another teacher received £5,309 after being hit by a pupil with a plastic chair after intervening to protect other children, and a third teacher received £750 after being told to supervise a school activity that resulted in them being hit in the face with a ball and suffering injury to their nose and black eyes.
However, the most common causes of injury were “slips, trips and falls”, with one teacher receiving £20,000 after tripping over a rug, falling heavily and having to undergo surgery.
The total for 2018 is significantly lower than last year when more than £450,000 was paid out to EIS members.
EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan said it was the union’s hope that eventually there will be no need for compensation “owing to the elimination of these types of work-related injuries”.
Teacher compensation claims
However, he warned that post-Brexit some of the protection UK workers currently enjoyed “may well come under attack from the UK government” and in the future teachers might, therefore, find it harder to make claims.
Mr Flanagan said: “The decrease in compensation settlements in 2018, compared to the previous year, marks an improvement in the safety of Scotland’s educational establishments; however, there is still a long way to go towards the aim of eliminating workplace injuries in our schools, colleges and universities altogether.”
Mr Flanagan also expressed concern on possible Brexit-related changes to health and safety legislation in the near future and said: “Many valuable workplace protections that we enjoy today are the result of EU legislation.
“Once the UK has left the EU, these protections may well come under attack from the UK government.”
Earlier this year, new compensation data published by teaching unions in England showed that their members had been awarded millions in compensation.
One of the highest payouts was a settlement of almost £250,000 given to a teacher in the Eastern region of England, who lost her balance and fell while using a table and chair to put up a display by her class.
