More Information on Industrial Injury Claims
A distinct category of financial relief exists for industrial injuries and diseases which result in total or partial disability. The Goverment runs a scheme called the Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit which is paid to workers who have suffered a degree of disability following an industrial accident, or who have contracted one of 70 prescribed diseases in the course of their employment. These diseases include all the most common types of industrial disease such as asbestosis, mesothelioma, asthma, dermatitis, vibration white finger, certain type of repetitive strain injury and hearing loss, as well as a range of lesser known diseases.
The important distinction between eligibility requirements for this benefit, and the burden of proof required in an industrial injury claim, is that in the former case the injured party does not have to prove liability on the part of their employer. Once an injury or disease is diagnosed and known to be work related, no blame is attached to the employer, or judgment required as to whether the injury was preventable; rather it is assumed that the job itself was inherently dangerous. The only criteria that need to be assessed therefore is the level of disability sustained by the injured party Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit can be reassessed if an injured person’s condition worsens, and is not based on NI contributions or via means testing. It should however be noted that self-employed workers and trainees are not eligible to receive the benefit.
To access Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit the injured person must have their percentage degree of disability medically assessed at 14% or more. There are exceptions to this rule however; for work related hearing loss the degree of disability must be 20% or more, while for certain respiratory disorders the percentage can be as low as 1%. The amount of benefit paid under the scheme is directly proportional to the percentage degree of disability. With a physical injury the level of disability is assessed according to specified criteria. The loss of an index finger for example is rated as 14% disability, while the loss of one hand is normally assessed as 60% disability.
The criteria for receiving Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit are completely different to those required for a successful industrial injury claim against an employer, which is based on fault. In the latter case the claimant make allegations of negligence and breach of statutory duty to the defendant (the employer), and they will then have to prove that they were not at fault. In cases of hearing loss for example, the employer would have to provide noise surveys to prove that the noise was below a certain level. So the burden is on the defendant to provide rebuttal evidence. Persons receiving Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit are in no way precluded from also making an industrial injury claim against their current or former employer. The medical assessment required for receipt of the benefit would indeed prove helpful in diagnosing the exact nature of the industrial injury or disease, and hence progressing the claim.
More Information on Industrial Injury Claims
