Need for Workplace Fund

17th Oct 2011

A fund of last resort for workplace injuries is urgently needed, James Burnett investigates.

Representatives of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers met the Minister for Welfare Reform, Lord Freud, to tell him that a fund of last resort for workplace injuries is urgently needed.

The government have still not provided a response to its consultation about the introduction of an Employers’ Liability Insurance Bureau (ELIB) despite it closing more than 15 Months ago.

The fund is particularly important for victims of industrial disease, such as workers who have been negligently exposed to asbestos, who are unable to trace their former employers’ insurers in order to bring valid claims.

The urgent need for the fund recently became heightened by the publication of a report by the Healthy & Safety Executive (HSE), the report predicts that the peak in the numbers of people expected to die from mesothelioma will be next year – 5 years earlier than expected.

The concern is that many asbestos victims are currently left with no recourse to the compensation which should at least give them some comfort in the last days of life.

Author: James Burnett, Partner (JamesB@bhplaw.co.uk)