COMPENSATION: WHAT PRICE ON YOUR LIFE?

NUM member Alun Finney, 55, has received a £105,000 payout from Energybuild Limited after a falling stone broke a vertebrae in his neck causing chronic pain and stiffness, forcing the collier take medical retirement.

Joseph Douglas, 66, has received £65,000 in damages after he was diagnosed with lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos while working for HH Robertson, where his job involved mixing asbestos with paint to be applied to asbestos roofing sheets.

Moulding engineer Geoffrey Loftus, 63, has secured a £95,000 out-of-court settlement after being forced to retire on medical grounds as a result of an injury at Robert McBride Ltd. The Unite member sustained a ruptured bicep as he tightened a bolt (page 15).

Firefighter David Frith, 48, has received a £280,000 payout after being knocked from his bike on his journey home from work. The FBU member secured the award via the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) untraced drivers scheme after the hit-and-run incident which left him with severe injuries to right knee, leading to his retirement from the fire service.

Steel fixer James Smith, 20, has received a £22,500 settlement from Century Reinforcement Services after two bundles of steel bars fell from a JCB, fracturing his ankle and ending his hopes of a career in semi-professional football.

Terry Howarth, 51, has been received £6,000 compensation payout after he developed noise induced hearing loss caused by power tool and engine noise exposure whilst working as a mechanic for North Western British Road Services Limited.

Machine operative Parlvin Moyo, 37, has received an out-of-court settlement of £42,500 after having to have two fingers amputated as a result of injuries sustained at Hydro Aluminium Extrusion Ltd. His glove was caught in a milling machine, severely crushing his hand.

Hazards 102 April-June 2008

GMB member Maureen Deighan, a home carer with Hillingdon council, has received a £4,000 payout after she slipped on a wet bathroom floor in a client’s home, sustaining hand, arm and back injuries.

Panel beater Michael Homan, 62, who suffered a serious wrist injury repairing a fire engine, has been awarded £135,000 in an out-of-court settlement with his former employer, Kent County Council. The Unite member’s hand was pulled into the shutter and crushed.

RAF aircraft technician Luke Morgan, 29, received a £6,000 payout from his former employer, the Defence Aviation Repair Agency (DARA). The Unite member suffered a hernia when twisted in an extremely awkward space during maintenance work on a Tornado.

GMB member Dinsuta Kanji has received almost £13,000 compensation after being injured at Katsouris Fresh Foods, owned by the giant Icelandic Bakkavör Group. She suffered a broken leg when a colleague slipped on spilt oil and collided with her, knocking her to the ground.

University of Manchester security guard Gerard Darlington, 48, has received a compensation payout of over £13,000 after suffering a broken collar bone and finger during a burglary in a campus launderette. The UNISON member was injured as he attempted to detain the burglar.

Dean Grice, a 24-year-old crack tester who had to give up his job after developing vibration-related carpal tunnel syndrome and white finger, has received a £30,000 payout. The Unite member was employed by MSI Forks Ltd, a firm making forks for forklift trucks.

GMB member Robert Llewellyn received £3,000 compensation from Cardiff County Council after the gardener developing vibration white finger (VWF) as a result of cutting grass with strimmers and mowers.

Delivery driver William Smith, 54, has received a £1,800 payout after developing irritant contact dermatitis caused by diesel. The Dawson Holdings plc employee and Unite member was splashed when filling his work van using a hand held nozzle.

Hazards 101 January - March 2008

UNISON member Amy Whitcombe, 26, who was injured when a large, heavy rubber door fell on top of her has been awarded damages of £5,350 from the manufacturer, B&B Industrial Doors Limited. The hospital clerical officer at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend sustained injuries to her knee and back.

Roofer Jim Kingshott, 57, has been awarded over £160,000 in compensation after developing the asbestos cancer mesothelioma. He was exposed while fitting roofs and ceilings for Doric Co Ltd, where he worked from 1968 to 1991.

Jockey Andrew Ball has received an £85,000 payout for an injury that put an end to his career. Mr Ball, whose leg was broken when he was kicked by a horse, was awarded the compensation from the insurers of trainer Heidi Sweeting.

Alan Gosling, 39, who developed noise-induced hearing loss, has received £6,500 compensation from surgical implants manufacturer Depuy International. The Unite member had worked as a fitter and polisher from 1996 to 2006.

Shopfitter Peter Nelson, 65, has been awarded a £12,000 compensation payout after he developed noise induced hearing loss whilst working for Plumb Furniture Systems Limited. He was exposed to noise from circular saws, routers, sledge hammers, brakers and drills.

Poorly training packaging worker Ian Brown, 25, has been awarded a £5,500 payout for a serious finger injury. The Unite member suffered the injury when his finger became trapped in a machine at Cardinal Packaging Ltd that had no protective guard.

Supermarket giant Tesco has agreed a £7,000 payout to Roger Child, 32, after he suffered severe neck and back injuries. The truck he was driving at a distribution centre was hit by a “Rollop”, a ride on vehicle.

Tesco worker Terry Finch has received a payout of nearly £4,000 after suffering a finger injury requiring stitches. The Unite member was in a warehouse unloading a lorry when he slipped on a wet, slippery surface.

Hazards 100 October-December 2007

Retired machine driver James Quinn, 68, has received a £1,750 out-of-court settlement for dermatitis first contracted at work. His job at Mone Brothers Civil Engineering Limited brought him into regular contact with diesel, hydraulic and engine oils, along with lubricant grease.

Newcastle metro operator NEXUS has failed in an attempt to block a £7,300 payout to ASLEF member and train driver Glyn Richardson. He suffered back and shoulder injuries while walking on track ballast as he escorted passengers from a broken down train.

PCS member Richard Wilmot has received a £10,000 payout from Chiltern Railways after he broke his right shoulder in an outside of work incident when he slipped on a wet floor at Marylebone station. The company had not repaired a leaking roof.

Sean Blanchard, 35, has been awarded £15,000 in an out-of-court settlement after suffering a serious workplace injury to his face which has resulted in permanent disfigurement. The inadequately trained Avery Berkel employee was repairing platform scales when lifting equipment failed and a lifting hook hit him in the face.

Construction firm Jarvis is to pay £8,000 damages to RMT member Eric Barker who suffered knee injuries when he tripped over a brake handle, exacerbating arthritis in the joint and causing his early retirement. The handle was jutting out into a walkway because there was no room in the storage compound.

Royal Mail worker Michael Cleary, 48, a member of Unite’s Amicus section, has received £15,000 compensation payout. He was standing on a scissor lift when he slipped into a gap between the bridge flap and a TNT lorry, sustaining injuries to his knee, back, chest and groin.

Malcolm Goddard, 60, a member of Unite’s Amicus section, has received a £4,000 compensation settlement for severe occupational deafness and tinnitus, a ringing in the ears. In 1972 he went to work at a Corus rolling mill which led to his noise induced hearing problems.

Hazards 99 July-September 2007

GMB member Vishal Gopaul, 32, has received a £32,000 payout after he suffered career ending injuries in a Securicor van smash. He was a rear seat passenger in the van when the driver lost control of the vehicle and it over-turned.

Artist Lois Matcham, 64, has secured £20,000 compensation for injuries sustained when she fell on wet pigeon excrement whilst walking under a railway bridge. She secured the damages with the support of her union UNISON, despite the injury not being work-related and her being a retired member.

An unnamed 35-year-old TGWU member has received a £10,000 payout from toiletries giant PZ Cussons after developing occupational dermatitis. He was required to wear latex gloves to protect his hands from workplace chemicals, but developed a serious skin reaction to the gloves.

Amicus member David Waring, a maintenance worker who slipped on oil and had his hand crushed in a machine while working for Automotive Applied Technologies, has received over £4,000 in an out-of-court settlement.

UNISON member Adele Dodd, a former secretary at Mersey Care NHS Trust, received a £70,000 payout after being forced by injury to leave on grounds of ill-health aged just 52. She was trying to push a rotating filing system which had been recently installed, but injured her back when the system jammed.

Glyn Atherton, 35, has received a £700,000 out-of-court settlement after developing psittacosis while working at Focus Do It All in Nottingham. He caught the occupational lung disease, which is similar to pneumonia, from a parrot belonging to Petworld, a pet store renting space on the premises.

PCS member John Burdett, a customer care officer working for Jobcentre Plus, has received an undisclosed sum after he tripped over trailing computer wires and suffered fractured ribs and other injuries to his neck, shoulders and arms.

Hazards 98 April-June 2007

Amicus member George Shimmans, who suffered career-ending back injuries on a ferry when travelling home after working away has been awarded £140,000. The electrical craftsman was medically retired after the incident on the Condor Ferries craft.

TGWU member Tony Green, a stock controller at Yuasa of Birmingham, has been awarded £1,200 after being temporarily affected by fumes when a package exposed to rain began to smoke, releasing highly toxic phosphine.

Michelle Campbell, 45, dying as a result of exposure to asbestos from her grandfather’s work clothing, has been awarded a £145,000 payout. Granddad Charles Frost was exposed to asbestos at Portsmouth dockyards.

GMB member Ian Mitchell, 41, who suffered a serious wrist injury in a workplace fall, has received £90,000 compensation. The fibreglass laminator at Condor Environmental plc was injured when ladders placed on an uneven floor collapsed.

Amicus member Donald Ford, who suffered a severe hand injury when cutting a steel barrel with an acetylene torch, leading to the amputation of a finger, has received a £100,000 payout from Langley Holdings plc.

UNISON member Neil Bartlett, 39, has secured nearly £2,000 in compensation following a road traffic accident outside of work hours. The highways maintenance officer from Swansea suffered whiplash and was off work for three days following the smash.

Amicus member Michael Jones, 63, an aircraft engineer at GE Engine Aircraft Services who developed career-ending vibration white finger (VWF) then carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) caused by vibration and repetitive work, has received a £20,000 compensation payout.

Amicus member Heather Harrop, 42, who became sick with stress and was forced to leave her job at Analytical Technology International after her boss Michael Richardson bombarded her with love notes and rigged up a CCTV camera to watch her at work, has been awarded £16,500 compensation.

Hazards 97 January - March 2007

Amargeet Singh Dahele, 52, a carpenter dying from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma, has been awarded damages of £400,000 from his former employer, Thomas Bates and Son Ltd.

UNISON member Morag Holtes, 49, who broke her arm in a work fall has been awarded £30,000. The social worker believes she caught her heel on a bulge in the stair carpet when she fell at Aberdeenshire Council offices.

UNISON member Eric Stonier, a butcher who developed occupational deafness and tinnitus working for a number of companies in Wakefield and Manchester, including Britt Broadbent and Louis C Edwards, has received a £5,000 compensation payout.

Amicus member David Richards, 58, has received a £5,500 payout for severe hearing loss and tinnitus caused by 35 years of noise exposure at the former St Gobain foundry in Risca, south Wales.

BECTU member Dave Williams has secured £4,000 in compensation following a road traffic accident on the M40. The studio rigger was awarded the payout thanks to support from BECTU’s free legal assistance scheme, even though the injury was not sustained at work.

City of London bank administrator Helen Green, 36, who was subjected to what a judge described as a “concerted campaign of bullying” by four women colleagues at Deutsche Bank Group Services (UK), has been awarded £817,000 damages over the treatment she endured, which led to two nervous breakdowns.

Melanie Garrod, 53, a member of health visitors’ union Amicus, has been awarded £140,000 compensation after being exposed to a “health-endangering” workload (see left). The High Court award was made after she suffered two breakdowns when North Devon Primary Care Trust failed to bring in temporary staff to cover for colleagues on sickness or maternity leave.

Hazards 96 October-December 2006

Community member Malcolm Hughes has received a £8,000 payout from Johnson Matthey after developing dermatitis caused by platinum exposure.

Amicus member Alan Arthur, 51, has been awarded an £77,178 payout from Lectroheat Industrial Heating Limited's after suffering a broken leg in an eight foot fall from a ladder. Amicus argued he should have been provided with either a longer ladder or a gantry.

NUJ member Andrea Osbourne, a Guardian newspaper night editor employed as a casual has been awarded £37,500 in an out-of-court settlement for repetitive strain injury (RSI). No risk assessment was carried out when she started the job and she was refused access to the company physio.

Adventure guide Brian Thomson, 38, left paraplegic after a trucked toppled on him, has been awarded £600,000 in an out-of-court settlement from Exodus Travel. He had not been provided adequate equipment and training to conduct an emergency repair.

Welder Wilson Graham, 52, who tripped over metal tubing and smashed his elbow, has been awarded £136,000 in damages from Richard Lawson Autologistics. He was made redundant 10 months after the accident and is now less employable as a result of the injury.

Barry Wallis, 47, has been awarded £7,500 compensation from Insituform Technologies Ltd for vibration white finger (VWF). He had not been warned of the health risks of using vibrating hand tools or provided with protective equipment.

The family of rail worker Nurani Kassim, 36, killed by a train near Purley Oaks station, has received £160,000 settlement from Primat Recruitment Ltd, Amec Rail Ltd and Network Rail Plc. The firms did not admit liability.

RAF dental nurse Lisa Furphy, 35, has been awarded £260,000 compensation after being invalided out of the service because of a potentially fatal allergy to latex gloves.

Community member Peter Leary received a £162,187 settlement from steel firm Firth Rixon Rings after developing the asbestos cancer mesothelioma, which was soon to kill him.

Hazards 95 July-September 2006

UNISON member Dean Gibbon, 51, been awarded £33,750 in compensation from Durham County Council. The youth centre worker injured his back putting away a deflated bouncy castle, but was accused by his employer of either faking or malingering.

Lift engineer Gary Smith, 40, who fell 150ft down a lift shaft at London's Canary Wharf, has been awarded almost £977,659 in an out-of-court settlement. Lift manufacturer Kone admitted liability, after it was agreed he had been working with unsafe equipment and the maintenance platform should have had a secondary braking system.

Robert Hopkinson, 45, has been awarded £47,000 in an out-of-court settlement after injuring his back at work. The driver for waste disposal company Onyx UK suffered the injury as a result of a defective vehicle seat.

Teacher Anna Mongey, 48, who quit her job at a Birmingham special school after being threatened by a thug while working, has been awarded a £330,000 out-of-court payout from Birmingham City Council. She was not hurt but was traumatised and never returned to her job.

David Simms, 37, a former factory worker who developed asthma after being exposed to workplace chemicals ethylenediamine, formaldehyde, phenol, xylene and boron trifluouride has been awarded £75,000 in damages from Wolverhampton-based Schenectady Europe Ltd.

Karen Sketchley, a print worker targeted for redundancy after winning compensation for a disabling strain injury has received a £45,000 payout for unfair dismissal. The Amicus member believed managers at the West Midlands printing company Cradley Print had never forgiven her for taking legal action over a decade ago after she developed a repetitive strain injury affecting her wrist.

Amicus member Kevin Noble, 52, has received an undisclosed sum from Northern Electric Plc after suffering cracked ribs in a 2003 fall from his company vehicle while trying to secure a ladder to its roof. The company had failed to provide a safety aid or required safety training.

Hazards 94, April-June 2006

Amicus member Jeff Smalley, 63, has been awarded £1,450,000 compensation settlement from James Maude and Company. The foundry worker has had his left arm amputated 20 years after his right arm was removed, both after developing Regional Complex Pain Syndrome following accidents at the firm.

Wayne Moore, 38, has been awarded £3.7m for a “very severe brain injury” sustained when he fell from a defective scaffold platform while working in Holland in 2000. SGB Holland BV, which supplied the scaffolding, agreed to the payout.

Lincolnshire horse trainer Sally Wilson, 50, paralysed from the waist down in a riding accident, has been awarded £1.5m. She fell when a mare reared. She sued the owners of the mare, who had failed to tell her an accident had left the horse in discomfort and prone to rearing up.

Margaret Gibbon has been awarded £120,000 compensation for the death of her husband Philip, who died aged 60 of the asbestos cancer mesothelioma. He had worked with asbestos without protection when employed as a shopfitter by Leeds firm William Nicholson and Son Limited.

Elizabeth King, 28, a masseuse who worked in Virgin Atlantic's Upper Class lounge at Heathrow has been awarded £109,000 in damages after developing RSI. The problem was triggered by an increase in passengers and staff shortages.

Amicus member Mike Gregg, 46, has been awarded an out-of-court settlement of £85,000 by Nissan as a result of a neck injury sustained at work. The machine operator was injured when attempting to push a stillage (storage frame) with a defective castor. The injury accelerated pre-existing degenerative changes in his neck, forcing his retirement on ill-health grounds.

UNISON member Alison Romback, nurse at Newquay's minor injuries unit, has been awarded an undisclosed sum after slipping on a wet floor and breaking her knee. Her legal team argued that the hospital was negligent in that too much water was used to mop the floor and there were no wet floor warnings.

Hazards 93, January-March 2006

Gladys Price, whose carpenter husband died after being exposed to asbestos dust at a jail, is to receive a six-figure out-of-court settlement from the Home Office. Barry Price, 67, died in 2002 from the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma, which he contracted through his job at Hewell Grange Prison in Redditch.

Factory worker Adrian Stewart, 32, whose arm was mangled in a moulding machine, has received damages of £250,000 from his employer, Daniel Montgomery and Son Ltd, of Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire.

UNISON member Corinne Clarke, 55, a nurse who suffered spinal problems and post traumatic stress disorder after being brutally attacked in 2000 by a psychiatric patient at London’s Springfield Hospital, has been awarded £17,013 from South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust.

Nursing assistant Douglas Phillips, 61, from Brecon, Powys has received an out-of-court settlement of £390,000 for multiple injuries sustained in a car smash when he was hit by the trailer of a McNiff Engineering lorry which had become detached. The UNISON member suffered serious lung, foot and head and psychological injuries as a result of the crash, as he travelled home after a night shift at Llandrindod Wells Hospital in December 1999.

TGWU member Malcolm Durdle has been awarded £9,500 in compensation after his leg was badly broken on Dorset farm when a cow slipped on him.

An unnamed TGWU member has been awarded out of court damages of £3,750 after tobacco smoke in Midlands pub caused a worsening of her asthma, leading to a coughing fit so violent it caused a hernia and damage to her pelvis.

An unnamed NASUWT member was awarded £150,000 compensation for respiratory disease caused by exposure to wood and MDF dust while working as a craft teacher at a Nottingham County Council school.

The family of nurse Rebecca Little have received £175,000 compensation from the Department of Health after she died aged 53 of mesothelioma caused by exposure to damaged asbestos in a London hospital.

Hazards 92, October-December 2005

Amicus member Sam Foster has been awarded over £140,000 in compensation from Belfast Telegraph Newspapers Ltd for stress-related ill-health, including a breakdown that forced him to leave work. Management ignored repeated complaints.

Catherine Brown has received a £140,000 payout form Corby Borough Council after the death of her husband, Robert, died aged 57 from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma. The Community member had been exposed to asbestos dust whilst working as a plasterer.

Gerald Read, 80, who is dying of mesothelioma, has been awarded a £90,000. The TGWU member worked as a scaffolder at the Esso oil refinery at Fawley from 1968 until he retired in 1981 and was exposed to asbestos lagging materials that fell onto scaffolding boards.

John Campbell, a worker with fish and chip firm Harry Ramsden's, has been awarded almost £50,000 in damages after suffering a severe ankle injury in a fall from an unsecured ladder. He had been ordered to hang a Christmas sign which weighed “the same as a small woman.”

Mary Costello, whose husband John died aged 58 of mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer, has been awarded £177,901 in compensation. John had been a maintenance worker at Buckingham Palace from 1970 to 1992.

Rosemary Panting, who emigrated to Australia with her husband Christopher in 1963, has received a £157,000 in an out-of-court settlement from British Rail after he died from mesothelioma in 2002. He worked as a coach finisher for British Rail as its Swindon works from 1954 until he emigrated.

Amicus member Victor Evans, a former Rolls Royce worker, has been paid £116,000 after developing mesothelioma. He had been exposed to asbestos from crumbling lagging in the Sunderland plant.

Firefighter Fred Smith has been awarded £12,500 for pleural plaques caused by asbestos exposure while employed by West Yorkshire Fire and Civil Defence Authority and Northumberland Council Council.

Hazards 91, July-September 2005

Actor Dean Collinson, 36, who suffered a hernia and back, rib and hip injuries while performing in the Andrew Lloyd Webber production of Whistle Down the Wind at London's Aldwych Theatre has received £7,500 compensation. He suffered a series of injuries due to lax safety standards.

Hod carrier Robert Cowley 47, from Billingham, has received an undisclosed sum in excess of £125,000 for pain and depression after falling from a work ladder. Solicitors representing his employer, Irvine Whitlock Ltd, originally offered just £18,000.

Machinist Neil Clover has been paid £45,000 compensation by High Speed and Carbide Ltd after his index finger on his dominant left hand was chopped off. He was demonstrating how to operate an industrial lathe when a face plate slipped and trapped his hand in a groove.

Bernadette Chouchene, a nurse at Bolton Royal Hospital, has received £144,000 in compensation after her allergy to latex gloves went untreated for years. Despite the allergy developing over nearly 10 years and regular visits to occupational health services, at no time did her employer provide her with alternative gloves.

Sheffield steelworker Martyn Bradwell has been awarded £50,000 compensation after his thumb was sliced off in a razor-blade making machine. He was forced to retire from his job at the Avesta steel plant because he could no longer grip properly.

Terry Tapley, whose wife Sylvie died aged 59 of asbestos cancer mesothelioma caused by her exposure as a little girl to asbestos on her father’s clothing, has received a £107,500 compensation payout. Sylvie’s father, William Harknett, used to work at the Central Asbestos Company Ltd in south east London, in the 1950s and early 60s where he ground and bagged blue asbestos.

Annie Little, who saw her shipyard worker son Ian Cruickshank die aged 52 from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma, has been awarded £10,000 damages. The compensation award was against the shipbuilders Fairfields, Upper Clyde Shipbuilders and Govan Shipyards.

Hazards 90, April-June 2005

A UCATT member who was badly injured when a falling metal object split his safety helmet has been awarded £320,000 compensation. He suffers short term memory loss, headaches and neck and shoulder pain and has been unable to resume work. His employer T McGee & Co and main contractor Mace had admitted liability.

Senior nurse and UNISON member Shelley Quantrill, who suffered a severe back injury lifting a hospital theatre table, has been awarded £29,739 compensation. No risk assessment was carried out on the task by her employer South Tyneside Health Care NHS Trust.

Railway worker Michael Smith, who was left needing 24-hour care after suffering severe multiple injuries to his chest and spine when he was hit by a freight train, has been awarded £1,000,025 in damages from his employer Welsh and Scottish Railway International Ltd.

TGWU member Vivienne House has received £7,000 compensation from her employer, poultry processor Daccenda, after suffering a finger injury.

UCATT member Andrew Pickles received almost £8,000 compensation from his employer South Hams District Council after suffering spine and neck muscle injuries when a workmate whose ladder snapped in half fell on him.

Self employed ceilings and partition fixer Michael Ashmore has been awarded £85,000 compensation by Tolent Construction, after injuring his knee cartilage and ligaments in an accident on a scaffold in January 2000.

Machinist Nigel Flint, who had been off work with work-related stress, has been awarded £1,640 compensation after successfully claiming his employer, Kigass Aero Components, had illegally reduced his sick pay.

Prospect has secured a six figure settlement from Southern Electric for the family of electrical engineer Andrew Fuller who suffered fatal burn injuries in a high voltage incident at an electricity substation.

Hazards 88, October-December 2004

ISTC member Chris Simmons has been awarded nearly £620,000 – more than 100 times the original award - in a case that went to the House of Lords. A fall at British Steel (now Corus) caused head injuries and led to a depressive disorder and exacerbated a skin condition. The union had contested an earlier award of £3,573.60 plus interest from the lower courts.

UNISON member Alison Dugmore, 37, has been awarded £354,000 after being forced to give up nursing in 1997 because of an allergy to the latex in surgical gloves (see left).

Deputy headteacher Diane Bradford, who worked at a Coventry school Our Lady of Assumption RC Primary, as received an out-of-court £200,000 stress payout from school’s governing body. The NASUWT member retired early on health grounds.

UCATT has secured over £1.6 million in compensation from Alfred McAlpine Homes for a joiner who can no longer walk following a fall from a roof. The unnamed joiner from Sheffield damaged his spinal column and neck in the fall at a Leeds building site in 1999.

The widow of a UCATT member who died from mesothelioma in 2001 after being exposed to asbestos fibres as an apprentice with J&J Seddons in Manchester between 1965 and 1970 has received a settlement of £214,908.

A UCATT member in his early 40s from has received £316,250 after being diagnosed with mesothelioma. Until he was forced to give up work in 1999, he worked for various construction companies in South Yorkshire.

Ex-lagger and GMB member Henry Smith has been awarded £110,000 in an out-of-court settlement after developing a terminal asbestos cancer.

Doncaster engineering worker and ISTC member Gordon Robson, whose hand was crushed as he tried to save workmates from injury, has been awarded a four-figure sum in damages. His union’s legal advisers said there “was a clear case of negligence on behalf of his employers, Polypipe.”

Hazards 87, July-September 2004

Special needs teacher Sharon Millward, who was physically assaulted by a pupil, has been awarded an estimated £250,000 in a High Court case. The attack at Thornbury House secure unit in Kidlington led to the NASUWT member suffering post-traumatic stress disorder that forced her to retire.

A social worker has received more than £200,000 in compensation from Swansea City and County Council after a vicious assault “which could have been avoided.” The UNISON member was attacked by a client in a Swansea social services office resulting in serious injuries and psychological trauma that meant she was not able to work again.

Hull City Council has paid out £35,000 to NATFHE member Phil Danielson, the former senior lecturer who was taken hostage for 44 hours by notorious prisoner Charles Bronson. Since the assault Danielson has suffered from severe post-traumatic stress disorder and has had three nervous breakdowns, putting an end to his teaching career.

Prospect has secured a damages award of £9,000 from the Ministry of Defence for former dockyard worker Ian Johnston who developed vibration white finger after regularly using vibrating tools.

Law Lords have awarded teacher Alan Barber £72,547 in damages against his employer, Somerset County Council. He was forced to retire on medical advice following a series of depressive illnesses that his union, NUT, said stemmed from overwork.

The widow of Corus steelworker and ISTC member Walter Foster Wills received a five-figure settlement for the death of her husband from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma.

Hartlepool Borough Council has paid out £36,000 to a UCATT member whose heel was fractured when a “failsafe” ladder with anti-slip “OD wheels” slipped.

Wetherald Painters has paid out £16,000 to a UCATT member from Leeds. The painter and decorator suffered a broken shoulder and wrist and elbow injuries when a ladder gave way.

Hazards 86, April-June 2004

UNISON member Jim Guthrie has received £285,000 compensation, one of the highest ever awards for a victim of mesothelioma still living. Mr Guthrie contracted mesothelioma after breathing asbestos fibres in his teens, as an apprentice joiner working for the St Cuthbert's Co-operative Society.

TGWU member Susan Harvey, injured trying to use a mobile hoist to move a disabled woman in her home, has been awarded nearly £20,000 damages. The care worker sued Walsall Council over its failure to carry out a proper risk assessment.

Maths teacher Aileen Gilmour, 62, has been awarded £55,000 compensation after slipping on a chip outside her school canteen. She strained knee ligaments in the fall at Mearns Castle High School, Newton Mearns, and was unable to return to work. The judge ruled that East Renfrewshire Council should have foreseen the risk and guarded against it.

Teacher Margaret Menzies, an NUT member bullied and harassed by her headteacher has been awarded £86,487 in damages and costs after developed a phobic disorder and depressive illness. She went on sick leave from her post at Chalgrove Primary School in Barnet, north London in January 2001 and was granted early retirement on health grounds the following September.

Former nurse Joyce Rowe who aggravated a spine condition while tending to a patient has been awarded a total of £47,621 compensation. She sued Gwynedd Community Health NHS Trust after suffering serious injuries in the December 1995 incident.

UCATT has secured £35,000 compensation for a 48-year-old joiner employed by Morrison Property Care who suffered shoulder injuries when the van he was travelling in collided with a car whose driver had lost control.

A Rotherham member of UCATT has received £4,750 from his employer Ben Bailey Homes after suffering arm and leg injuries caused by an exploding forklift tyre that also knocked him unconscious.

Hazards 85, January-March 2004

Equity member Suzy Barton, an aerial performer who fell 20 feet onto concrete at the Millennium Dome, has been awarded £510,000 in compensation from her employer, The Dream Engine. Her feet, pelvis, spine and wrist were all injured leaving her in constant pain and unable to perform.

Crane driver Derek Mayes was awarded £452,000 at the High Court after suffering severe head injuries during a botched lifting operation at Felixstowe docks.

Former railway worker James McKenna 42, who developed vibration white finger after years of using power tools has been awarded £212,829 damages. He was medically retired after 14 years working for British Rail and First Engineering.

Nurse and UNISON member Hilary Horsley has been awarded £23,000 in an out-of-court settlement after a trolley collapsed and she suffered neck, back and ear injuries whilst working at Sharoe Green Hospital in Preston.

GMB member Tracey Henworth has been awarded £4.35 million compensation after sustaining severe brain injuries in a road traffic accident when a lorry owned by George Hammond PLC struck the mini-bus in which she was travelling home from the works Christmas party.

NUJ member Mark Hayes, an editor at Quantum Business Media, has been awarded £95,000 compensation at an employment tribunal after being driven to a breakdown by overwork and bad management.

Usdaw member Mick McConnell was awarded £50,000 in damages after he sustained a serious back injury working as a warehouse operative for Sainsbury’s in Dartford, forcing him to retire.

Former Woolworths employee Roger Ricketts, 59, has received a “substantial” five figure sum after contracting the asbestos cancer mesothelioma, which he believes resulted from dust exposure during a major shop refit. The Usdaw member received the payout from Sun Alliance, Woolworths’ insurer.

A UCATT member working for Marley Davenport in Bradford has been awarded £50,000 following a fall from scaffolding that fractured both his heels.

A UCATT member and general operative working for John Laing in Birmingham has been awarded £110,000 after tripping and falling down stairs injuring his shoulder, leg and back.

Hazards 84, October-December 2003

Peter Bieliauskas, a boat builder at JL Pinder and Sons near Bromsgrove, has received £1 million in damages in a Birmingham High Court award, after suffering a fractured skull and severe brain trauma in a fall through a roof light.

Manchester City Council has agreed to pay £285,000 to the widow of electrical clerk of works Joseph Martin who died from the asbestos-related disease mesothelioma in 1998, aged 51. The council admitted it was liable for his "negligent exposure" to asbestos dust.

The families of GMB members Paul Stewart, Ronald Hill, Andrew Rodgers and Jeff Williams, killed when they fell 80 feet from a gantry while working on the M5 Avonmouth bridge in 1999, will share £1,372,500 compensation from Kvaerner Cleveland Bridge UK Ltd (now Yarm Road Ltd), Costain Ltd and Technitube Ltd.

Abbatoir worker and TGWU member Grahame White of Sturminster Newton, Dorset, received £19,500 after a calf injured his right hand.

Petrol station cashier and Usdaw member Edna Green received £85,000 compensation from Tesco following an explosion that left her suffering post traumatic stress disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder.

Following the £57,000 asthma award to Adam Purvis (Below), two more Jus-Rol, Berwick, workers have been awarded compensation after developing asthma from exposure to flour dust on the JusRol production line. Angela Reap and Tony Jackson, both Usdaw members, were each awarded £58,000 from Newcastle Crown Court.

The Court of Appeal has upheld a damages awarded against Newham Healthcare NHS Trust, which was ordered to pay £420,000 to nurse Angela Knott whose career was ended by a crippling back injury (Hazards 80).

An unnamed UCATT member, a 41-year-old employee of Amec Civil Engineering working as a banksman, received £35,000 after a fall in which he fractured and dislocated his shoulder.

Hazards 83, July-September 2003

Ex-bakery worker Adam Purvis has been awarded more than £57,000 in damages after he contracted occupational asthma when he worked for Berwick-based dough makers Jus-Rol. Mr Purvis, a member of the union Usdaw, had been exposed to flour dust when he worked on the production line at the factory during the 1990s.

The widow of Derbyshire entrepreneur Anthony Farmer has been awarded £4.37m compensation after her husband's death from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma.

A former British Rail employee, David Hill, 58, has been awarded £182,844 compensation after developing mesothelioma caused by exposure to asbestos while working as an apprentice coach fitter at British Rail in Swindon.

PCS member Sandra Hickinbotham received £100,000 in an out-of-court settlement from her ex-employer the Prison Service following the post-traumatic stress, regular flashbacks, panic attacks and depression suffered after unknowingly walking into a hostage taking training exercise.

Farmworker and TGWU member Paul Bartlett, from Shillingstone, Dorset, received £4,500 compensation from his employer after injuring his knee when falling through the first floor of a barn.

NASUWT member and schoolteacher Carol Harper has been awarded £44,650 damages from Staffordshire County Council after having to retire following a workplace slip on a chip.

Albany prison officer Ronald Johnson is to be paid compensation from the Home Office totalling more than £350,000 after suffering post traumatic stress and depressive illness caused by his counselling work treatment programme with sex-offenders.

Hazards 82, April-June 2003

ISTC member and former steelworker Christopher Simmons has had his compensation award of £3,500 increased to almost £500,000. He injured his head in a fall at British Steel's Clyde Bridge Works in Cambuslang, retiring due to ill-health.

Hospital worker Herbert Busby received £58,000 following an injury with a used sharp. The UNISON member experienced severe shock and trauma, exacerbated by the knowledge he was not immune to Hepatitis B.

Herdsman Michael Farley has been awarded £29,000 damages in a TGWU backed compensation claim after a pregnant cow crushed him. He suffered a severely displaced arm fracture and permanent nerve and tendon damage.

UNISON member Norman Thurrell, who lost his job as an ambulance worker following a serious occupational back injury caused defective equipment, has received £140,000 compensation from Greater Manchester Ambulance Service.

A GPMU member and printing machine assistant who will never work again after his hand was crushed has received a £650,000 compensation payout from Quebecor Printing (UK).

GPMU has secured £120,000 compensation for a member who was badly injured after falling backwards off a printing press at Acorn Web Offset Ltd.

A financial adviser for Pearl Assurance has obtained six-figure compensation for work-related stress. After routinely working 75 hours per week, the Amicus-MSF member suffered two nervous breakdowns.

A 26-year-old worker at South Marston Distribution Centre, a subsidiary of Honda Logistics, received almost £200,000 in compensation for head, memory, sensory, facial, back and knee injuries suffered when a metal cage struck him.

Fishing trawler worker Alexander Noble has received £340,000 damages from boat skipper, Cornelius de Boer, after the partial amputation of his leg following an accident at sea.

Winnie Farley, a bakery worker at Peter Hunt Bakery in Bolton, has received £3,000 compensation after she cut her hand badly on the frayed edge of a conveyor belt.

Hazards 81, January-March 2003

The daughter of Sydney Bailey who died from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma has received £80,000 compensation. Mr Bailey had been exposed to asbestos at Sheffield-based coach builder Craven Tasker.

Swansea teacher and NUT member Alan Powis, 53, has agreed to an out-of-court settlement of £230,000 from Neath Port Talbot council. He was bullied by his headteacher then fired, suffering a breakdown.

A member of physios' union CSP has been awarded £17,000 after developing a serious latex allergy as a result of using powdered latex gloves at work.

A UCATT member working in the Channel Tunnel Rail Link for subcontractor WPB was awarded £18,575 by an employment tribunal after being accused of being "a spy for Osama Bin Laden" by supervisors on the site. The Tribunal found he had suffered unlawful discrimination on the grounds of race awarding him £10,000 in damages and £8,000 for injury to feelings.

T&G member Susan Lane from Okeford Fitzpaine was awarded £5,000 after suffering a knee injury after slipping on a piece of chicken on the floor at work.

USDAW member Mohinder Bhania was awarded £30,000 after a truck with a faulty brake crushed his knee at Sainsbury's in Hertfordshire.

John Smith suffered multiple injuries causing him to retire when he was pushed down a flight of stairs by a shoplifter at the Tesco store in Poole where he worked as a security guard. The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority awarded the USDAW member £24,000.

Cheshunt Tesco worker and USDAW member Miriam Cox was awarded £7,000 in compensation after fracturing her tibia in a slip.

Rita Briggs was awarded £36,000 in compensation following a slip at her workplace Tesco at Northampton. The USDAW member suffered an injured arm and shoulder.

Hazards 80, October-December 2002

Sarah Miles, now 23, was struck by a van while doing a newspaper round at Five Ashes, Essex when she was just 14. Sarah was left confined to wheelchair. At the High Court damages of £1.75m were awarded. The case was taken against the van driver, his employers and Bucks Newsagents.

An NUT member in East Anglia has been awarded £50,000 in criminal damages after she suffered post-traumatic stress disorder following her witnessing a stabbing and a subsequent increase in workload at the school where she taught.

The Court of Appeal has ruled that the Post Office must pay a substantial five-figure sum in compensation to CWU member Maurice Young, who has suffered years of stress-related illness caused by “an ever-increasing” workload.

An FBU member received a settlement from the Fire Service of £250,000 after a work related road traffic accident left him suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.

Tesco worker Christine King, a member of the shopworkers’ union USDAW, has been awarded £1,000 in criminal injuries compensation after her thumb was “almost” broken in an assault.

Morrison’s supermarket checkout operator Margaret Hungate was awarded more than £6,000 after breaking her elbow in a fall at work. The USDAW member was off work for six months.

Following advice from her union USDAW, Tesco fishmonger Susan Smith received £30,000 in compensation after her arm was crushed in a workplace accident.

Norman Lackenby was awarded £55,000 in compensation after slipping on ice and injuring his back at work. The USDAW member couldn’t return to work, at ACC in Blaydon, for 19 months.

After slipping and injuring his back at work at the United Norwest’s Co-op distribution centre at Stoke on Trent, USDAW member Antony Kaye was awarded £20,000 in compensation.

Hazards 79, July-Setember 2002

Janet Watling, a member of actors' union Equity, received substantial compensation in an out-of-court settlement after breaking her pelvis in a fall from a theatre stage.

Student Greg Arde was awarded £2.4 million in damages after a factory forklift truck fell on him leaving him paraplegic. He suffered a crushed spine and head when the truck he was driving toppled over in April 1995 at stationery company Duel Ltd, based in Cwmbran, Wales. Duel Ltd accepted 90 per cent liability for the accident.

Reuters news agency has paid NUJ member Helen Williams nearly £20,000 in compensation for the sexual harassment from a senior male colleague that left her stressed and suffering from panic attacks. She finally quit her job and brought the NUJ-backed case.

Power station worker Malcolm Hampson, employed by CEGB and latterly British Energy, received a £13,000 settlement for an occupational deafness claim brought with the help of his union Prospect EMA Sector.

AEEU member Jarwaid Khan received £93,000 compensation from London Underground (now Infraco Jubilee Northern) for the racial discrimination that left him suffering from stress. Part of the award for the lead fitter of 23 years is to provide counselling and assistance to help him return to work.

Damages topped £1.5million in the case of 18 postal workers involved in a fatal rail crash near Stafford six years ago. Sorter John Thomson died instantly and 17 colleagues were injured when their Birmingham-Glasgow Post Office train collided with a derailed freight carriage.

A teacher attacked by a dangerous teenager at a special school has won £190,000 High Court damages. NASUWT member Judith Waugh, 53, suffered severe psychiatric problems and took early retirement on health grounds.

Hazards 78, April-June 2002

Farmworker, John Cook has been awarded £3 million compensation by Newcastle High Court for injuries sustained in a roof fall at Cheesbrough’s farm in Heddon-On-The-Wall, Tyneside. Mr Cook suffered a fractured skull and will require care and treatment for the rest of his life.

Postal worker and CWU member Janice Gibson has received £5,000 in damages from her employer the Post Office after aggravating a shoulder injury carrying postal bags that she had complained were too heavy.

Chronic arthritis sufferer Sheila Pryterch was forced to leave her Whitbread pub cleaning job when her employer stopped her flexible hours. She took legal action for disability discrimination and won £9,500 in an out-of-court settlement.

Channel tunnel worker Michael Totty, whose head was crushed by a crane leaving him with horrific head and neck injuries, has won £425,000 damages from Translink Joint Venture at London’s High Court.

Worksop window fitter John Colley has been awarded £100,000 from his employer Anglian Windows of Sheffield for the injuries that left him with a serious disability and constant pain after a ladder fall.

Rosemary Newton, a nurse whose career was wrecked by an allergy to latex, has received a six figure out-of-court settlement from employer, Leeds Teaching NHS Trust.

An ISTC member who suffered a serious head injury when working as a rigger at Port Talbot Steelworks has received £495,000 in an out-of-court settlement from Corus.

T&G member Alison Meaker, who was sacked after slipping a disc at work, has received £125,000 compensation. She worked as a polisher at an engineering firm in Devon.

T&G member Ray Tyler received compensation of £238,000 from Alcan Rolled Products in Rogerstone, South Wales after receiving serious injuries when a metal coil fell on him.

Hazards 77, January-March 2002

AEEU member Mark Hamilton, 33, was awarded £1.4 million after being crushed by a machine at a Lucas Industries car brake plant, leaving him requiring 24 hour care for the rest of his life.

UNISON member and former council road worker David Bradbury has been awarded £150,000 Birmingham City Council after his feet were burned on molten tar triggering health problems including blood poisoning and kidney failure. The council was found to have acted negligently in withdrawing standard issue safety boots.

Rover has made an out-of-court payment of £168,000 to Brian Odell whose bladder and prostate were removed due to a cancer he believes he contracted from mineral oils used at the Rover plant in Birmingham.

UNISON member and former social worker Thelma Conway received £140,000 compensation from Worcestershire County Council for a stress related illness.

A UNISON member, home care worker Karen Martin, injured after slipping on wet laundry, has been awarded more than £200,000 compensation from Newcastle City Council.

Bullied primary school teacher and NASUWT member Christine Browell who claimed she was bullied by her headmistress has won a £100,000 out-of-court payout Northumberland County Council.

Woodwork teacher and NASUWT member Eric McCreery got £200,000 from Cardiff City Council in an out of court settlement after he suffered from allergic rhinitis and asthma which he said was due to 10 years of exposure to wood dust in workshops.

Nurse Jane Witham, who had a mental breakdown because of stress and overwork in the aftermath of a traumatic pregnancy, has won £140,000 compensation from her employer, Hastings and Rother NHS Trust.

Hazards 76, October-December 2001

BT engineer Garth Hallen, severely injured by a reckless car driver whilst cycling home from work, has been awarded £1.44 million in an out-of-court settlement backed by his union, CWU. The car driver was fined £120 with £30 costs, and received six penalty points on his licence.

Cable and Wireless employee Jeff Long, subjected by a supervisor to sustained bullying so severe it led to a nervous breakdown, has been awarded compensation of £325,000.

GMB member Peter Doyle has been awarded £10,000 from Pentos Office Furniture plc after being unfairly dismissed while suffering from fibromyalgia.

Former lock worker Jean Forrest has been awarded £1.3 million in a case backed by her union, NULMW, after being knocked down on a pelican crossing when returning to work.

NATFHE member and ex-prison lecturer Phil Danielson received £65,000 from the Home Office for stress-related injuries caused when taken hostage by notorious prisoner Charles Bronson.

Goalkeeper Andy Dibble has been awarded £20,000 from Carmarthen Town Council, owners of the ground where he suffered horrific burns from pitch markings. The case was backed by his union, the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA).

Paul Warf has received £500,000 for brain injuries sustained in an eight foot ladder fall while employed by Bildwell Insulations, Pakenham.

Prison officers Geoffrey Mundell and Barry Bibgy have received out-of-court settlements from the Prison Service after suffering post traumatic stress disorder from counselling sex offenders.

Carmel Commons, formerly a nurse at Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, has been awarded £345,000 for back injuries caused by the repetitive strain of moving patients.

UNISON has won £51,414 for Janet Melling and £60,348 for Jean Chadwick for the stress from work as Cumbria County Council day service officers.

Hazards 75, July-September 2001

The widow of a UCATT member received £211,000 after her husband died of asbestos cancer mesothelioma.

The widow of another UCATT member who died from mesothelioma received £76,061.

UNIFI member Emma Jones was awarded £3,700 for the whiplash she suffered in a car accident returning from a Barclays training day.

A stationery room slip led to an award of £5,000 for UNIFI member Satpal Hanspal. The Lloyds TSB cashier is off sick and in constant pain four years after damaging her arm and wrist.

A UCATT bricklayer whose pelvis was smashed in a scaffold collapse has been awarded £244,000. Main contractor Mowlem denied liability but a judge ruled the accident was entirely their fault.

An ISTC member who suffered a leg fracture at Unsco Steels leaving him with a permanent disability was awarded £100,000 in an out-of-court settlement.

Gloucestershire primary teacher Margaret Hogan was awarded £14,200 after an employment tribunal supported the NUT member's claim of constructive dismissal after being bullied, humiliated and lied to by the headteacher.

Tesco checkout operator and UCATT member Valerie Penny was awarded £30,000 after breaking her hip in a slip at work.

Somerset teacher Alan Barber was awarded £100,000 after a brusque, autocratic and bullying head caused him to retire, suffering from depression. Somerset County Council was ordered to pay damages plus costs.

Wigan and Leigh college lecturer Mubina Bhimji was awarded £1,000 compensation by an employment tribunal. It found the college guilty of race and sex discrimination for failing to protect her from abuse from students and injury to feelings.

Hazards 75, April-June 2001

An unnamed IPMS member was awarded a six-figure sum in compensation for the stress he suffered working for the UK Atomic Energy Authority at Dounreay.

UNISON member Diane Chambers received a £100,000 settlement after developing severe eczema from the use of latex gloves. She had to give up her staff nursing post at the Cardiff Royal Infirmary.

Teacher Jan Howell received £254,362 in an out-of-court settlement from Newport County Borough Council after suffering two career-ending stress-related breakdowns. Her union NASUWT believes it is the highest award to a teacher.

John Naylor, who worked as a coach finisher at Cravens, Sheffield, has been awarded £28,500 in compensation after contracting asbestosis.

CWU member Bob Rowlands has received £50,000 in an out-of-court settlement from his employers Parcelforce South after he sustained back injuries in a road traffic accident.

UCATT has secured £365,000 for an unnamed building worker after a fall led to his leg having to be amputated. His employer, H&D Dickinson, and a contractor, JD Insulations, paid up after the union took up the case.

An unnamed UNIFI member received £60,000 following a slip on a wet toilet floor at her workplace, a major retail bank in the north west. Both the bank and the cleaning company were sued.

NatWest employee and UNIFI member Susan Macey was awarded compensation of £20,000 after the trauma of a bank robbery and the lack of support from her employers led to extreme stress and panic attacks causing her to take medical retirement.

Birmingham City Council has paid former school cook and UNISON member Mary Watkin £200,000 in compensation after asthma caused by exposure to flour caused her to give up her job.

Hazards 73, January- March 2001

A member of the construction union UCATT has been awarded £16,500 for burns to his hands resulting from handling treated timber on a John Laing's site.

An NUT member employed at a special school has been awarded £50,000 after a back injury. She had previously warned that her pre-existing back problems meant the job was unsuitable.

Bison Concrete Limited have paid a T&G member £100,000 plus benefits of £15,000 after he sustained serious injuries in a fall from an unprotected scaffold.

A bus driver and T&G member received £150,000 in compensation after a road accident left him with serious injuries and post traumatic stress disorder.

A member of the firefighters' union FBU has received £900,000 following a fall from a fire appliance. He suffered serious injuries including brain damage.

Steelworkers' union ISTC secured £175,000 from Lee Smith Wires Ltd for a member who suffered a serious hand injury leading to amputation of three fingers.

Stress victim Barry Willans was awarded £55,000. He claimed his ill-health was caused by increasing workload.

Eight former North West Water workers have been paid a total of £1.2 million compensation for vibration white finger. The GMB members all used road breaking pneumatic tools and had to retire early because of their condition.

Poor workplace ergonomics contributed to career-ending neck injuries sustained by textile designer Iona Hotchkiss. She was awarded £538,000 damages.

Communication Workers' Union (CWU) member Mick Sinden has been awarded £432,000 damages for injuries sustained in a fall from a British Telecom van - 13 years after the accident occurred.

Former Lloyds TSB worker Tony North was awarded more than £100,000 in an out-of-court settlement after suffering "intolerable" stress at work leading to a nervous breakdown.

Hazards 72, October/December 2000

The family of a consultant plastic surgeon, James Emerson, who died age 47 of the asbestos cancer mesothelioma, has been awarded £1.15m from Camden and Islington Health Authority. Dr Emerson had been exposed to damaged asbestos pipe lagging as a medical student and junior doctor.

An unnamed bullied teacher and NUT member who suffered a complete nervous breakdown received £300,000 for stress induced illness that left him unable to work.

CWU member and British Telecom employee Kim Gibson has won an industrial tribunal hearing finding BT guilty of contravening the Disability Discrimination Act. Ms Gibson was repeatedly threatened with the sack as she battled against Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome (ME) and felt that she had no option but to quit.

An employment tribunal has ordered British Telecom to pay Nathan Lee £129,000 compensation. The CWU member gave up his BT job after racial abuse left him contemplating suicide.

Fiona Conalty was awarded £243,792 by Barclays Bank after she developed RSI after over two years of keyboard work at a defective workstation.

Barclays Bank has also paid out £150,000 to clerical worker Liz Wood. The UNIFI member had to have a leg amputated after falling on an uneven path.

Fostina Brobbey, a theatre nurse and UNISON member, was awarded £157,000 damages after she developed asthma caused by exposure to glutaraldehyde, used to sterilise equipment.

Fiona Clark, a Metropolitan Police clerk, received £384,000 for a back injury sustained at work. She had not been given any manual handling training and there had been no risk assessment.

Metropolitan Police analyst Sarah Locker received a £215,000 payout from the Met in an out-of-court settlement for the racial and sexual discrimination she said led to her suffering a breakdown.

Hazards 71, July-September 2000