Safety call after teacher payouts

Schools must have a health and safety policy and ensure staff understand

A teachers' union wants health and safety rules reviewed after winning hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation for three members.

A special needs teacher in south Wales won £250,000 for back injuries, and a craft teacher in Lancashire £130,000 for asthma caused by wood dust.

A Bristol reading tutor was awarded £14,000 after a bookshelf fell on her.

Their union, the NASUWT, said guidelines on working conditions had not been clear.

'Cold comfort'

Its general secretary, Chris Keates, said: "How many more teachers will have to become too ill to work and their expertise be lost to the profession before all employers take their responsibility for the welfare of their employees seriously?"

"Compensation is cold comfort when you can no longer do the job you loved and your health is damaged."

The union declined to name the teachers or schools involved.

A spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills said it placed great importance on the health, safety and well-being of the school workforce.

"We continue to work closely with the Health and Safety Executive on disseminating good management practice and are committed to supporting employers in providing safe and appropriate working conditions."

The compensation awards will have come from schools' insurers, rather than out of their normal budgets.

The NASUWT advises its members to avoid taking children on school trips - for fear of being sued if things go wrong.

Renewing its guidance last year, it said: "In an increasingly litigious society which no longer appears to accept the concept of a genuine accident, our first responsibility must be to protect our members' interests."