Rotherham council workers' £26,000 for chair falls

A teacher, carer, admin assistant and weed sprayer each won between £2,000 and £10,600 following their mishaps.

These were just a few of the payouts revealed by figures obtained by the Advertiser, which show that Rotherham Borough Council has paid out nearly £1 million to its own staff since 2007.

There was a £14,452 claim in 2010 after a 53-year-old female admin officer tripped over a ‘protruding’ dining table leg.

Claims by council employees have cost ratepayers £193,558 a year on average over the past five years.

Robert Oxley, campaign manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Rotherham Council must cut down on the number and cost of avoidable accidents.

“Taxpayers should not be footing the bill for cases where a bit of common sense would have avoided the accident.”

Deputy council leader Cllr Jahangir Akhtar said: “The council prides itself on its risk assessment and health and safety policies and continues to invest in this area to maintain our good record and ensure the welfare and safety of our employees.

“Examples of work being done include robust training processes for staff and raising awareness of the potential risks in the workplace.

“Our efforts have resulted in year on year decreases in the number of individually reported incidents in the four years between 2007 and 2010, which has also ensured that the annual sums paid out have decreased significantly.”

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