10:15am UK, Friday December 31, 2004

Members of the UK's largest union won a record £37m in compensation this year for injuries at work, figures have shown.Unison netted £37,388,262 for members injured in the workplace, a rise of £3m on the previous year, the public services union revealed.

Dave Prentis

It said that common problems in the workplace included broken bones, asthma or allergies caused by prolonged exposure to chemicals.

Others included repetitive strain injury, back, head neck and stress-related injuries, and cancer due to asbestos exposure.

General Secretary Dave Prentis said: "This £37m compensation represents an awful lot of pain, injury and suffering for a lot of Unison members.

"Ask any one of them to choose between the compensation or their health, each would choose not to have been injured in the first place."

He called on employers to take their responsibility for the health and safety for their staff seriously, and take steps to prevent accidents in the workplace.

The highest compensation figure was in the South East, where almost £4.7m was won by the union for its members, and the North West, where a total of £4.4m was awarded.