The employers' organisation IBEC has angrily rejected suggestions that Irish employers are negligent when it comes to accident prevention and cites EU figures indicating that Ireland has the lowest accident frequency in Europe.
According to IBEC health and safety executive Mr Paul Kelly, the EU statistics show that Ireland has 852 accidents per 100,000 at work involving absences of more than three days compared to the European average of 4,539 per 100,000.
But Mr Kelly says that the "claims culture" in Ireland is a major problem. "While the number of accidents in Ireland is low, the number of compensation claims is extremely high. Compared for example with our nearest neighbour, the UK, we have substantially lower accidents but our ratio of compensation claims to accidents is over twice the UK average."
Mr Kelly said personal injury claims at present cost Irish business over £400 million, with legal fees accounting for over a quarter of that total. "Many companies are now stating that insurance costs can account for up to 10 per cent of payroll and are almost three times the UK equivalent and seven times the cost in Holland."
