Written by In 2011, a total of £650,000 was paid out to teachers in Scottish schools who had made a successful workplace injury claim.*
Out of this total, a quarter of a million pounds was paid out to just one teacher who had suffered a “stress-related psychiatric injury”.
When you think of a teacher having to make an injury claim, most people would assume it would be as a result of an assault by a pupil. However, stress related injury claims amongst teachers are becoming a bigger problem for many reasons, including those outlined below.
• Demanding workload
The public perception of teachers is often not reflected in reality. Far from clocking off at half past three every day, teachers often work long hours both in school and at home doing things like marking and preparing lesson plans.
If a colleague is off sick, the extra workload placed on individual teachers can become too stressful and lead to an injury claim being filed.
The demands of controlling and educating a classroom full of pupils shouldn’t be underestimated, and it’s a mentally demanding job.
• Disruptive pupils
Disruptive pupils who turn violent are an obvious cause of injury claims made by teachers. However, the mental aspect is often ignored. Teachers have very strict guidelines on what they can and can’t do to discipline pupils who step out of line.
A group of disruptive pupils causing a teacher problem over a number of months can have a significant effect on mental health and is often cited as the main contributing factor to workplace stress when it comes to an injury claim.
• Large class sizes
Large class sizes can create problems for teachers as well as pupils. As well as the day-to-day issues of controlling a big class, the amount of related work such as marking and assessing pupil progress can quickly become overwhelming without the right level of support.
• Lack of support
Stressful situations can be made much worse if a teacher feels that he/she is not receiving any help or support in dealing with them.
In many cases where teachers have made injury claims for stress or a psychiatric injury, the lack of support from their superiors has been cited as a contributing factor in them being unable to continue working as normal.
For more information on making an injury claim for a workplace injury or accident, visit www.injurylawyers4u.co.uk or call them on 0845 345 4444.
