Some particulars are also given (see page 12) of the results of the working of the Scheme made under the Workmen's Compensation (Silicosis) Acts of 1918 and 1924, for the payment of compensation for silicosis in the Refractories Industries. Part I. Statistics of Compensation in Certain Industries. The information in Tables 1 to 6 relating to the seven groups of industries was obtained from returns received from individual employers, and from collective returns supplied by Employers' Mutual Indemnity Associations and Insurance Companies who are under an arrangement with the Home Office to make returns on behalf of the employers belonging to or insured by them. The collective returns made by these Associations and Companies covered 120,566 employers and accounted for 72.5 per cent. of the fatal cases, and 72.1 per cent. of the compensation in such cases, and 73.8 per cent. of the disablement cases, and 74.8 per cent. of the compensation in such cases in the seven industries. Of the total amount of compensation paid, £3,397,845, or 51.1 per cent., was paid by Mutual Indemnity Associations; £1,546,455, or 23.3 per cent., by Insurance Companies, and £1,698,630, or 25.6 per cent., by uninsured employers. The practice as regards insurance appears to differ widely in different industries. For example, in the case of the mining industry 67.7 per cent. of the compensation was paid by Mutual Indemnity Associations, 9.3 per cent. by Insurance Companies, and 23.0 per cent. by uninsured employers. In the case of the cotton industry the proportions were, Mutual Indemnity Associations 78.4 per cent., Insurance Companies 19.5 per cent., and uninsured employers 2.1 per cent., and in the case of the woollen industry, Mutual Indemnity Associations 29-0 per cent., Insurance Companies 65.4 per cent., and uninsured employers 5.6 per cent. In the case of constructional work the proportions were Mutual Indemnity Associations 11.6 per cent., Insurance Companies 67.9 per cent., and uninsured employers 20.5 per cent. 18,441 returns were received from uninsured employers. Of these, 2,441 gave particulars of payments of compensation under the Acts, while 16,000 were "Nil" returns, i.e., to the effect that there had been no cases of compensation. The aggregate number of persons coming within the provisions of the Acts who were employed in the seven industries was 7,541,014. The corresponding figures for the years 1915 to 1918 are not available. The figures for preceding and subsequent years were :— (It should be noted that the figure which the employer is asked to give is the average number employed throughout the year.) The total number of cases in which compensation was paid in 1925 was 476,085, and the total amount of the compensation paid was £6,642,930. Beginning with the year 1912, and omitting the years 1915 to 1918 for which the information available is incomplete, the following table shows the number of cases and the amount of the payments in each year up to 1925. 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 3,293 365,176 368,469 687,477 3,929,246 4,616,723 3,531 381,986 385,517 755,657 5,222,352 5,978,009 2,385 283,361 285,746 518,064 4,991,331 5,509,395 2,489 390,423 392,912 546,889 5,948,839 6,495,728 2,657 477,378 480,035 591,164 6,542,932 7,134,096 2,878 487,442 490,320 786,444 5,888,594 6,675,038 3,030 473,055 476,085 864,726 5,778,204 6,642,930 ↑ Includes cases arising from a large colliery explosion. In 1925 the average payment in case of death was £285, as compared with £273 in 1924 and £161 in 1914; in case of disablement the average payment (including cases settled by payment of a lump sum) was £12 4s., as against £12 2s. in 1924 and £6 7s. in 1914. The average amount paid in lump sums was £82 10s., as against £69 16s. in 1924, and £28 4s. in 1914, while the average amount paid in weekly payments (including weekly payments made prior to settlement by a lump sum) was £8 19s., as compared with £9 3s. in 1924, and £4 14s. in 1914. In 1925 there was a decrease on the figures for 1924 in the total number of cases and in the total amount of compensation. paid. The number of cases fell from 490,320 to 476,085, a decrease of 14,235 or 2.9 per cent., and the compensation paid. fell from £6,675,038 to £6,642,930 a decrease of £32,108 or 5 per cent. Taking the fatal and non-fatal cases separately, the number of fatal cases rose from 2,878, to 3,030, an increase of 152 or 5.3 per cent., and the compensation paid from £786,444 to £864,726, an increase of £78.282, or 10.0 per cent. The non-fatal cases fell from 487,442, to 473,055, a decrease of 14,387 or 3.0 per cent., and the amount paid fell from £5,888,594 to £5,778,204, a decrease of £110,390 or 1.9 per cent. The figures for 1924 and 1925 show a large increase in the average amount of compensation paid in fatal cases in 1924 and 1925. This is accounted for by the increased compensation provided in fatal cases by the Act of 1923, particularly in cases where the dependants include children under the age of 15. It appears from the returns made by the County Courts for the purposes of Tables 8 and 9 that the total amount of the additional compensation paid in all industries under Section 2 of the Act of 1923 in respect of children under the age of 15 was no less than £242,006. Similarly, it would seem that the decrease in the average amount of the compensation paid in nonfatal cases in 1924 and 1925 must be largely attributable to the lower amount payable in most cases under the Act of 1923, as compared with the amount payable during the operation of the War Addition Acts which expired on 31st December, 1923. The proportion of compensation paid in the seven industries in fatal cases was 13 per cent. of the total amount paid for compensation. The percentages for the different industries work out as follows:-shipping, 33.4; factories, 10.1; docks, 14·5; mines, 11.5; quarries, 27.1; constructional work, 13.3; and railways, 28.3. A further decrease is shown both in the number of cases and in the amount of compensation paid in the mining industry as a result no doubt of the severe depression in that industry during the greater part of 1925. The following tables give the total number of cases, the total compensation paid, and the total number of persons employed, together with the cost of compensation per person employed, in each of the seven industries for the years from 1921 to 1925 inclusive. Total Number of Cases and Total Compensation Paid.† †The total compensation paid is shown by the figures in italics. Total Number of Persons Employed and Cost of Compensation per Person Employed. A rise has been taking place, as the following table shows, in the ratio of non-fatal cases to the number of persons employed. The ratio of fatal cases varies very slightly from year to year. Ratio of Fatal and Non-fatal Cases to Persons employed. As regards the non-fatal cases of accidents, it would appear from a classification of these cases according to the duration of disablement that this rise is due almost entirely to the increase in the rate of accidents lasting less than thirteen weeks, especially those lasting less than four weeks, which constitute (see page 11) more than half the total number of accidents. This is shown by the following table which classifies according to duration the number of cases of non-fatal accidents per 1,000 persons employed. Industry. Duration of Non-fatal Accident Cases. Number of Cases of Accident terminated within the Year by Weekly Payments per 40.6 Total 5.5 6.3 5.6 11.6 12.7 6.6 7.0 7.2 9.4 10-2 1.9 2.1 2.0 2.8 2.7 1.5 1.5 1.4 5.9 6.0 5-4 10.7 8.8 8-3 3.7 3.5 3.0 2.9 2.7 Attention is called to the note as to lump sum cases under the Table on page 10, which applies to this table also. The figures given above as to total compensation paid in the seven groups of industries represent only the actual amount paid to workmen or their dependants, and not the total charge on the industries in respect of compensation. To compute the total charge it would be necessary to take account of the administrative expenses and medical and legal costs of employers, insurance companies and mutual indemnity associations, the amounts placed in reserve, and the sums set aside by insurance companies as profits. In the case of the insurance companies, these have constituted a large proportion of the total charge. For example, it appears from provisional totals of the returns furnished by the companies to the Board of Trade in respect of employers' liability insurance business that for the year 1925 the income of the companies from premiums, after making the necessary adjustments in respect of unexpired risks, was £5,663,895, and from interest and dividends on reserves £160,621, making a total income of £5,824,516. Of this sum, £3,078,813, or 52.86 per cent., was allocated to payment of compensation (including legal and medical expenses incurred in connexion with the settlement of claims). Of the balance £1,893,080, or 32.50 per cent., was spent in payments for commission (9.01 per cent.) and expenses of management (23 49 per cent.), while £940,692, representing 16.15 per cent. of income, was set aside for profits. The excess of the outgo over income is accounted for by the transfer of £88,069, equal to 1.51 per cent., from Additional Reserves. [These figures apply to the whole of the employers' liability insurance business of the companies, and not merely to the seven industries scheduled under the Act.] |