Revealed: The millions paid to teachers in schoolroom accidents

Another teacher, who fell on spilt food on a school canteen floor, was awarded £100,000, while the staff member who slipped on a grape left on a stairwell received the six-figure sum because the injury aggravated an existing hernia problem. He was eventually unable to work because of chronic pain.

The National Union of Teachers (NUT), which represented the teacher, said the payout covered loss of earnings and pension.

A union spokesman said: “Evidence showed that the school were aware of littering problems around the school but had not taken action to prevent or minimise it.”

Another NUT member was also awarded compensation for slipping on a grape, this time in a corridor, according to figures reported yesterday. She won £20,000 after fracturing her hip.

The union said yesterday it was publishing the data to highlight the cost to taxpayers where schools and governors fail in their obligations to protect teaching staff from injury, assault or accident.

Separate figures provided by the NASUWT teaching union show one of their members received a settlement of £100,000 after suffering from a compressed disc in her back when she slipped on spilt food on the school’s lunch hall floor.

Another NASUWT member received £80,000 after slipping in a school dining room, fracturing bones in her leg, tearing ligaments behind her knee and damaging nerves. She was unable to return to teaching.

The biggest single out-of-court settlement awarded to an NASUWT member for a personal injury claim in 2010 was £292,795. This was awarded to a teacher who tripped on a pothole in a school car park, injuring his back, and has been unable to return to work.

In an assault case, £202,108 was received by a 51-year-old who was injured in November 2004 as she tried to stop a fight between two pupils. One of the pupils attacked her and as well as physical injuries she developed mental anxiety and was unable to return to work.

In total, NASUWT members were handed £10.5 million for compensation cases completed in 2010.

NASUWT general secretary Chris Keates said: “What this figure illustrates is the cost to the public purse of employers’ poor or discriminatory employment practices and failure to pay due regard to health and safety in the workplace.”

The NUT publishes only a small sample of personal injury cases, which in 2010 totalled compensation of £2.5 million.

General secretary Christine Blower said: “The reason for their publication is to reflect the spectrum of problems teachers can experience in the workplace, not to contribute to a league table of compensation wins.”

The biggest payout to an NUT member last year was £459,000 to a teacher injured in 2002 as she approached a pupil wielding a metre rule in order to restrain him, after he had been threatening classmates.

The youngster pushed the teacher on to a filing cabinet which had handles sticking out, severely injuring her back. Despite an operation, her condition deteriorated. She became wheelchair-bound and was able to return to work only part-time.

Another NUT member working at a residential boys’ school was awarded more than £426,000 after being sprayed in the face with an aerosol can by a pupil. As well as suffering breathing difficulties, he suffered depression and anxiety. He was awarded £253,336 plus £173,231 for future loss of earnings.