A leading employers' group has called for radical reform of the country's system of worker compensation.
This is in a bid to reduce welfare costs and cut business failures driven by rising insurance premiums.
The Engineering Employers' Federation said the Employers' Liability (EL) arrangements should be overhauled in favour of a new system in which insurance premiums reflected individual company risk and put the emphasis on rehabilitating injured staff.
Premiums for EL insurance grew by an average of 50 per cent last year and in some cases the increases were as high as 400 per cent, said the EEF.
The EEF made its comments in a submission to a Department for Work and Pensions review of EL insurance.
Martin Temple, director general of the EEF said: "The current arrangements are not sustainable."
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