The accidents causing incapacity for a period of one week or less amounted to 19 per cent of the total, but required but 4.6 per cent of the amount paid out as compensation to meet their demands, the average amount of compensation per capita being $3.01. The quarrying industry had more than one-half its accidents (55.9 per cent) in the two groups of shortest duration of incapacity, railways coming next with 41.6 per cent of the total number of cases. The first two weeks witnessed the termination of 38.9 per cent of all cases, the next two weeks having an almost equal number, or together disposing of 75.1 per cent of all cases at a cost of but 41.4 per cent of the total compensation paid, while the 4.5 per cent of cases lasting ten weeks or more required compensation amounting to 24 per cent of the total. Factories furnish the largest percentage of cases for each period of duration of four weeks or longer, the percentage of accidents in the last group (twenty-six weeks and over) being more than twice as great as for any other industry. The data presented in the series of tables given above relate only to cases of incapacity in which payment is made to the injured employee. A summary of payments made on account of death from injury shows the number, amounts paid, and number of dependents in cases covered by schemes certified under the act of 1897 for the period of the operation of such schemes. NUMBER OF WORKMEN WHO DIED FROM INJURY, NUMBER OF DEPENDENTS, AND AMOUNT PAID UNDER SCHEMES CERTIFIED UNDER THE WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT OF 1897, FROM JULY 1, 1898, TO DECEMBER 31, 1907. [Source: Reports of the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies for the year ending December 31, 1907.] 20.858 485 Total.. 321 1,000 1,321 811 1,749 240 13 2,813 52,072 162 It only remains to present a summary of the contributions of workmen and employers and the application or disposal of each class of funds. These are shown in the form of a statement of the nature of the receipts and the object of the disbursements for workmen and employers separately, besides a showing of the disposition made of remaining balances. SUMMARY OF RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES UNDER SCHEMES CERTIFIED UNDER Against the undistributed balance shown above there were 683 outstanding claims for compensation of temporary and permanent incapacity, besides allowances to dependents. It is clear from the above accounts that a considerable expenditure was made for benefits not required by the statute. This is particularly true as regards the expenditures of the funds presented in the "Workmen's Account," and the matter of medical aid, which is apportioned somewhat arbitrarily between the workmen and the employers. Besides administering funds transferred from previously existing institutions it is competent for schemes to register under the friendly societies act, and combine the objects of a scheme under the compensation act with those of a friendly society. This was done by 18 of the schemes whose accounts are presented above. The item "Other benefits," shown in the first of the above three. statements, includes expenditures on account of obligations incurred prior to the inception of the schemes, including payments to dependents of deceased employees, payments for incapacity, and payments on account of old age, and other expenditures of a personal nature. The excess of the payments actually made under the schemes over the payments required by the act has been computed in a number of cases, the results being as follows: PAYMENTS MADE UNDER SCHEMES CERTIFIED UNDER THE WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT OF 1897 AND ESTIMATED REQUIRED MAXIMUM PAYMENTS UNDER THE ACT, FROM JULY 1, 1898, TO DECEMBER 31, 1907. [Source: Reports of the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies for the year ending December 31, 1907.] The question as to the extent to which the compensation act is a matter of outgo, or places a charge on industry, can be answered with reference to one industry. From returns by railways to the board of trade it is possible to make up an aggregate for the United Kingdom showing the amount paid by the railway companies as compensation. under the act, including payments to insurance companies and to funds under schemes approved by the chief registrar of friendly societies to cover liabilities under the acts. The tables given above relate to England and Wales only, while the following one covers Scotland and Ireland as well: AMOUNT OF CHARGES PLACED UPON RAILWAY COMPANIES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM BY COMPENSATION ACTS, 1899 TO 1907. [Source: Statistics of Compensation and of Proceedings under the Workmen's Compensation Acts and the Employers' Liability Act during the year 1907.] $964,667 105,676 42,708 England and Wales. $474,386 $617,111 $648, 456 $610,736 $639,069 $692,926 $736,920 $795,415 Scotland. 87,461 80,307 82,770 66,160 89,037 66,549 79,090 88,526 16,532 13,222 17,865 24,634 28,610 29,652 26,615 29,413 578,379 710,640 749,091 701,530 756,716 789,127 842,625 913,354 1,113,051 Ireland.. Total.. a Statistics for 1907 are subject to revision. According to the board of trade returns as to the number of employees and their average weekly earnings, the amount paid out as above is approximately 14s. 3d. ($3.47) per £100 ($486.65), or 0.7125 per cent of the wages paid. This cost in 1904 and 1905 was about one-half of 1 per cent of the amount of the wages, and in 1908 was 0.725 per cent. Other computations show that of the total amount paid out by railways in compensation, only about 5 per cent was the subject of proceedings in the courts. Whether or not the very considerable increase of cost for the later years is due to the coming into effect of the new law is not intimated in the report, though the fact that it requires payment for the second week's disability, whereas the old law provided that payments for disability should not begin until after the second week, would doubtless account for such increase in large measure, and perhaps entirely.(") The following table indicates something of the effect of such a change, though since it includes accidents causing less than one week's disability with those involving absence of 14 days and under, exact conclusions can not be drawn from it. This table shows the number of accidents occurring to employees of selected firms belonging to the Iron Trades Employers' Insurance Association, divided so as to show those involving absence of 14 days and less, and those involving absence of more than 14 days. The firms selected had an aggregate annual wage list of approximately £2,500,000 ($12,166,250). ACCIDENTS TO EMPLOYEES OF CERTAIN MEMBERS OF THE IRON TRADES EMPLOY. ERS' INSURANCE ASSOCIATION CAUSING ABSENCE OF 14 DAYS AND UNDER AND MORE THAN 14 DAYS. [Source: Report of Departmental Committee Appointed to Inquire into the Law Relating to Compensation for Injuries to Workmen, 1904.] Other data furnished by the same association, which insures only engineering and shipbuilding employers, show for the first five years of the operation of the compensation act, the number of workmen, the amount of wages, the number and per cent of accidents, the number and per cent of claims, and the total and average amount of claims paid for each year. The object of the officer of the association in presenting the data was to show the increase, first in the number of possible claimants who availed themselves of the benefit of the act, and, secondly, the average increase of cost per claim. The company is a mutual one and pays no profits. The average charge on a Statistics of operations for the year 1909, available since the above was in type, show the percentage of cost to have fallen for that year to 0.683. wages for the administration of the fund for the five years was given as $0.411 per $100 of wages. The following table presents the principal facts given: EXPERIENCE OF IRON TRADES EMPLOYERS' INSURANCE ASSOCIATION FOR FIVE YEARS, 1899 TO 1903. [Source: Report of Departmental Committee Appointed to Inquire into the Law Relating to Compensation for Injuries to Workmen, 1904.] The marine engine works of R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie & Co. maintained a fund out of which compensation for accidents was paid not only to injured employees in conformity with the requirements of the compensation act, but to outside men as well, and for the first two weeks of disability as well as for disability continuing for less than two weeks. The following tables show the total wages paid, the total compensation paid, and the per cent the latter is of the former, for all workmen and for each class separately; also the amount and rate of compensation paid to inside workmen for the first two weeks' disability: WAGES AND COMPENSATION FOR ACCIDENTS PAID TO EMPLOYEES OF MARINE ENGINE WORKS OF R. & W. HAWTHORN, LESLIE & CO., 1899 TO 1903. [Source: Report of Departmental Committee Appointed to Inquire into the Law Relating to Compensation for Injuries to Workmen, 1904.] |