BRADFORD Council has paid out nearly £6.8 million in compensation claims in the past four years.

The figures, revealed to the Telegraph & Argus following a Freedom of Information request, include payouts for personal injury claims and accidents involving council vehicles.

The highest compensation claim was £1.13 million awarded to an employee after their leg was crushed by a lorry while bins were being emptied.

And the local authority paid more than £183,000 to a member of staff who lost an eye after being hit with a faulty fire door in another incident.

Payouts to council employees made up more than half the compensation awarded, while more than £860,000 was paid out for road traffic collisions and bumps involving council vehicles.

The figures relate to incidents stretching back to the 1970s but which were only settled in the past four years.

A spokesman for Bradford Council said: “Safety is naturally very important to us. We work hard to support staff and services to correctly manage risk in the work they do and take all reasonable steps to keep members of the public and staff safe.

“Claim numbers and costs are steadily decreasing due to measures taken by the council to reduce accidents.

“Council drivers operate almost 700 road vehicles, between them covering approximately 4.1 million miles per year.

“Each driver’s performance is monitored and drivers receive further training where required.

“New technologies and other developments in risk management allow us to continually improve our approach to safety, for example with the 360 degree camera systems that are now fitted in all our refuse collection vehicles.”

The figures reveal 17 incidents involving refuse collections and wheelie bins, including a council employee who received more than £70,000 four years after their foot was run over by a colleague in a bin lorry.

Ashley Harper, regional officer for the union Unison in Bradford, said health and safety procedures and compensation is important for employees who can suffer life-changing injuries in the course of their jobs.

He said: “This is when you hear people complain of red tape and health and safety going mad. But this is why it’s so important to get it right and to have a trained union representative in the workplace to support staff.

“I can’t comment on individual cases but I’m sure those people would wish the incidents in which they were injured had never happened in the first place.

“Nobody wants to be in this position. Sometimes people question the importance of these rules but people would be worse off if they didn’t exist.”

Payouts were made to four council employees who had been assaulted at work, with £7,627 going to a member of staff who was stabbed by a child.

The council’s proposed budget for 2018/19 includes plans to cut the amount spent on insurance premiums.

A spokesman for Unite, speaking on behalf of the union’s members at Bradford Council, said: “Unite are shocked that in times of staff cutbacks, the health and safety of the employers’ own staff and members of the public are put at risk.

“The impact on those injured and their families is immeasurable. The cost in terms of both employee being off sick and increases in insurance premiums in times of austerity are unacceptable."

A spokesman for Bradford People’s Assembly said: "The budget papers in 2017 and 2018 shows that Bradford Council has made the choice to reduce the insurance cover it has in order to save money but no information has been given on compensation payouts until now.

"Looking at the details in the Freedom of Information results it appears that many of the payouts are for entirely preventable incidents, such as someone falling from a cherry picker.

“When front line services are facing more and more cutbacks affecting some of the most vulnerable people in the district, it is not good enough to simply blame government cuts when so much money is being paid out in compensation for preventable incidents and accidents.”

There were also a number of payouts following incidents at schools, including £188 compensation for a confiscated phone which was then lost by staff.

The family of a child hit by a swinging school bell was given £4,615, while a council employee who was hit on the wrist by a plate in a school canteen was awarded more than £20,000.

There were 94 payouts for damage or injuries caused by potholes and £13,000 was paid to a homeowner who said their house had fallen in value because of a planning decision.

One of the lowest payouts was £20, awarded to a member of the public whose trousers were torn on a broken metal railing, while an employee who was splashed by hot water from a tray of vegetables received nearly £5,000 compensation and £12,000 was paid out after some Christmas lights were damaged during hedge pruning.

John O'Connell, chief executive at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Compensation culture is costing taxpayers dear, and every pound spent on settlements or higher insurance premiums is a pound that isn't spent on essential services such as road maintenance or social care.

“Of course, some of the payments made by councils will be entirely justified, as the most serious accidents can change lives.

“That so many incidents are happening with council vehicles also means that different training for drivers should be looked at as well as simple and cheap new technologies like dashcams."