Per,
What you raise is a good question, in the safety training I do at work I ask what price people put on sight, hearing, their looks etc....
I surprise people when I say my sight is worth less than £10, my hearing less than £1.50 and by looks less than £8
Simple answer is that in my line of work, that is the cost of the safety equipment that protects your eye, ears and face. Protecting your lungs is £15 which is the price of a face mask.
OK this is slightly different to the news paper article, but I that case, if it were me I would say no amount of money could make up for the loss.
In this country compensation is based on predicted earnings and after care for living upto an age of 65.
For upper limb disorder I have caused by testing to many asthma inhalers would have cost my employers nearly £1,000,000 if they had not taken the pain in my fingers sereously when I first reported my problems.
I was denied compensation for vibration white finger as I changed career and no longer work with in the same industry that caused the problem. As I have found my own way to manage the condition, it is considerd to nolonger be a problem si I am not entitled to compensation like my frineds who got the same condition working in the mining industry.
However I can tell when the wheels on my car are not in perfect balance before there is any vibration in the steering as my fingers loose all blood due to the high frequency vibration in the wheel. Annoys the hell out of my local tyre fitters as they have to work to tighter tolerances when I am around
