Letter: Injured at work

Sir: The payout in six figures for tinnitus contracted over a four-year period ("Ex-officer awarded pounds 175,000 after work ruined hearing", 27 October") and the "Monopoly money" payouts past, pending and future to members of the police service for "injuries" sustained on duty prove once again that there is one law for the police and their like, and another for those who toil for their bread.

There are, and were, many workers in heavy industry who suffer chronic impairment from these and similar ailments, often in compound. They have little or no redress because of time limits or lack of convincing proof, there being no true tests that can prove the degree of tinnitus, back- Letter: related problems or a host of other, often work-related, problems.

Any payouts made to workers in industry for work-related disorders are generally on a set scale and even sufferers of noise-induced hearing loss seldom receive more than a few thousand pounds in compensation. As for "stress", well, the mind boggles.

P I HUGHES

Camborne, Cornwall