Danger: men at work

Employers' liability insurance has stumbled badly over the long-termindustrial disease risks to which the sector is exposed. Liz Booth reportson the wide variety of proposals that have been suggested to improve thesituation

For the past year, headlines across the world have been trumpetingthe news that there is a crisis in employers' liability (EL)insurance.

And not just in the insurance press - the consumer media is also all tooaware of the problem, as businesses in the UK, US and Australia struggleunder the simultaneous strain of spiralling premium costs, tighter termsand conditions and far greater excess levels.

Insurers have argued that premiums had been far too low for far too long,and that something had to be