Compensation schemes and the tort system in the context of occupational and public health

Abstract Compensation schemes are certainly not a new phenomenon in England and Wales, and they are increasingly being used, and called for, to compensate victims in the field of occupational and public health. Despite their long existence, compensation schemes have always been thought to develop on ad hoc basis, without any real discernible logic behind them. This paper suggests that, contrary to this idea, compensation schemes emerging in the field of occupational and public health are generally following an identifiable, if covert, pattern that is deeply rooted in their relationship with the tort system. This relationship, the paper contends, is crucial not only to explain the creation and operation of compensation schemes but also to shed some light on the place and limits of the tort system in this legal system. More than that, this paper demonstrates that the relationship between these two sources of compensation could be the key to offer the beginning of a categorisation of compensation schemes that could help identify which schemes are in need of reform.