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Out of an estimated 850,000 workplace injuries reported each year, less than 10%, or fewer than 80,000, actually receive compensation, which seriously brings scrutiny on the entire notion that business is being crippled by the so-called "compensation culture."

If you do get hurt at work, your best bet is to suffer hearing or breathing problems. People who suffer some sort of those ailments are most likely to receive compensation. Workers who suffer from stress or repetitive strain injury are the least likely to receive any compensation.

In total, the average payout for a compensation claim is about £10,000, but truth be told, about half of that ends up going towards legal fees.

These figures are the result of a study conducted by the TUC. So dramatic were the findings, that Brendan Barber, TUC general secretary, said that the idea of a workplace compensation culture misses "wide of the mark."

"Some employers and commentators would have us believe that the UK is caught up in a compensation culture frenzy where, at a whim, people who are ever so slightly injured at work get to walk away with huge payouts," Mr Barber said.

"The reality is very different for the hundreds of thousands of workers made ill or injured by their jobs each year."

The real issue, according to Mr. Barber, is employers ignoring health and safety standards, not employees taking advantage of the availability of compensation due to injury.

Additionally, Mr. Barber stated that the UK's state compensation system is failing those most in need.

The federation of Small Business, however, begs to differ. It maintains that employers do take work safety very seriously. Further, the Federation stated, workers who suffer an injury on the job do have access to a tribunal system that allows them to secure compensation when the tribunal determines it is appropriate. "The tribunal system is well established and we don't think any deserving case would go without compensation," a spokesman said.

These figures come as the compensation culture comes under attack - from both sides of the issue. Businesses and some in government insist that Britain is suffering from too many cases of compensation claims being filed; hurting bottom lines, depleting government funds and generally contributing to a sense of entitlement among the population. Claims advocates, unions and solicitors maintain that the compensation culture is a myth; something to defray attention from the responsibilities and obligations that government and businesses owe their populace.

While most data indicates that the number of claims is actually falling, it is also true that in most compensation cases, the significant winners are more often than not, attorneys.