Catalogue Number
NMLH.2025.4.1
Object Name
badge
Title
'ATOS Kills'
Place
UK
People
Conservative Party, Ian Duncan Smith, Department of Work and Pensions, Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), ATOS
Events
Austerity (2010s)
Description
A white badge with the words 'ATOS Kills' written in blue and red. ATOS' logo of a blue fish is below their name.
The badge is referring to the French multinational business ATOS who were contracted by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to conduct disability assessments on people applying for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and Work Capability Assessments to determine if disabled claimants of Employment Support Allowance were too sick to work. Assessments conducted by ATOS staff, which often contradicted the expert opinions of medical professionals involved with claimants cases, often deciding that people with significant care needs were "fit for work" and ineligible for benefits, plunging people into poverty, and sometimes leading to deaths from starvation or suicide. ATOS decision making and behaviour of staff during assessments were directly named as contributing to the deaths of multiple disabled people in coroners courts during the 2010s. The behaviour of ATOS staff in conducting these assessments was widely criticised by disabled people, and the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Following years of high profile scandals and protest, ATOS withdrew from conducting Work Capability Assessments in 2015, and was no longer conducting PIP assessments as of 2024.
The slogan 'ATOS Kills' was used during protests after ATOS became a sponsor of the 2012 London Paralympic Games. Disabled campaigners found it inappropriate for a company linked to the deaths of disabled people to also be capitalising on the world's largest disabled sporting event. Protests took place outside ATOS headquarters in London, led by Disabled People Against the Cuts (DPAC) in the run-up to the Paralympic Games.
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