Workers compensation schemes and WHS analysed

Safe Work Australia (SWA) has released the 16th edition of the Comparative Performance Monitoring report, which provides trends analysis on the work health and safety and workers compensation schemes operating in Australia and New Zealand in 2012-13.

SWA leads the development of national policy to improve work health and safety and workers compensation arrangements across Australia and have highlighted some key findings from this year’s report:

• The rate of return to work following an injury increased two percentage points from last year with 77% of injured workers successfully returning to work within eight to 10 months of sustaining their injury in 2012-13.
• The transport and storage, manufacturing, construction, and agriculture, forestry and fishing industries have substantially higher fatality and injury rates than the national average.
• Australian workers compensation schemes paid out more than $7.9 billion with around half (53%) paid directly to injured workers in compensation for their injury or illness and 23% spent on medical and other services.
• Body stressing continued to be the main cause of injury/disease, accounting for 41% of claims.
• Work health and safety authorities undertook close to 213,600 workplace interventions and issued 49,935 notices during 2012-13.
• Employers are now paying 1.53% of payroll in workers compensation premiums compared to 1.56% in 2008-09.

Information in the report is designed to help gauge the success of different approaches undertaken by the various workers compensation and work health and safety authorities to reduce the incidence of work-related injury and disease. A full copy can be downloaded here.