workers compensation – Page 16

“We are the safest” – No, only half right

Governments around the world love to be able to claim their State or Country as the safest in the world, when they can. Australia has been plagued by such claims between various States but a report released on July 6 2016 shows that such claims are only half the story.

The Institute for Safety, Compensation and Recovery Research (ISCRR) released its report about “Work-related injury and illness in Australia, 2004 to 2014“. The report makes this extraordinary finding:

“Across Australia, there are twice as many estimated work-related injuries as there are accepted workers compensation claims. This indicates that many injuries do not progress into the nations workers compensation systems” (page 2)

This statement seems to indicate that political statements made on the basis of workers’ compensation data, the major rationale for most of the “we are the safest” statements, are only half right!

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OHS policies of two of Australia’s political parties

Australia’s Federal election campaign has reached the halfway point but the political parties have yet to officially launch their campaigns so the policies that may relate to occupational health and safety (OHS) are unclear. Even the Australian Greens have yet to launch their campaign but some of their long-held policy positions are clear. The Safety Institute of Australia (SIA) has received the workplace safety campaign policies of the Australian Labor Party. More discussion on policies will occur when more are released. Continue reading “OHS policies of two of Australia’s political parties”

OHS reality and common sense

On the eve of International Workers Memorial Day, I attended a seminar about the management of fatalities and serious injuries conducted by a group of risk management and insurance agents. Prevention was not on the agenda which led to some surprising statements.

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Suicide Prevention Forum and Mental Health First Aid for workers

In March 2016, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released its latest figures into the causes of death. A lot of media attention was given to the figures showing an increase in the suicide rate. It found that

“Among those aged 15 to 44, the leading causes of death were Intentional self-harm (suicide)…”

Dr Claire Kelly, Manager, Youth Programs, Mental Health First Aid Australia, talking at the Suicide Prevention Forum 2016

On the day those figures were released, the

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WorkSafe and politicians continue to confuse

On March 4, 2016 WorkSafe Victoria released a media statement with the headline:

“WorkSafe announces new safety record in half-year results”

The headline was reinforced (or the other way round) in the body of the statement with

“The rate of injuries in Victorian workplaces has reached a new record low, according to the half-yearly results released yesterday by WorkSafe Victoria.”

But then states that

“As of 31 December 2015 there were 7 claims per million hours worked (MHW) in Victorian workplaces, compared to 7.34 claims recorded at the end of 2014/15 – a fall of 4.6 per cent.”

So what is it – a record low number of injuries or a record low number of workers’ compensation claims?

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Victoria announces a new OHS review

On 11 February 2016, the Victorian Government announced a review into occupational health and safety (OHS) but you would hardly have noticed. The media release gained little attention in any of the mainstream press and yet its terms of reference are quite broad. It will be interesting to see how the review panel sets its agenda.

But, hang on, wasn’t there already some sort of review into WorkSafe Victoria?

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OHS cost research needs to stretch itself

The annual workplace safety report Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety always gets a good deal of mainstream media attention. It deserves some of this attention as it has provided sound information on work-related injuries and injury costs for many years but it is now looking dated as it is not keeping up with current research in to the business case for safety, the move to leading indicators and the incorporation of psychosocial injuries (which are also covered by workers compensation). Continue reading “OHS cost research needs to stretch itself”

Category: workers compensation

“We are the safest” – No, only half right

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OHS policies of two of Australia’s political parties

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OHS reality and common sense

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Suicide Prevention Forum and Mental Health First Aid for workers

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WorkSafe and politicians continue to confuse

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Victoria announces a new OHS review

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OHS cost research needs to stretch itself

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