by Marc Ring | Oct 21, 2016 | Claim costs, Claim management, Injured Worker, Work Health & Safety, Workers Compensation, Workplace safety
Construction related work is considered one of the more dangerous or high risk occupations. Heights, heavy and large equipment, complex machinery and unstable ground are just some examples of what workers face in undertaking their work. With the number of construction industry workers having grown by 33% over the last 11 years, site safety is increasingly important and front of mind for most businesses in this industry. No matter how well trained or careful workers claim to be, due to the nature of their jobs construction workers are constantly exposed to hazardous conditions and dangerous situations. To highlight Australia’s National Safe Work Month, here are 5 steps to assist in making construction sites safer.
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by Marc Ring | Sep 16, 2016 | Bullying, Claim costs, Claim management, Injured Worker, Mental Health, Occupational Violence, Work Health & Safety, Workers Compensation, Workplace safety
Occupational violence is an incident where a worker is physically attacked in the workplace or during work related activities. It also extends to if a worker is threatened in a way that causes them to reasonably believe they are in danger of being physically attacked. With an ageing population, ensuring aged and other care workers are able to cope with the at times aggressive behaviour associated with some types of dementia or disabilities is an important issue for care providers. Recent data shows care workers represent more than 9 percent of NSW workers compensation claims with over 12,000 physical and mental claims made in the recent 3 year period. Addressing workplace bullying and violence be challenging yet SafeWork Australia provide recommendations.
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by Marc Ring | Sep 8, 2016 | Rehabilitation
Recently SafeWork Australia released a statistical report comparing injury rates between shift workforces as compared to non-shift workers spanning a variety of different industries administered in 2013-2014. The report demonstrates the injury rate for shift workers is significantly higher (more than twice the rate) when compared to non-shift workers. The increase in incidence of injury did not span across all shift-working industries. Individuals who operate machinery and drivers had significantly lower rates of injury when compared to their shift-working counterparts in other lines of work. So what shift workers are at the greatest risk? High risk shift industries as being; manufacturing, hospitality/food services, public administration and trades/labourers.
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by Marc Ring | Aug 16, 2016 | Reforms, Workers Compensation
icare’s latest announcement regarding the ongoing NSW workers compensation reforms hit the market earlier today. icare’s latest changes take effect in 2017 and will impact how businesses, and brokers, approach workers compensation in NSW. icare is “moving closer to our customers, putting their needs at the centre of everything we do”. The latest changes will transform workers compensation insurance in NSW by controlling how businesses (customers) buy and renew their policies via a new online portal.
We have already heard significant speculation regarding what these changes mean and how the industry will evolve as result. So what do these changes mean and therefore what can our clients and brokers expect?
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by Marc Ring | Aug 8, 2016 | Uncategorized
All workers compensation merit reviews issued by icare are potentially subject to administrative law judicial review in the NSW Supreme Court. In this process, a party may seek orders that a decision should be set aside and sent back to icare for a revised decision to be made. Whenever a challenge is finalised and irrespective of the outcome, an assessment is undertaken to consider the impact of the judicial review decision and includes the potential impact of the finalised challenge on the dispute, functions of the Merit Review Service and the scheme more broadly. Of the thousands of applications for workers compensation merit review that have been finalised by icare, there has only been one Administrative Law challenge decided by the NSW Supreme Court.
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