Safe Work Australia has recently released new statistics that demonstrate Workers Compensation claims have continued to decline over a 15 year period since 2000. Claim frequency relate to males, muscular stress from lifting/handling & slips, trips & falls.
Australian Trends & Insights – Key message is workers compensation claims continue to drop. When reviewing the 2014/15 data some of the key trends & insights were:
- Area of the body most affected by injury and disease is the back at 21%
- 64% of claims were for males whilst only 36% for females
- The biggest cause of claims at 32% was muscular stress while lifting or handling objects
- Slips, trips and falls made up 23% of all claims
When bench marking 2014/15 to data from 2000/01:
- Between 2000/01 and 2013/14, the frequency rate of serious claims fell by 33%
- The number of serious claims arising from injury and musculoskeletal disorders fell by 15% with the number from diseases fell by 11%. Mental disorders however increased by 1%
- Between 2000/01 and 2013/14 the median time loss for a serious claim rose by 33% from 4.2 working weeks to 5.6
For a full copy of the report please visit http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/SWA/about/Publications/Documents/994/awcs-2014-15-report.pdf