The preliminary results from the report show 16 employees out of every 1000 had an accepted workers’ compensation which involved them being away from work for one week or more.
The report also shows a fall in injury and disease rates in all industries since 1997-98. However, claims for respiratory diseases, mental disorders and cancers have seen increases.
The Compendium is an annual publication that provides a detailed analysis of compensated work-related injury and disease among employees in Australia. This year’s release sees the fifteenth report in the series.
The report showed 231 compensated fatalities, of which 93% were males. The transport and storage industry was responsible for 41 fatalities, followed by 33 fatalities in construction and 28 in manufacturing.
Mining saw the greatest falls in injury and disease from 1997-98, with a 45% decrease, followed by 27% from construction, and transport and storage at 20%.
The feature article with the Compendium also reveals most serious workers’ compensation claims last a relatively short time. 52% of employees who loadged a claim were back at work within four weeks.