Report: young workers less likely to apply for workers compensation

Safe Work Australia Council Chair Tom Phillips AM recently announced the release of four reports based on an analysis of the 2005-06 Work Related Injuries Survey (WRIS).

The WRIS is conducted every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as a supplement to the Labour Force Survey. Safe Work Australia partially funds the survey in order to complement its collection of workers’ compensation data.

The analysis presented in the reports has concentrated on groups of people who are either not covered by workers’ compensation or who are not separately identified in the workers’ compensation data. The reports include:

• comparison of compensation data with all incurred work-related injuries
• the impact of shiftwork on work-related injuries
• the impact of employment conditions on work-related injuries
• factors affecting applications for workers’ compensation

Phillips said that these reports add significantly to our understanding of work-related injuries: “The great thing about these reports is that they investigate areas that we are unable to explore using workers’ compensation data alone. The reports are a very good example of Safe Work Australia’s commitment to making the best possible information on work-related injuries available.

“The findings in the reports show that while we are making progress in some areas, more can be done to ensure safer workplaces for all Australians.”

Some of the key findings in the reports include:

• workers’ compensation data only captures 60% of work-related injuries, but it provides a good picture of the industries and occupations with the highest incidence rates, the way in which injuries occur and the types of injury;
• in most occupations and industries, self-employed workers recorded lower injury rates than employees;
• part-time workers recorded twice the injury rate per hour worked of full-time workers;
• shift workers had twice the injury rate per hour worked of non-shift workers;
• female employees were less likely to apply for workers compensation than male employees;
• only 44% of employees without leave entitlements (casual workers) applied for workers’ compensation for injuries that required some time off work compared to 57% of employees with leave entitlements; and
• young workers aged 15 to 24 incurred much higher rates of injury than other age groups and were the least likely to apply for workers compensation.

The next WRIS covering the period 2009-10 is currently being conducted and Safe Work Australia will publish the findings in 2011.