OHS and workers compensation report released

The government has released the Comparative Performance Monitoring (CPM) report on Australia’s OHS and workers’ compensation outcomes for 2006–07.

The report's findings show the National OHS Strategy has met and surpassed its 2002–2012 interim target of a 10% reduction in the incidence of compensated fatalities from injury and musculoskeletal disorders, reaching an actual reduction of 16%.

However, the report showed that other areas of OHS safety needed more attention.

Key findings in the report include:

• There were 236 compensated fatalities recorded in Australia for 2006–07, of which 177 were from injury and musculoskeletal disorders and 59 were from other diseases;
• Body stressing continues to be the mechanism of injury/disease that accounts for the greatest proportion of claims (42%);
• The manufacturing industry recorded the highest incidence/claim rates per 1000 employees (27.5), followed by transport and storage (25.9), agriculture, forestry and fishing (25.3), and construction (22.1); however, all these rates are down from 2005–06; and
• Over three quarters (77%) of injured workers successfully returned to work within 8–10 months of sustaining their injury.

The CPM report is complemented by the Compendium of Workers’ Compensation Statistics, which provides more detailed analysis of national workers compensation data. The report series can be found at www.workplace.gov.au/cpm.