An examination of trends in South Australian workers compensation claims

Abstract

In South Australia, the great majority of employees have their workers compensation claims reported to WorkCover SA. This study examined such claims for the financial years 2001/2002 to 2012/2013. Over this period, there was a 41% reduction in claim numbers. Three factors were identified as contributing to this change. The total number of hours worked increased by 14%. There was a movement away from high risk manufacturing jobs into lower risk community service and mining jobs (which would imply a 5% reduction in claims). The remaining underlying risk fell by 45% (5.4% per year). While this reduction is pleasing, it may not be fully representative of an actual improvement in safety. The more serious claims (11 or more days of work lost) accounting for the great majority of suffering and costs have only gone down by 15% over the same period, mostly between 2005/2006 and 2007/2008, and have even shown some increases in recent years. Clearly there is much left to do in improving worker safety in South Australia.