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View Full Version : The Incidence of Accepted Workers’ Compensation Claims for Mental Stress in Australia



Newshound
07-26-2013, 12:15 PM
Earlier this year Safe Work Australia report devoted to work-related mental stress. Work-related mental stress has become a major concern in workplaces in Australia because of the impact on individual employees and the costs associated with the long periods away from work that are typical of these claims.

The data contained in this report represent those workers who are covered by workers’ compensation schemes (employees) and who have been successful in receiving compensation.

Key findings in this report:

mental stress claims are the most expensive form of workers’ compensation claims because of the often lengthy periods of absence from work typical of these claims.

mental stress claims are predominantly made by women.

men and women are more likely to make a claim for mental stress as they get older but after they reach 54 years the likelihood that they made a claim decreases.

more professionals made claims for mental stress than other any other occupation with over a third of their claims made for Work pressure.

There were more mental stress claims made for Work pressure than any other sub-category.

The hazards that result in mental stress claims vary with worker age. Younger workers are more likely to make claims as a result of Exposure to workplace or occupational violence, whereas Work pressure is the main
cause of mental stress claims for older workers, peaking for those aged 45–49 years.

General clerks, School teachers and Police Officers accounted for the majority of claims for Work pressure.

Women were around three times more likely than men to make a workers’ compensation claim due to Work-related harassment &/or workplace bullying. Approximately one-third of all claims in this mental stress subcategory were made by workers in the occupational categories of Advanced
clerical & service workers and General clerks.

for the industries with the highest number/rate of mental stress claims, the majority of claims were for Work pressure. This was particularly true in the education sector. claims for Exposure to workplace or occupational violence were notable in the retail trade industry, while the Transport & storage and health & community services industries dominated claims for Exposure to a traumatic event.


The full report can be downloaded from the Safe Work Australia web site here (http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/swa/about/publications/pages/workers-compensation-claims-for-mental-stress-in-australia)