Australia

Organization responsible for the statistics

Collection and compilation: Ministries responsible for labour and offices responsible for processing claims for workers' compensation.

Publication: Ministries responsible for labour and offices responsible for processing claims for workers' compensation, and the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (NOHSC) (Worksafe Australia).

Periodicity

At the NOHSC, statistics are published annually. Other publications dealing with specific topics of occupational safety and health are published at irregular intervals.

Source

Objectives and users

Major users:

Coverage

Persons:

In the 1994-95 financial year, the number of paid employees was 6,704,126, as estimated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics using data from their Labour Force Survey.

Economic activities:

Geographic areas:

Persons working outside the country are not covered by the statistics. Persons normally resident outside the country who are involved in occupational accidents within the country are included.

Establishments:

Other:

Types of occupational accidents covered

While data on commuting accidents are collected, incidents involving workers travelling to or from the workplace while not on duty are excluded from most analyses of the data.

Commuting accidents are not included in the statistics provided to the ILO for publication in the Yearbook of Labour Statistics.

Concepts and definitions

Occupational injuries:

all employment injuries which are the result of a single traumatic event occurring while a person is on duty or during a recess period and where there was a short or non-existent latency period. This includes injuries which are the result of a single exposure to an agent(s) causing an acute toxic effect.

Occupational diseases:

all employment injuries which result from repeated or long term exposure to an agent(s) or event(s) and employment injuries which are the result of a single traumatic event where there was a long latency period (for example, the development of hepatitis following a single exposure to the infection).

Minimum period of absence from work: for non-permanent disabilities, five working days (more than five days for Victoria).

Maximum period for death to be considered a fatal occupational injury: up to three years; records are updated for a period of two years prior to the reference year; it is expected that updated records for a period of five years prior to the reference period will be provided to the NOHSC from 1 July 1998.

Types of information compiled

(a) personal characteristics of persons injured: sex, age, occupation, part-time or full-time;

(b) amount of worktime lost: duration of absence;

(c) characteristics of accidents: time of day, date, breakdown agency (the object, substance or circumstance that was principally involved in, or most closely associated with, the point at which things started to go wrong which ultimately led to the most serious injury or disease); mechanism of injury or disease (the action, exposure or event which is the direct cause of the most serious injury or disease, that is, how exactly was the injury of disease sustained);

(d) characteristics of injuries: nature of injury or disease (referring to the most serious injury or disease sustained or suffered by the worker); bodily location of injury or disease (the part of body affected by the most serious injury or disease);

(e) characteristics of employers or workplaces: employment size, employer location, economic activity;

(f) other characteristics: compensation payments.

Measurement of worktime lost

The day on which the accident occurred is only included in worktime lost if the accident occurred on the way to work.

Worktime lost is measured as follows:

1. temporary incapacity to work: the number of workdays absent from work, excluding the day of the accident;
2. fatal injury: the number of workdays lost leading up to the death, excluding the day of the accident

Temporary absences (e.g. of less than one day) for medical treatment are not included.

Classifications

(a) fatal or non-fatal accidents;

(b) extent of disability:

(c) economic activity:

(d) occupation:

(e) type of injury:

nature of injury or disease: injury and poisoning (fractures; fracture of vertebral column with or without mention of spinal cord lesion; dislocation; sprains and strains of joints and adjacent muscles; intracranial injury, including concussion; internal injury of chest, abdomen and pelvis; traumatic amputation including enucleation of eye (loss of eyeball); open wound not involving traumatic amputation; superficial injury; contusion with intact skin surface and crushing injury excluding those with fracture; foreign body on external eye, in ear or nose or in respiratory, digestive or reproductive systems; burns; injuries to nerves and spinal cord without evidence of spinal bone injury; poisoning and toxic effects of substances; effects of weather, exposure, air pressure and other external causes, not elsewhere classified; multiple injuries (used only where no principal injury can be identified); damage to artificial aid(s); other and unspecific injuries); diseases of the nervous system and sense organs (diseases of the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nervous system; disorders of nerve roots, plexuses and single nerves; disorders of the conjunctiva and cornea; other disorders of the eye; deafness; other diseases of the ear and mastoid process; diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (arthropathies and related disorders - disorders of the joints; dorsopathies - disorders of the spinal vertebrae and intervertebral discs; disorders of muscle, tendons and other soft tissues; osteopathies, chondropathies and acquired musculoskeletal deformities); diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissues (contact dermatitis; other and unspecified dermatitis or eczema; other disorders of skin and subcutaneous tissue); diseases of the digestive system (hernia; ulcers and gastritis; other diseases of the digestive system including associated glands (liver and pancreas); infectious and parasitic diseases (intestinal infectious diseases; specified zoonoses; protozoal diseases; viral diseases excluding hepatitis, sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS; viral hepatitis; specified sexually transmitted diseases excluding AIDS; human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) - AIDS; mycoses; other infectious and parasitic diseases); diseases of the respiratory system; asthma; legionnaires' disease; asbestosis; pneumonoconiosis due to other silica or silicates; pneumonoconiosis excluding asbestosis and silicosis; other respiratory conditions due to substances; chronic bronchitis, emphysema and allied conditions; other diseases of the respiratory system); diseases of the circulatory system (ischaemic heart disease; other heart disease excluding ischaemic heart disease; cerebrovascular disease; arterial disease; hypertension (high blood pressure); varicose veins; other diseases of the circulatory system); neoplasms (cancers and benign tumours) (malignant neoplasm of pleura (mesothelioma); malignant melanoma of skin; other malignant neoplasm of skin; malignant neoplasm of lymphatic and haematopoietic tissue; carcinoma in situ of skin; other malignant neoplasms and carcinomas; benign neoplasm of skin; other benign neoplasms; neoplasms of uncertain behaviour or unspecified nature); mental disorders; other diseases;

bodily location of injury and disease: head (cranium - two groups; eye - four groups; ear; mouth; nose; face, not elsewhere classified; head - multiple locations; head - unspecified locations); neck (four groups); trunk (back - upper or lower - four groups; chest (thorax) - eight groups; abdomen and pelvic region - 15 groups; trunk - multiple locations; trunk - unspecified locations); upper limbs (shoulder; upper arm; elbow; forearm; wrist; hand, fingers and thumb - five groups; upper limb - multiple locations; upper limb - unspecified locations); lower limbs (hip; upper leg; knee; lower leg; ankle; foot and toes - four groups; lower limb - multiple locations; lower limb - unspecified locations); multiple locations (neck and trunk; head and neck; head and other; trunk and limbs; upper and lower limbs; other specified multiple locations - two groups; unspecified multiple locations); systemic locations (circulatory system; respiratory system; digestive system; genitourinary system; nervous system; other and multiple system conditions; unspecific systemic conditions); non-physical locations (psychological system); unspecified locations;

(f) cause of accident:

breakdown agency: machinery and (mainly) fixed plant (cutting, slicing, sawing machinery - nine groups; crushing, pressing, rolling machinery - eight groups; heating, cooking, baking equipment - seven groups; cooling, refrigeration plant and equipment; conveyors and lifting plant - nine groups; electrical installation - nine groups; radiation based equipment - seven groups; filling and bottling/packaging plant - three groups; other plant and equipment - six groups); mobile plant and transport (self-propelled plant - nine groups; semi-portable plant - six groups; other mobile plant - nine groups; road transport - six groups; rail transport - five groups; air transport - three groups; water transport - four groups; other transport - two groups); powered equipment, tools and appliances (workshop and worksite tools and equipment - seven groups; kitchen and domestic equipment - nine groups; office and electronic equipment - six groups; garden and outdoor powered equipment - six groups; pressure-based equipment not elsewhere classified - five groups; other powered equipment, tools and appliances - three groups); non-powered hand tools, appliances and equipment (hand tools, non-powered, edged - nine groups; other hand tools - nine groups; fastening, packing and packaging equipment - nine groups; furniture and fittings - seven groups; other utensils - five groups; other non-powered equipment - nine groups); chemicals and chemical products (nominated chemicals - six groups; other basic chemicals - seven groups; chemical products - nine groups); materials and substances (non-metallic minerals and substances - seven groups; other materials and objects - eight groups; other substances - eight groups); environmental agencies (outdoor environment - nine groups; indoor environment - seven groups; underground environment - ten groups); animal, human and biological agents (live four-legged animals - seven groups; other live animals - eight groups; non-living animals - four groups; human agencies - three groups; biological agencies); other and unspecified agencies (non-physical agencies; other and unspecified agencies - three groups);

mechanism of injury or disease: falls, trips and slips of a person - three groups; hitting objects with a part of the body - three groups; being hit by moving objects - eight groups; sound and pressure - three groups; body stressing - four groups; heat, radiation and electricity - seven groups; chemicals and other substances - four groups; biological factors; mental stress; other and unspecified mechanisms of injury - four groups;

(g) duration of absence from work:

(h) characteristics of workers:

(i) characteristics of accidents;

(j) characteristics of employers or workplaces:

Crossclassifications:

Reference period

An injury is included in the statistics for the period (financial year) when compensation for the injury began.

Worktime lost is included in the statistics for each of the periods (financial years) in which worktime was lost because of the injury.

Estimates

Averages (persons injured, workdays lost per injury, etc.).

Percentage distributions.

Rates of fatal, non-fatal and fatal plus non-fatal injuries and diseases:

Incidence rate:

( number of injuries and diseases / number of wage and salary earners employed ) x 1,000

Frequency rate:

( number of injuries and diseases / number of hours worked) x 1,000,000

The denominators used in the calculation of the rates were derived in accordance with the methodology developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The ABS estimated the denominators from two of their data collections: the Monthly Labour Force Survey and the Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours. The Monthly Labour Force Survey data have been adjusted to exclude Commonwealth employees, as identified in the Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours.

Historical background of the series

The system used to classify establishments according to classes of economic activity is now the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) instead of the Australian Standard Industrial Classification which was used initially.

Documentation

Series available:

Number of new cases of fatal occupational injuries and diseases, by:

• sex;
• injury or disease;
• age;
• jurisdiction;
• occupation;
• economic activity;
• nature of injury or disease;
• bodily location of injury or disease;
• mechanism of injury or disease;
• breakdown agency;

Incidence and frequency of new cases of fatal occupational injuries and diseases, by:

• economic activity;
• occupation;

Number, incidence, frequency and percentage distribution of new cases of occupational injuries and diseases, by:

• sex;
• jurisdiction;
• economic activity;
• economic activity and average worktime lost per occurrence;
• economic activity and cost per occurrence;
• occupation;
• occupation and average duration of absence;
• occupation and average cost per occurrence;
• nature of injury or disease and sex;
• bodily location of injury or disease and sex;
• mechanism of injury or disease and sex;
• breakdown agency and sex;
• mechanism of injury or disease and breakdown agency;
• nature of injury or disease, mechanism of injury or disease and breakdown agency

Average cost per occurrence, by:

• nature of injury or disease;
• bodily location of injury or disease;

Average worktime lost, by:

• nature of injury or disease;
• bodily location of injury or disease;

For each major division of economic activity: number, incidence, frequency and percentage distribution of new cases, by major group of economic activity, sex, jurisdiction and:

• average worktime lost per case;
• nature of injury or disease:
• bodily location of injury or disease;
• mechanism of injury or disease;
• breakdown agency;

For each major occupational group: number, incidence, frequency and percentage distribution of new cases, by minor occupational group, sex, jurisdiction and:

• average worktime lost per case;
• nature of injury or disease:
• bodily location of injury or disease;
• mechanism of injury or disease;
• breakdown agency.

Bibliographic references:

National Occupational Health and Safety Commission: Compendium of Workers' Compensation Statistics, Australia (annual).

idem: ad hoc publications.

Methodological information appears in the above-named publication.

Not all the data are published. Published and unpublished data can be made available on request.

Some of the statistics published are available on the National Occupational Safety and Health Commission (Worksafe Australia) site on the World Wide Web: www.worksafe.gov.au.

Statistical tables can also be provided on diskette.

Data published by ILO:

Confidentiality:

International standards

The NOHSC is a tripartite body comprising representative of the major employee and employer bodies - the Australian Council of Trade Unions and the Australian Chambers of Commerce and Industry - as well as the Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments. Consequently, the representative organizations of employers and workers and other users are involved in all aspects of the NDS.

Method of data collection

Legislation:

The definition of a compensable occupational disease varies slightly across jurisdictions.

Reporting:

The injured employee lodges a claim with the employer, who submits it to the insurance company (if it is not a self insurer). The insurer forwards the claim to the workers' compensation authority.

Data reported:

Changes planned: