The rate of injuries in Victorian (Australia) workplaces has reached a new record low, according to the half-yearly results released recently by WorkSafe Victoria.
As of Dec. 31, 2015 there were 7 claims per million hours worked (MHW) in Victorian workplaces, compared to 7.34 claims recorded at the end of 2014/15 – a fall of 4.6 percent.
The safety results were released by WorkSafe chief executive Clare Amies at a briefing to key stakeholders at the Melbourne Town Hall.
Amies said that while employment in Victoria had grown strongly, the injury claims rate had continued to fall.
“However, we know we cannot take this for granted. There’s a long way to go in making Victorian workplaces even safer,” she said.
Amies said WorkSafe’s Performance from Insurance Operations (PFIO) for the six months to Dec. 31, was $99 million, which was $139 million below target.
“The unfavorable variance in PFIO is mainly due to an actuarial increase of $134 million,” Amies said.
“We have been forecasting that actuarial releases would become harder to achieve following the significant claims management practice and scheme efficiency improvements over the past decade.”
She said the net result after tax was -$162 million, which was $335 million below budget. This was due to a number of external factors, primarily unfavorable investment returns.
Amies noted the scheme remained financially sound but growth in common law liabilities posed a challenge.
“The scheme is continuing to see growth in annual common law lodgements, and also significant increases in applications relating to injuries at the less serious end of the severity scale,” Amies added.
“Careful management of common law claims is required to ensure the scheme’s long-term financial sustainability.
Author Kori Shafer-Stack, Editor, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in post-injury response procedures and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: kstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.
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