ANALYSIS OF CLAIMS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION
INDUSTRY
obligations under the various workers compensation and occupational health and safety legislation that WorkCover NSW administers. To ensure you comply with your legal obligations you must refer to the appropriate Acts.
WorkCover NSW 1998
Information paper produced by Debabrata Midya Statistics enquiries: (02) 9370 5592
ISSN 1327-4066 Catalogue no. 328/97
Workers Compensation Statistics
New South Wales 1996/97
1.0 Introduction
This paper presents a statistical profile of workers compensation claims for injuries sustained by
workers in the construction industry1 of New South Wales. The following table shows the main
industrial activities classified to the construction industry.
Injury statistics in this paper relate to new-major2 workers’ compensation claims. Details provided in
this paper focus on the three main sectors of the industry: building; non-building and special trade construction. The on-going poor occupational health and safety performance of the industry was the main catalyst for the production of this paper.
2.0 Nature of Occurrence
Figure 1 shows the breakdown of the nature of occurrence in the construction industry for the financial year 1996/97 compared to 1995/96. Workplace injuries in 1996/97 increased to 73% from 65% in 1995/96 while occupational diseases in 1996/97 declined to 24% from 33% in 1995/96.
1 The Construction Industry is defined according to Division E : CONSTRUCTION of the Australian Standard Industrial
Classification 1983 (ASIC) published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics: Catalogue No. 1201.0
2
A new-major claim is any claim that is entered on an insurer’s claims register in the relevant financial year and resulted in a fatality, permanent or temporary disability where five or more working days were paid for total incapacity.
Analysis of Claims in the Construction Industry
Non-Workplace Injuries 2%
Figure 1: Nature of occurrence
Table 1: The hierarchical structure of construction industry
Subdivision Group Type of industry
41: General construction 411 Building construction
412 Non-building construction
42: Special trade construction 423 Concreting, bricklaying and tiling
424 Other special trades
3 The incidence of employment injuries is the number of injuries per 1,000 salary and wage earners exposed to risk.
3.0 Employment injuries
Employment injuries comprise of all injuries resulting from accidents, and all occupational diseases contracted or aggravated in the course of a worker’s employment. The extent of disabilities in the construction industry are shown in table 2.
The number of employment injuries by industry are shown in table 3. The number of employment injuries in the construction industry has taken a constant upward trend from 1992/93 to 1995/96 but has decreased in 1996/97 which is mainly due to the decrease in occupational diseases claims from 2,264 in 1995/96 to 1,447 claims in 1996/97.
Table 2: Severity of injuries in the construction industry
Financial Temporary Disability
year Fatal Permanent 6 months Less than Total disability and over 6 months
1991/92 15 1,005 281 3,811 5,112 1992/93 17 1,438 240 3,154 4,849 1993/94 29 2,403 267 3,225 5,924 1994/95 21 2,799 389 3,559 6,768 1995/96 24 2,893 496 3,497 6,910 1996/97 24 2,176 540 3,367 6,107
3.1 Incidence and Frequency Rate
3.1.1
Incidence
The incidence3 rates suggest that persons employed in the construction industry have a much
greater risk of employment injury than the average NSW worker over the period 1991/92 to 1996/97. The average incidence rate for the construction industry (50.7) was almost double the average for all industries (26.7) over the period 1991/92 to 1996/97 (Figure 2). The incidence of employment injuries in the non-building construction industry has risen at a much greater rate than the aggregate of all industries in NSW. The incidence of employment injuries in the non-building sector has taken a constant upward trend from 1991/92 to 1995/96 and decreased in 1996/97 which is mainly due to the decrease in occupational diseases claims from 1,076 in 1995/96 to 539 claims in 1996/97.
Table 3: Employment injuries in the construction industry,
1991/92 to 1996/97
Industry 1991/92 1992/93 1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97
Building construction 1,284 1,201 1,508 1,699 1,619 1,509
Non-building construction 1,417 1,458 1,891 2,190 2,243 1,460
Special trade construction 2,411 2,190 2,525 2,879 3,048 3,138
Figure 3: Frequency rate of employment injuries in the construction industry
compared with all industries
3.2 Time Lost and Gross Incurred Cost (GIC) due to
employment injuries in the construction industry
The time lost5 from employment injuries has increased by 9.3% in 1996/97 compared to 1995/
96 while gross incurred cost6 (GIC) has decreased by 14.9% (Table 4).
4 The frequency rate is the number of injuries per million hours worked.
5 Time lost is calculated for temporary disability claims only and does not include those resulting in 3 or more years off work. 6 Gross Incurred Cost (GIC) are the sum of payments made to the end of the year indicated plus any estimate of future
liability. These costs do not reflect any payments made in any subsequent years.
Figure 2: Incidence of employment injuries in the construction industry
compared with all industries
3.1.2
Frequency Rate
The frequency rate4 has taken similar trend to incidence (Figure 3).
3.3 Number of claims, Time Lost and Gross Incurred Cost for
temporary disability claims
The number of claims over 26 weeks time off work has shown a constant upward trend since 1992/93 (Table 5).
The time lost and GIC for temporary disability claims are given in table 6 for 1995/96 to 1996/97. The total time lost for temporary disability claims in the construction industry was 48,469 weeks, an average of 12.4 weeks per claim for 1996/97 compared to 11.6 weeks for all industries.
Table 4: Time Lost and Gross Incurred Cost in the construction industry,
1991/92 to 1996/97
Year Gross Incurred Cost ($) Time Lost (weeks)
Total Average Median Total Average Median
$’000 1991/92 56,150 10,984 2,679 31,349 7.7 2.9 1992/93 60,293 12,434 3,555 26,655 7.9 3.0 1993/94 84,292 14,229 4,979 29,252 8.4 3.1 1994/95 112,438 16,613 5,000 35,041 9.0 3.0 1995/96 126,637 18,327 5,381 44,360 11.3 3.3 1996/97 107,775 17,648 6,500 48,469 12.4 3.9
Table 5: Number of temporary disability claims by time off work,
1991/92 to 1996/97
Time off work 1991/92 1992/93 1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97
Up to 1 week 383 311 323 390 387 330 Over 1 to 2 weeks 1,142 979 966 1,070 981 943 Over 2 to 4 weeks 935 721 703 826 818 750 Over 4 to 26 weeks 1,351 1,143 1,233 1,273 1,311 1,344 Over 26 weeks 281 240 267 389 496 540 Total 4,092 3,394 3,492 3,948 3,993 3,907
Table 6: Time lost and Gross Incurred Cost for temporary disability claims,
1995/96 to 1996/97
Time off work Time lost (weeks) GIC ($’000)
4.0 Workplace Injuries
Workplace injuries represented a predominant proportion of all employment injuries reported in the construction industry, accounting for an average of 70% of employment injuries for the period 1991/92 to 1996/97. The proportion of workplace injuries to all employment injuries has fluctuated from year to year with a maximum of 79% in 1991/92 and minimum of 63% in1993/94.
4.1 Incidence
The incidence of workplace injuries in the construction industry has remained relatively stable since 1991/92. Within the construction industry, the building sector has shown a decrease in the incidence rate in 1991/92 (38.8) compared to 1995/96 (26.2) and an increase compared to 1996/97 (30.4). However, the non-building sector has shown a large increase in incidence since 1993/94, rising from 59.4 in that year to 89.3 in 1995/96 and decreased to 64.3 in 1996/97.
Figure 4: Incidence of workplace injuries
4.2 Nature of Injury, 1996/97
Total number of claims in the construction industry was approximately 10% of all industries. Sprains and strains of joints and adjacent muscles were the most common cause of injury in the construction industry, accounting for 55% of claims. Other common injuries were fractures and dislocations (16%), and open wound (15%). The number of claims, GIC and time lost due to sprains and strains in the construction industry were approximately 9%, 12% and 9% of all industries respectively (Table 7).
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 1991/92 1992/93 1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 Financial year Incidence All Industries Construction Building Non-building Special Trades
Table 7: Nature of injury/disease, Workplace injuries
Nature of injury/ Total claims GIC ($’000) Time Lost (weeks)
disease Construction All Construction All Construction All
Industries Industries Industries
Fractures and dislocations 723 5,114 16,775 82,231 8,263 53,220
Sprains and strains of joints
and adjacent muscles 2,470 27,610 47,315 405,554 24,595 264,042
Open wound (Not
Traumatic Amputation) 676 5,288 5,503 35,051 4,874 32,786
Superficial injury 68 622 300 3,023 512 5,174
Contusions and crushings 346 3,803 3,928 32,177 2,577 28,169
Burns 65 987 761 7,545 442 5,897
Other 134 1,230 4,097 33,984 1,030 8,667
4.4 Mechanism of injury/disease, 1996/97
Body stressing was the most frequent mechanism of injury/disease in the construction industry, accounting for 34% of the claims. Other common injuries were falls, trips and slips of a person which accounted for 32% of the claims. The number of claims, GIC and time lost due to body stressing were 8%, 11% and 8% of all industries respectively (Table 9).
4.3 Bodily location of injury/disease, 1996/97
The upper limbs (32%) and trunk (32%) were the most frequently injured bodily locations for claims in the construction industry. The number of claims, GIC and time lost due to injuries to upper limbs were 10%, 12% and 10% of all industries respectively (Table 8).
Table 8: Bodily location of injury/disease, Workplace injuries
Bodily Location Total claims GIC ($’000) Time Lost (weeks)
of injury/disease Construction All Construction All Construction All
Industries Industries Industries
Head 141 1,344 2,663 16,083 929 9,762 Neck 82 1,029 1,807 15,752 703 10,000 Trunk 1,424 15,218 29,694 230,110 15,590 146,673 Upper Limbs 1,449 14,317 18,670 155,382 11,891 119,781 Lower Limbs 1,142 9,895 17,385 114,047 10,606 81,786 Multiple Locations and other 244 2,851 8,460 68,191 2,574 29,953 Total 4,482 44,654 78,679 599,565 42,293 397,955
Table 9: Mechanism of injury/disease, Workplace injuries
Mechanism of Total claims GIC ($’000) Time Lost (weeks)
injury / disease Construction All Construction All Construction All
Industries Industries Industries
Falls, trips & slips
of a person 1,423 11,383 27,300 154,891 15,304 105,799
Hitting objects with a part
of the body 538 4,440 4,645 31,975 4,198 28,815
Being hit by moving object 808 8,159 13,302 99,809 6,067 63,317
Body stressing 1,529 18,265 29,670 275,334 15,047 180,860
Heat, radiation & electricity 60 860 786 6,734 427 5,445
Chemicals & other substances 28 300 246 2,968 268 1,864
Other and unspecified
mechanisms of injury 96 1,247 2,730 27,854 982 11,855
5.0 Occupation Statistics
Figure 5 shows five occupation groups with the highest number of injuries in 1996/97. The carpenters, joiners and wood tradespersons sustained the highest number of injuries, 799 (13%) of 6,107 injuries for the whole of NSW construction industry in 1996/97. The number of injuries for the above occupation groups are also presented for the year 1995/96.
4.5 Agency of injury/disease, 1996/97
Non-powered handtools, appliances and equipment were the most frequent agency of injury/disease in the construction industry accounting for 26% of claims. Other common agencies of injury/disease were materials and substances which accounted for 25% of claims. The number of claims, GIC and time lost due to non-powered handtools, appliances and equipment are 9%, 13% and 10% of all industries respectively (Table 10).
Table 10: Agency of injury/disease, Workplace injuries
Agency of injury / Total claims GIC ($’000) Time Lost (weeks) disease Construction All Construction All Construction All
Industries Industries Industries
Machinery and (Mainly)
Fixed Plant 285 3,519 4,604 50,606 2,200 25,927
Mobile Plant & Transport 435 4,032 8,622 62,697 3,995 34,886
Powered Equipment,
Tools & Appliances 254 2,123 3,637 29,835 1,447 18,483
Non-Powered Handtools,
Appliances & Equipment 1,165 12,806 18,706 146,919 12,010 118,871
Chemicals and
chemical products 55 439 978 5,200 640 3,393
Materials & substances 1,108 5,937 18,537 74,666 9,633 49,049
Environmental agencies 755 7,682 14,485 103,439 7,905 72,202
Animal, human
and biological agencies 24 4,055 273 52,710 298 36,479
Other & unspecified agenci 401 4,061 8,837 73,493 4,165 38,665
Total 4,482 44,654 78,679 599,565 42,293 397,955
Figure 5: Employment Injuries by Occupation
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 Plant & machine
operators Other construction &
mining labourers Other labourers &
related w orkers Trades assistants &
factory hands Carpenters, Joiners &
Wood tradespersons
Occupation
Number of claims
5.2 Deafness
The increase in the rate of occupational diseases over the period 1991/92-1995/96 is mostly due to the number of reported claims for deafness. In relation to claims for deafness, the number of reported claims has risen from 586 in 1991/92 to 1,893 in 1995/96, an increase of 1,307 claims or 223% and decreased to 1,061 in 1996/97. The non-building sector accounted for 51% (970) and 42% (449) of all deafness claims in the construction industry during 1995/96 and 1996/97 respectively.
5.1 Occupational Diseases
The incidence of occupational diseases in the construction industry has risen at a much greater rate than that of all industries. Within the construction industry the most notable increase in the incidence rate occurred in the non-building sector where the rate of increase was well over 300% in 1995/96 (86.7) compared to 1991/92 (20.6), however the incidence rate in the non-building sector decreased from 86.7 (1995/96) to 39.0 in the year 1996/97.
Figure 6: Incidence of occupational diseases in the construction industry
6.0 Types of Payments
The statistics presented in this section relate to all claims of employment injury (including payments for claims with less than 5 days off work as well as those for outstanding claims from earlier years) in the construction industry for which payments were made during the period 1994/95 to 1996/97. The total payment for the construction industry has taken a constant upward trend since 1994/95. The total payment has increased by 32% in 1996/97 compared to 1995/96.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 1991/92 1992/93 1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 Financial year Incidence All Industry Construction Building Non-building Special Trades
Table 11: Payments for employment injuries in the construction industry
for 1994/95 to 1996/97
Year ended Total compensation Total non-compensation Total payments 30 June payments ($'000) payments ($'000) ($'000)
Construction All Construction All Construction All
Industries Industries Industries
1994/95 127,514 1,144,937 42,048 387,461 169,562 1,532,398
1995/96 131,600 1,200,219 45,902 388,441 177,502 1,588,660
WorkCover NSW 92-100 Donnison Street Gosford NSW 2250
