Work-related injury claims remain steady

Provisional work-related injury claims for 2007 are comparable to final figures from 2006, Statistics New Zealand said today. These statistics are derived from claims to the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC).

ACC accepted 231,300 claims for work-related injuries that occurred in 2007 (as reported by 31 March 2008), made by 205,500 workers. Figures for 2007 reveal a rate of around 122 claims per 1,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees. Males accounted for almost three-quarters of all lodged claims (72 percent).

Around 30,000 entitlement claims (claims that result in the the payment of earnings-related compensation, the independence allowance, rehabilitation costs, or death benefits) were lodged for work-related injuries that occurred in 2007. Figures show an incidence rate of 16 claims per 1,000 FTEs.

There were 67 fatal injury claims made to ACC in 2007. The incidence rate was four claims per 100,000 FTEs.

Final figures for the period 2002–06 show that the annual number of work-related injury claims fell slightly over the five years, dropping 0.5 percent from 2002 to 2006.