Number of work-related injuries in decline

Total work-related injury claims fell from 246,800 claims in 2005 to 235,000 claims in 2007, Statistics New Zealand said today. Provisionally, there were 224,900 work-related claims for the year ended December 2008. Work-related claims are those made to the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) for injuries occurring while a worker is at work or travelling to or from work.

As total claims have fallen, so has the incidence rate of injury. The incidence rate is calculated by dividing the number of claims by the number of full-time equivalent employees (FTEs). Elementary occupations such as labourers traditionally have the highest incidence rate, but this has fallen from a high of 292 claims per 1,000 FTEs in 2005 to 273 claims per 1,000 FTEs in 2007. In 2008, the provisional incidence rate for elementary occupations was 239 claims per 1,000 FTEs.

While the number of claims lodged by those aged 65 and over has increased, rising steadily from 8,800 claims in 2005 to 9,600 in 2007, the incidence rate for this age group has fallen from 217 claims per 1,000 FTEs in 2005 to 183 claims per 1,000 FTEs in 2007.

Entitlement payments are for injuries that result in the payment of weekly compensation, treatment and rehabilitation payments, or death payments. Entitlement claims make up about 14 percent of all claims. The number of entitlement claims fell from 34,900 in 2005 to 33,700 in 2007. The provisional number of claims involving entitlements for 2008 was 30,100. The majority of work-related claims involve medical fees only, such as payments to doctors and physiotherapists.

In 2008, entitlement claims by males (22,500) far outnumbered entitlement claims by females (7,700). Plant machine operators and assemblers made the largest number of claims, with 7,000, which was 23 percent of all entitlement claims.