Chapter 5: Equity and diversity

Abbreviations

A list of the abbreviations used in this report is available in the Glossary

Safe workplaces

The APS Values require that safe, as well as fair, flexible and rewarding workplaces are provided to employees. APS agencies have responsibilities under the Occupational Health and Safety (Commonwealth Employment) Act 1991 to take all reasonably practicable steps to protect the health and safety of their employees while at work. This general duty of care extends to the provision and maintenance of a safe working environment and systems of work, including adequate facilities for employees’ welfare. APS employees are required to cooperate with their employer to ensure that they do not create a risk, or increase an existing risk, to their own health and safety or that of other persons.

Although the primary focus should be injury prevention, under the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 responsibility extends to APS agencies and injured employees to work together to ensure timely and durable return to work is achieved.

The Australian Government’s workers’ compensation scheme provides fair and generous benefits and compares favourably against other state/territory schemes on premium rates. However, increases in premiums over recent years indicate that APS agencies need to improve both their injury prevention and their return to work strategies.

For 2006–07, Australian Government premium paying employers will pay around $206 million in workers’ compensation premiums, with APS agencies contributing around $168 million. The overall premium rate for Australian Government employers has increased from 1.00% of payroll for 2001–02 to 1.77% for 2006–07, which translates to $1,167 per full-time equivalent (FTE) employee.The overall premium rate for APS agencies in 2006–07 is 1.91%, which translates to $1,193 per FTE employee.

Figure 5.19 shows the performance of current APS agencies from 2001–02 to 2005–06 against three key performance indicators. The performance indicators used are:

the incidence rate (number of claims per 1000 FTE employees) for compensated workplace injuries that resulted in five or more days off work
the incidence rate for compensated workplace injuries that accumulated 30 or more days off work (an indicator of return to work performance)
the incidence rate for compensated workplace injuries that accumulated 60 or more days off work (an indicator of return to work performance).

Although there was an increasing trend in the incidence of claims accumulating 30 and 60 or more day’s incapacity in the years to 2004–05, performance of APS employers improved marginally against these indicators in 2005–06. Irrespective of the reduction in 2005–06, the significant proportion of claims progressing to 30 and 60 days’ incapacity suggests that timeliness and effectiveness of rehabilitation may be an ongoing issue.

Figure 5.19: Incidence rate for compensated workplace injuries that resulted in 5, 30 and 60 or more days off work—all APS employers

Source: Comcare

In 2002 the Workplace Relations Ministers’ Council endorsed the National Occupational Health and Safety Strategy 2002–2012 (the National OHS Strategy), which sets two national targets and providesthe framework for ensuring there is a sustained and substantial improvement in Australia’s occupational health and safety performance.

The Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission adopted the National OHS Strategy targetsfor the Australian Government jurisdiction, but went further by setting a zero target for workplace fatalities—this excludes death from disease and commuting claims.The Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission also extended the workplace injury target to include disease and commuting injuries.

In addition to these targets, Australian Government premium paying employers have been asked to adopt a further two targets—focusing on the duration of injury and the timeliness of rehabilitation intervention. In the ten years to 30 June 2012, the four targets aim to:

reduce the incidence of workplace injury and disease by 40% (T1)
eliminate all fatalities due to work-related injury (T2)
reduce the average lost time rate by 40% (T3)
reduce the average time taken for rehabilitation intervention by 90% (T4).

Figures 5.20, 5.21 and 5.22 show that there have been variable results against three of the four indicators mentioned above over the last 5 years.

Figure 5.20: Incidence of workplace injury and disease (T1 indicator)

Figure 5.20 shows the incidence of workplace injury and disease from 2001–02 to 2005–06. Over the period there has been a general trend to increase in the number of claims per 1000 FTE employees with the exception of 2005–06 which shows a decline in the number of claims, but still higher than that reported in 2001–02.
Click to download Figure 5.20 as an MS Excel file

Source: Comcare

Figure 5.21: Incidence of lost time due to injury (T3 indicator)

Figure 5.21 shows the incidence of lost time due to injury from 2001–02 to 2005–06. Over the period there has been a gradual increase in the number of weeks lost per 1000 FTE employees.
Click to download Figure 5.21 as an MS Excel file

Source: Comcare

Figure 5.22: Average time taken for rehabilitation intervention (T4 indicator)

Figure 5.22 shows the average time taken in weeks for rehabilitation intervention from 2001–02 to 2005–06. Over the period the rate of intervention has dropped slightly, however, the last two years have seen an increase from the low reported in 2003–04.
Click to download Figure 5.22 as an MS Excel file

Source: Comcare

There is a need for substantial improvement, particularly in the area of return to work performance, as the reductions required to meet these targets are not being achieved. Since the 2001–02 base year, current APS employers have recorded:

a 5% increase in the incidence of workplace injury and disease
a 32% increase in the average lost time rate
an 8% reduction in the average time taken for rehabilitation intervention.

Developing a strong safety and injury management culture within an organisation relies on commitment and leadership from senior management. Australian Government employers have been invited to sign a ‘statement of commitment’ signifying their commitment of working towards achieving the National OHS Strategy targets.

As at 30 June 2006, 39 current APS agencies (an increase of 16 agencies on last year) had signed a ‘statement of commitment’. Based on FTE employee data, this group of agencies covers 85% of the workforce employed in the APS. A list of Australian Government employers that have signed a ‘statement of commitment’ is available on the Comcare website (http://www.comcare.gov.au).

Performance reports are available to APS agencies through Comcare’s Customer Information System (CIS). CIS is an online system, which enables these employers to access their own detailed claims information and summary level data. In implementing target setting, APS agencies have been encouraged to monitor their performance using Comcare’s CIS and report their own performance in their annual reports.

Comcare continues to work in partnership with employers and stakeholders to achieve improvements in injury/disease prevention and management. A number of publications are available on Comcare’s website to assist APS agencies to develop strategies to improve their performance against the targets.

Next page: Key chapter findings