Safe workplaces

The Values require safe, as well as fair, flexible and rewarding workplaces. APS employers also 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 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 in ensuring that they do not create a risk, or increase an existing risk, to their own health and safety, or that of other persons.

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

Safety is everyone’s responsibility and sustained effort is required to minimise both the human and financial cost of workplace injury and disease throughout APS employment.

The Australian Government’s workers’ compensation scheme provides fair and generous benefits and compares favourably against other state and/or 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 2005–06, Australian Government agencies will pay around $187 million in workers’ compensation premiums, with APS agencies contributing around $147 million. The overall premium rate for Australian Government agencies increased from 1% of payroll for 2001–02 to 1.77% for 2005–06, which translates to $1116 per full-time equivalent (FTE) employee. This represents a 6% increase in the last year and a 77% growth in premium rates over the last four years.

Figures 5.11, 5.12 and 5.13 show the average performance of all APS agencies from 2000–01 to 2004–05 against three key performance indicators. They also show the average performance of the 15 APS agencies with the highest premium rates for 2005–06 against the same three 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 days and 60 or more days off work (which are good indicators of return to work performance).

Figure 5.11 shows that the performance of all APS agencies and the 15 APS agencies paying the highest premium rates for 2005–06 has continued to deteriorate against the first indicator (five or more days off work).

Figure 5.11: Incidence of injuries resulting in five or more days off work, 2000–01 to 2004–05

Source: Comcare

As Figures 5.12 and 5.13 show, the incidence of injuries that resulted in 30 and 60 or more days off work has also continued to deteriorate. Again, the deterioration in performance was more significant for those 15 agencies with the highest premium rates. This deterioration largely reflects the increased numbers of complex claims for conditions such as psychological injury, and the increased time off work per claim.

Figure 5.12: Incidence of injuries resulting in 30 or more days off work, 2000–01 to 2004–05

Source: Comcare

Figure 5.13: Incidence of injuries resulting in 60 or more days off work, 2000–01 to 2004–05

Source: Comcare

In 2002, the Workplace Relations Ministers’ Council endorsed the National Occupational Health and Safety Strategy 2002–2012. As part of that strategy, Ministers stated their commitment to achieving national targets to:

• sustain a significant and continual reduction in the incidence of work-related fatalities with a reduction of at least 20% by 30 June 2012 (with a 10% reduction by 30 June 2007)
• reduce the incidence of workplace injury by at least 40% by 30 June 2012 (with a 20% reduction by 30 June 2007).

The Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission adopted the National Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Strategy targets, but went further by setting a zero target for workplace fatalities for the Commonwealth jurisdiction. This excludes death from disease and commuting claims, and takes into account declarations by the Minister for Defence of warlike and non-warlike operations for military personnel. The Commission also extended the workplace injury target to include disease and commuting injuries. Performance against the targets will be reported in 2007, once the first milestone is reached.

In addition to these targets, Australian Government premium paying agencies have been asked to adopt a further two targets to improve return to work and injury management by:

• reducing the average weeks lost due to injury by at least 40% by 2012
• reducing the average time taken for return to work activity to commence by 90% by 2012.

In June 2003, large premium paying agencies (with 1000 or more employees) were invited to sign a ‘statement of commitment’ towards achieving these four targets. This initiative was extended in February 2004 to medium premium paying agencies (with between 500 and 999 employees) and to small premium paying agencies in November 2004.

As at 30 June 2005, 23 current APS agencies (listed in the table below) had signed a ‘statement of commitment’. Based on FTE employee data, this group of agencies covers more than three-quarters of the workforce employed by APS agencies. The Family Court of Australia (the Family Court) has determined a signing date with Comcare for early 2005–06.

In implementing target setting, agencies have been encouraged to monitor their performance using Comcare’s Customer Information System (CIS) and to report on their own performance in their annual reports. Workshops have also been held to assist agencies to develop strategies to improve performance against the targets.

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