The Incidence of Accepted Workers’ Compensation Claims for Mental Stress in Australia

In April of 2013, Safe Work Australia published their first report devoted to work-related mental stress.   

Some of the key findings in the report were:- 

·           Mental stress claims are the most expensive form of workers’ compensation claims because of the often lengthy periods of absence from work typical of these claims. 

·           Mental stress claims are predominantly made by women. 

·           Men and women are more likely to make a claim for mental stress as they get older but after they reach 54 years the likelihood that they made a claim decreases. 

·           More Professionals made claims for mental stress than other any other occupation with over a third of their claims made for Work pressure. 

·           There were more mental stress claims made for Work pressure than any other sub-category. 

·           The hazards that result in mental stress claims vary with worker age. Younger workers are more likely to make claims as a result of Exposure to workplace or occupational violence, whereas Work pressure is the main cause of mental stress claims for older workers, peaking for those aged 45–49 years. 

·           General clerks, School teachers and Police Officers accounted for the majority of claims for Work pressure. 

·           Women were around three times more likely than men to make a workers’ compensation claim due to Work-related harassment &/or workplace bullying. Approximately one-third of all claims in this mental stress sub-category were made by workers in the occupational categories of Advanced clerical & service workers and General clerks. 

·           For the industries with the highest number/rate of mental stress claims, the majority of claims were for Work pressure. This was particularly true in the Education sector. Claims for Exposure to workplace or occupational violence were notable in the Retail trade industry, while the Transport & storage and Health & community services industries dominated claims for Exposure to a traumatic event. 

Work-related mental stress has been described as the adverse reaction experienced by workers when workplace demands and responsibilities are greater than the worker can comfortably manage or are beyond the workers’ capabilities.  Although mental stress is a state of mind and body rather than an illness per se if it is experienced over a long period of time without resolution it can contribute to the development of serious physical and mental illnesses. As well as causing distress and illness to workers, mental stress reduces organisational productivity and can be a considerable burden on health and welfare services. 

Mental stress includes sub-categories distinguished by the nature of the actions, exposures and events that might lead to disorders as specified. The sub categories are: 

Ø   Work pressure  —mental stress disorders arising from work responsibilities and workloads, deadlines, organisational restructure, workplace interpersonal conflicts and workplace performance or promotion issues. 

Ø   Exposure to workplace or occupational violence  —includes being the victim of assault by a person or persons who may or may not be work colleagues; and being a victim of or witnessing bank robberies, hold-ups and other violent events.  

Ø   Exposure to traumatic event  —disorders arising from witnessing a fatal or other incident.  

Ø   Suicide or attempted suicide  —includes all suicides regardless of circumstances of death and all attempted suicides. 

Ø   Other mental stress factors  —includes dietary or deficiency diseases (Bulimia, Anorexia).  

Ø   Work-related harassment &/or workplace bullying  —repetitive assault and/or threatened assault by a work colleague or colleagues; and repetitive verbal harassment, threats, and abuse from a work colleague or colleagues. 

Ø  Other harassment  —being the victim of sexual or racial harassment by a person or persons including work colleague/s. 

Percentage of accepted claims by sub-category

Effects of work-related mental stress and prevention 

Over the past few decades researchers have found links between work-related mental stress, particularly when it is experienced for prolonged periods, and the development of a number of physical and mental illnesses.   Short-lived and infrequent bouts of stress do not usually pose a risk to the health and wellbeing of employees; it is when the stressful situations are unresolved that it can result in harm. 

Work-related mental stress can be linked with an increased risk of developing the following conditions:-   Anxiety;  Depression;  Aggression;  Burnout;  Fatigue; and Social & Behavioural health (harmful behaviours such as physical inactivity, alcohol abuse, smoking, poor diet and sleeping disorders— these are known risk factors for diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers).

The gender differences 

Female employees in the years 2008/2009 to 2010/2011, accounted for 58.6% of all accepted Mental stress claims—this contrasts with all accepted workers’ compensation claims in general, where female employees accounted for 33.6% of claims. 

Occupational differences 

Common threads running through these occupational differences  include high levels of personal responsibility for the welfare of other people and where there is potential exposure to dangerous situations. Groupings included: 

·           Drivers for public transport  —Train drivers & assistants (1025 claims per 100 million hours worked: the highest male frequency rate, about 26 times the overall male frequency rate which was 39); and Bus and tram drivers. 

·           Law and order occupations  —Police officers (767 claims per 100 million hours worked); Prison officers; and Guards & security officers. 

·           Caring professionals  —Ambulance officers & paramedics (542 claims per 100 million hours worked); Welfare & community workers; Welfare associate professionals; Personal care & nursing assistants and Special care workers. 

·           Teachers  —Secondary school teachers (146 claims per 100 million hours worked), Primary school teachers; and Education managers. 

Age differences 

The report shows a female bias in Mental stress claims in all age groups. For both men and women a Mental stress claim was most likely among employees aged 40–59 years—particularly those aged 55–59 years for men and 50–54 years for women.

Claims by age and gender.

Read full report:-  

http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/swa/about/publications

/pages/workers-compensation-claims-for-mental-stress-in-australia  

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