On this page:
- Serious claims overall statistics, 2017–18p*
- Trends in the rates of serious claims, 2017–18p*
- Serious claims by gender, 2017–18p*
- Serious claims by age group, 2017–18p*
- Serious claims by mechanism of incident, 2017–18p*
- Serious claims by nature of injury/disease, 2017–18p*
- Serious claims by bodily location of injury, 2017–18p*
- Serious claims by occupation, 2017–18p*
- Serious claims by industry, 2017–18p*
Safe Work Australia compiles the National Dataset for Compensation-based Statistics which comprises information on workers' compensation claims provided by each of the jurisdictional workers' compensation authorities.
Data in this report refers to serious claims only. Serious claims relate to where the compensated injury or disease resulted in one week or more off work. Data for 2017-18 is preliminary (denoted by a ‘p’) and therefore is subject to revision in subsequent years as further claims are finalised.
Serious claim numbers are rounded to the nearest five and as such the figures may not add to the total. Further explanatory notes on the data can be found in the Explanatory notes for Safe Work Australia datasets.
Serious claims overall statistics, 2017–18p*
*preliminary data subject to revision in subsequent years as further claims are finalised.
Trends in the rates of serious claims, 2017–18p*
*preliminary data subject to revision in subsequent years as further claims are finalised.
Serious claims by gender, 2017–18p*
| Gender | Number of serious claims | Frequency rate (serious claims per million hours worked) |
Incidence rate (serious claims per 1,000 employees) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 39,235 | 4.8 | 6.9 |
| Male | 68,100 | 6.0 | 11.2 |
| Total | 107,335 | 5.5 | 9.1 |
*preliminary data subject to revision in subsequent years as further claims are finalised.
Serious claims by age group, 2017–18p*
| Age group (years) | Number of serious claims | Frequency rate (serious claims per million hours worked) |
Incidence rate (serious claims per 1,000 employees) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 20 | 3,775 | 6.2 | 5.5 |
| 20-24 | 9,780 | 5.3 | 7.7 |
| 25-29 | 11,085 | 4.4 | 7.6 |
| 30-34 | 10,460 | 4.3 | 7.4 |
| 35-39 | 10,420 | 4.5 | 8.0 |
| 40-44 | 11,435 | 5.2 | 9.2 |
| 45-49 | 13,540 | 5.9 | 10.6 |
| 50-54 | 13,420 | 6.7 | 12.0 |
| 55-59 | 12,410 | 7.2 | 12.5 |
| 60-64 | 7,870 | 7.7 | 12.2 |
| 65 and over | 3,145 | 5.9 | 8.1 |
| Total | 107,335 | 5.5 | 9.1 |
*preliminary data subject to revision in subsequent years as further claims are finalised.
Serious claims by mechanism of incident, 2017–18p*
| Mechanism of incident | Serious claims | Per cent |
|---|---|---|
| Body stressing | 38,770 | 36 |
| Falls, trips and slips of a person | 24,890 | 23 |
| Being hit by moving objects | 17,160 | 16 |
| Mental stress | 7,685 | 7 |
| Hitting objects with a part of the body | 7,485 | 7 |
| Other mechanisms of incident** | 6,440 | 6 |
| Vehicle collisions*** | 2,580 | 2 |
| Heat, electricity and other environmental factors | 1,485 | 1 |
| Chemicals and other substances | 835 | 1 |
| Total | 107,335 | 100 |
* preliminary data subject to revision in subsequent years as further claims are finalised.
** other mechanisms of incident include biological factors, sound and pressure, other multiple mechanisms of incident, roll over, slide or cave-in and unspecified mechanisms of incident.
*** Vehicle collisions include claims where the injury was the direct result of a vehicle crash. Vehicles include not only road vehicles such as cars and trucks, but also machines such as aircraft, boats, loaders, tractors and quad bikes.
Serious claims by nature of injury/disease, 2017–18p*
| Nature of injury/disease | Serious claims | Per cent |
|---|---|---|
| Traumatic joint/ligament and muscle/tendon injury | 43,880 | 41% |
| Wounds, lacerations, amputations and internal organ damage | 16,815 | 16% |
| Musculoskeletal and connective tissue diseases | 15,320 | 14% |
| Fractures | 11,765 | 11% |
| Mental disorders | 8,095 | 8% |
| Other injuries** | 3,435 | 3% |
| Digestive system diseases | 2,070 | 2% |
| Intracranial injuries | 1,795 | 2% |
| Burn | 1,685 | 2% |
| Nervous system and sense organ diseases | 1,105 | 1% |
| Total*** | 107,335 | 100% |
*preliminary data subject to revision in subsequent years as further claims are finalised.
**Other injuries includes those related to poisoning, electrocution, air pressure, weather conditions, unspecified injuries and injuries not classified elsewhere.
***Injuries or diseases accounting for less than 1% of serious claims are not included separately but are included in the total
Serious claims by bodily location of injury, 2017–18p*
| Body location of injury/disease | Serious claims | Per cent |
|---|---|---|
| Arms/upper limbs | 26,420 | 25% |
| Lower limbs | 25,040 | 23% |
| Back | 19,880 | 19% |
| Neck and shoulder | 13,090 | 12% |
| Non physical locations | 8,090 | 8% |
| Other locations*** | 4,970 | 5% |
| Chest/abdomen | 4,610 | 4% |
| Head | 3,565 | 3% |
| Total** | 107,335 | 100% |
*preliminary data subject to revision in subsequent years as further claims are finalised.
**claim numbers are rounded to the nearest five. Claims where the bodily location was unknown are not included separately, but are included in the total.
*** Other locations include multiple locations, systemic locations, and trunk excluding chest and abdomen
Serious claims by occupation, 2017–18p*
*preliminary data subject to revision in subsequent years as further claims are finalised.
| Occupation | Number of serious claims | Frequency rate (serious claims per million hours worked) |
Incidence rate (serious claims per 1,000 employees) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Labourers | 27,140 | 16.8 | 24.1 |
| Community and personal service workers | 18,895 | 11.1 | 14.1 |
| Machinery operators and drivers | 15,280 | 10.4 | 20.3 |
| Technicians and trades workers | 17,330 | 5.9 | 11.3 |
| Sales workers | 6,390 | 4.3 | 5.6 |
| Professionals | 10,960 | 2.2 | 3.8 |
| Clerical and administrative workers | 4,355 | 1.7 | 2.7 |
| Managers | 4,405 | 1.6 | 3.2 |
| Total** | 107,335 | 5.5 | 9.1 |
*preliminary data subject to revision in subsequent years as further claims are finalised.
**claim numbers are rounded to the nearest five. Claims where the occupation was unknown are not included separately, but are included in the total.
Serious claims by industry, 2017–18p*
*preliminary data subject to revision in subsequent years as further claims are finalised.
**‘Other industries’ includes all other industries excluding the top seven industries by number of serious claims.
| Industry | Number of serious claims | Frequency rate (serious claims per million hours worked) |
Incidence rate (serious claims per 1,000 employees) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 3,560 | 8.6 | 16.7 |
| Manufacturing | 12,925 | 8.1 | 15.2 |
| Transport, postal and warehousing | 8,515 | 7.7 | 14.7 |
| Construction | 13,855 | 7.5 | 15.0 |
| Health care and social assistance | 17,345 | 7.2 | 10.5 |
| Wholesale trade | 4,660 | 7.0 | 13.2 |
| Arts and recreation services | 2,120 | 6.8 | 8.6 |
| Administrative and support services | 4,880 | 6.8 | 10.8 |
| Public administration and safety | 8,305 | 6.6 | 11.0 |
| Accommodation and food services | 5,985 | 5.3 | 6.6 |
| Retail trade | 8,190 | 4.6 | 6.4 |
| Mining | 2,140 | 4.3 | 9.7 |
| Other services | 2,890 | 4.2 | 7.1 |
| Education and training | 6,685 | 4.2 | 6.4 |
| Electricity, gas, water and waste services | 1,120 | 3.9 | 7.6 |
| Rental, hiring and real estate services | 1,050 | 2.9 | 5.1 |
| Information media and telecommunications | 470 | 1.3 | 2.2 |
| Professional, scientific and technical services | 1,905 | 1.1 | 2.0 |
| Financial and insurance services | 655 | 0.9 | 1.5 |
| Total** | 107,335 | 5.5 | 9.1 |
*preliminary data subject to revision in subsequent years as further claims are finalised.
**claim numbers are rounded to the nearest five. Claims where the industry was unknown are not included separately, but are included in the total.
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