In 2012–13, work-related injury and disease cost the Australian economy $61.8 billion, representing 4.1% of GDP.
- The majority of the cost (95%) was borne by individuals and society.
- Workers bore 77%, the community 18% and employers 5%.
- Injuries accounted for $28 billion (45%) of the cost.
Breakdown of type of injury and illness
- Over one third of the total number of cases and total economic cost for work-related injuries and illness were associated with body stressing or manual handling cases.
- Causes that were more associated with disease cases such as sound and pressure, biological factors and mental stress, had a higher unit cost than those largely associated with injuries, such as falls and trips and body stressing.
- While mental stress cases made up 2% of the total number of cases, they accounted for 5% of the total economic cost.
|
Mechanism |
Total cost ($ million) |
Distribution (%) |
Unit cost |
|||
|
Injury |
Disease |
Total |
Costs |
Cases |
$/case |
|
|
Fall, trips and slips of a person |
6,640 |
4,910 |
11,550 |
19 |
21 |
104,370 |
|
Hitting objects with part of the body |
2,860 |
3,090 |
5,950 |
10 |
11 |
103,850 |
|
Being hit by objects |
4,530 |
2,970 |
7,500 |
12 |
15 |
95,550 |
|
Sound and pressure |
80 |
1,550 |
1,630 |
3 |
1 |
243,460 |
|
Body stressing |
10,390 |
14,370 |
24,760 |
40 |
40 |
115,780 |
|
Heat, radiation and electricity |
830 |
610 |
1,440 |
2 |
2 |
130,320 |
|
Chemicals and other substances |
660 |
1,390 |
2,050 |
3 |
3 |
148,090 |
|
Biological factors |
110 |
460 |
570 |
1 |
0 |
348,370 |
|
Mental stress |
20 |
3,080 |
3,100 |
5 |
2 |
292,770 |
|
Other and unspecified mechanisms |
2,120 |
1,100 |
3,220 |
5 |
5 |
125,100 |
|
Australia |
28,240 |
33,530 |
61,770 |
100 |
100 |
116,580 |
a Units are rounded to the nearest $100 million