Tradies Make 60% of Serious Injury Claims In Australia

Workplace Injury

Workplace injury or other types of job and career-related injuries are best avoided. However, in spite of the best efforts, accidents do happen. In some cases, the accidents result in serious injuries. Getting treated for such injuries in hospital and nursing homes is extremely expensive and for many it is simply out of reach and unaffordable. Hence, they will have to depend on health and hospitalisation benefits. Insurance plays an important role and it helps the job-goers in general get reasonably adequate coverage for meeting such expenses.

 

WHO ARE MOST PRONE TO INJURIES?

 

Different professionals and job-goers have different types of risks. According to workplace injury statistics, for example, a person who is into a white-collar job in an office is likely to have much lesser risk of injuries when compared to a tradie. A tradie, as most Australians would be aware is a tradesperson. They are skilled manual workers who specialise in a specific area, craft or trade. Today, being a tradie is considered to be one of the best career options because of the increasing demand for such professionals. They are in the highest bracket as far as salaries, wages and other perks and emoluments are concerned.

 

However, not many people may perhaps be aware of the fact that for Tradies workplace injuries are a big danger. Yes, when it comes to insurance compensations, this particular segment of professionals are the ones who get the most compensation as far as work-related accidents, injuries and other such mishaps are concerned. What is the reason for this? Amongst this big category of tradies, which kind of tradespersons are prone to more injury when compared to others? These are some of the questions that come to the mind of many people. We are making an effort in this article to try and classify as to which category of traders are likely to be most seriously injured. We believe that it will be useful from two particular points of view. First and foremost, having a reasonably good idea about such a list will help the insurance companies when it comes to underwriting and also for better risk-assessment. Secondly, it certainly will help the tradies to be aware of the inherent risks that they carry when they are into their daily works.

 

WHICH INDUSTRY FACES THE BIGGEST RISK AND THREAT OF ACCIDENTS?

 

Though there are many industries where tradies work and earn their bread, not all industries are the same when it comes to threat perceptions and other related problems. Tradies are there working in large numbers on mining and excavation, manufacturing, food processing and most importantly in the construction industry. According to expert studies and based on research findings, there are reasons to believe that tradies who are working in construction sites are the ones who are likely to be impacted the most by the threats of accidents, injuries and other such mishaps.

 

There are reasons for this. The construction industry has been booming over the past decade or so and has been showing an average CAGR of 33% in the past ten years and more. However, it is quite possible that things would have certainly slowed down in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. But this will not be a permanent feature and it will be a matter of time before growth will come back to normal levels. Tradies constitute 30% of the total workforce across all industries but they account for 58% of serious claims. Hence it is quite obvious that there are more accidents that involve tradies especially in the construction industry. This point is worth noting both by the tradesmen community as a whole and the insurance companies as a whole.

118,800 jobs are projected to be added by May 2023.

Image source: Australian Jobs

WHICH TRADIES ARE PRONE TO MORE INJURIES AND CLAIMS

 

Within the entire group of tradies, carpenters and joiners account for the most likely to be impacted by serious injuries. They account for 13%. They are followed by plumbers, electricians, plumbing and building labourers, structural construction workers, concreters, truck drivers, earthmoving plant operators, painting tradies workers and plasterers. The risk percentages of the above categories except carpenters and joiners range from 8% to 2%.

 

WHY ARE THE CAUSES?

There are a host of reasons for such injuries. However, the most common reasons are because of carrying, lifting or pulling objects. This often leads to body stressing, muscle stress and other such problems. Other contributory factors include trips, slips and falls. These could be from the same level or it could be from a height.

 

WORKPLACE DEATHS BY EVENT

Roughly 40% of workplace deaths occurred in transportation incidents. The leading cause of workplace deaths was overwhelmingly motor vehicle accidents. Other leading causes of death while working are fall/slips and trips, being struck by objects or equipment, and exposure to harmful chemicals.

  • Transportation incidents – 40%
  • Falls, slips, trips – 17%
  • Violence and other injuries by persons or animals – 16%
  • Contact with objects and equipment – 14%
  • Exposure to harmful substances or environments – 10%
  • Fires and explosions – 2%

 

Tradies often get injured when they get hit by objects and this could because of falling objects or moving objects. A few of them face injuries because of other mechanisms. The figures are quite interesting for the period 2008 to 2013. According to this figure around 619,000 claims for worker’s compensation claims were paid for serious injuries. Body stressing contributed to 37% of such claims in the construction industry. This was followed by trips, slips and falls with 27%. Being hit by moving objects contributed to 17% of serious injuries and 10% injury compensations were because of the tradies hitting objects with some part of their bodies. Other mechanisms accounted for only 8% of such injuries and resultant compensations.

 

HOW TO MAKE WORKPLACES SAFER?

While the tradies and workers need to be protected and their health and well-being is of prime importance, there are a few things that can be done to make the workplaces in general and construction industries in particular safer for the workers. This will be a win-win situation for all the stakeholders. The workers will feel much safer, and the employers will also avoid productivity loss because of such accidents. They also will be seen as a just and fair player. Finally, if the accidents come down because of improved workplace safety measures, the insurance companies will also see a reduction in the compensation for critical injuries in the workplace.

 

Here are a few things that we believe might be helpful in making the workplace and therefore bring down the risk of accidents and mishaps

 

  • Adhering to OHS legislative requirements strictly and professionally.
  • Putting in place the right construction hazard and control measures.
  • Having the right incident response protocols and procedures in place.

 

GIVING IMPORTANCE TO WHITE CARD COURSES THAT WILL INCREASE KNOWLEDGE AND INFORMATION AT ALL LEVELS. THESE COURSES CAN BE DONE ONLINE FROM THE COMFORT OF HOMES.

 

THE FINAL WORD

 

While minor accidents, serious injuries and even deaths should never happen in any workplace, nothing can be guaranteed. There is a need to understand the risks, diagnose the areas and places where they may occur and then eventually prevent them proactively rather than being reactive about it.

 

Further advice

Work Safe News is not a regulator and legally shouldn’t advise you about specific incidences in the workplace. Please contact your local work health and safety authority for help.

 

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