The CFMEU is calling for a greater focus on safety on construction sites
following the prosecution of a John Holland in a Federal Court hearing
in Queensland.
The construction giant is appearing in the Federal Court in Queensland
over the death of a worker at Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal last year.
Mark McCallum, aged 34, died in May 2008 after being run over by
machinery. His foot had become trapped under wooden scaffolding planks
while moving pre-cast concrete decks.
“We want to see a full examination of this tragic case and justice delivered
to Mark McCallum’s family,” CFMEU National Safety Officer Martin Kingham
said. “We will be interested to see what comes out of this prosecution and
the approach taken by Comcare to the first fatality in the industry to be
dealt with under the Comcare scheme.
In some other recent cases, Comcare has reached an agreement with the
employer who was being prosecuted on the question of the appropriate
penalty which should apply. We question whether that is the right approach
or whether it is of much assistance to the Court. The question of penalty is
ultimately one for the Court to decide,” Kingham said.
John Holland is one of three companies to gain self-insurance licences under
the Commonwealth's Comcare workers' compensation scheme. “Until recently
a John Holland company was a finalist in the National Safe Work Australia
awards.
We thought that was insensitive to Mark McCallum’s family given that
John Holland was facing prosecution over his tragic death. We don’t think
Comcare’s support of the nomination was right either given the
circumstances. We have serious and ongoing concerns about the Comcare
system applying in our industry and the capacity of Comcare to regulate
OH&S in the construction industry,” Kingham added.
Ref: www.constructioncontractor.com.au
Showing posts with label Comcare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Comcare. Show all posts
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
If you think Comcare is a better option, it isnt" - Surge in claims for workplace stress
By Michael Pelly - SMH
June 21, 2004.
Stressed-out workers are flooding insurers with claims and blaming low job
control, high job demands and poor support from their bosses.
Mental stress accounts for 6 per cent of all injury claims, and the costs are
considerably higher because victims take more time off work than for other
injuries and incur higher medical and legal bills.
The largest workplace insurer in Australia, Comcare, says the steady increase
in pyschological injury claims - both lodged and accepted - in recent years
comes after a sharp drop-off during the late 1990s.
A spokesman for Comcare said the upsurge in such claims since late 2002
had driven workers' compensation costs higher for its clients, all Australian
and ACT government agencies. In the 10 months to the end of April it
received 650 claims and accepted liability on 481.
Sprains and strains, such as wrist injuries from keyboards, accounted for
36 per cent of all claims, and 26 per cent of the total cost of meeting those
claims. Back injures was the next biggest category at 17 per cent of claims
and 18 per cent of costs. Psychological injuries comprised only 6 per cent
of claims but 21 per cent of costs.
As stress does not constitute a disease or injury under Commonwealth
legislation, employees must show they are suffering from a recognised
mental illness or disorder, such as depression and anxiety conditions. The
workplace has to be a contributing factor. Stress resulting from misconduct
or failure to gain promotion is not covered.
"It has to be sustained work pressure," the Comcare spokesman said.
"Everyone has a bad week or even a bad month. There has to be some
type of disorder that has developed over time - that is, unless someone
points a gun at you in a bank."
Britain's Health & Safety Executive has identified six factors that can lead
to work-related stress: demands, control, support, relationships, role and
change.It splits the hazards into two groups: content of work, and the
context of work.
With content, HSE cites the reliability of work equipment, underuse of skills,
erratic and onerous workloads, and inflexible schedules. Context involves
problems with the culture of an organisation, career development, poor
relationships with bosses, and being left out of decision making.
The Comcare spokesman said programs in the mid-1990s at high-stress
workplaces such as Centrelink had been instrumental in reducing such
claims, but government and private insurers alike had noticed claims were
again on the rise.
In addition, more claims were being lodged by people in affluent suburbs,
with managers in more troubled environments - those with a "rougher clientele"
- proving more effective in tackling the problem. He said the focus was on
rehabilitation rather than payouts. "Costs of pyschological injury claims are
considerably higher than other injuries because of longer periods of time off
work and higher medical and legal expenses than other claim payouts."
If this was how Concare treated Stress claims in 2004, I dont hold out much
hope for them to have improved. Although the legislation does include stress
claims now the attitude taken by Comcare is typical when a claim is made.
Worksafe and Comcare play Judge and Jury when a workplace injury claim is
made for a stress related issue. So either way, injured workers loose!
We dont need Comcare !!!!!!
June 21, 2004.
Stressed-out workers are flooding insurers with claims and blaming low job
control, high job demands and poor support from their bosses.
Mental stress accounts for 6 per cent of all injury claims, and the costs are
considerably higher because victims take more time off work than for other
injuries and incur higher medical and legal bills.
The largest workplace insurer in Australia, Comcare, says the steady increase
in pyschological injury claims - both lodged and accepted - in recent years
comes after a sharp drop-off during the late 1990s.
A spokesman for Comcare said the upsurge in such claims since late 2002
had driven workers' compensation costs higher for its clients, all Australian
and ACT government agencies. In the 10 months to the end of April it
received 650 claims and accepted liability on 481.
Sprains and strains, such as wrist injuries from keyboards, accounted for
36 per cent of all claims, and 26 per cent of the total cost of meeting those
claims. Back injures was the next biggest category at 17 per cent of claims
and 18 per cent of costs. Psychological injuries comprised only 6 per cent
of claims but 21 per cent of costs.
As stress does not constitute a disease or injury under Commonwealth
legislation, employees must show they are suffering from a recognised
mental illness or disorder, such as depression and anxiety conditions. The
workplace has to be a contributing factor. Stress resulting from misconduct
or failure to gain promotion is not covered.
"It has to be sustained work pressure," the Comcare spokesman said.
"Everyone has a bad week or even a bad month. There has to be some
type of disorder that has developed over time - that is, unless someone
points a gun at you in a bank."
Britain's Health & Safety Executive has identified six factors that can lead
to work-related stress: demands, control, support, relationships, role and
change.It splits the hazards into two groups: content of work, and the
context of work.
With content, HSE cites the reliability of work equipment, underuse of skills,
erratic and onerous workloads, and inflexible schedules. Context involves
problems with the culture of an organisation, career development, poor
relationships with bosses, and being left out of decision making.
The Comcare spokesman said programs in the mid-1990s at high-stress
workplaces such as Centrelink had been instrumental in reducing such
claims, but government and private insurers alike had noticed claims were
again on the rise.
In addition, more claims were being lodged by people in affluent suburbs,
with managers in more troubled environments - those with a "rougher clientele"
- proving more effective in tackling the problem. He said the focus was on
rehabilitation rather than payouts. "Costs of pyschological injury claims are
considerably higher than other injuries because of longer periods of time off
work and higher medical and legal expenses than other claim payouts."
If this was how Concare treated Stress claims in 2004, I dont hold out much
hope for them to have improved. Although the legislation does include stress
claims now the attitude taken by Comcare is typical when a claim is made.
Worksafe and Comcare play Judge and Jury when a workplace injury claim is
made for a stress related issue. So either way, injured workers loose!
We dont need Comcare !!!!!!
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
Comcare - Oh My God, You have to be Joking!!!!!
The Federal Government is attempting to take over
workers compensation and Occupational Health and
Safety by stealth.
Comcare is the federal occupational health and safety
and workers’ compensation scheme.
This is unnecessary, given that the Victorian, NSW
and QLD state governments are harmonising their
OHS and compensation laws in key areas.
Workers are now worse off under the federal
government’s stripped back OHS laws and
recently the government made it harder to claim
compensation for common workplace illnesses
under Comcare.
Comcare is not a wanted option by either sides and was a
huge failure the first time around.
We at WCV’s don’t understand why the Government would
want to reintroduce a failed system like Comcare when they
already know, it doesn’t work
Safety at work blog states: "The word out in some Australian
OHS clique is that Australia’s Comcare agency will be given
a major overhaul through the National OHS Review
recommendations that is on the verge of completion.
The Minister for Workplace Relations, Julia Gillard, did
not name the brand new organisation that she intends to
introduce through the Alliance of Australian Governments
process" which is typical of her and it makes us here wonder
why she isn't releasing that information to us when she will
expect us to accept it all when she does!
Safety at work then notes that Comcare has started promoting
a succession of national seminars for the month of March 2009.
Probably to drum up business!
Safety At Work Blog also states that Comcare will be upgraded
to a fully functional national OHS authority and WCV’s
unfortunately agrees with them.
Comcare will just make being an injured worker even harder.
Julia, Comcare is not wanted !
Under the Comcare Link tab there is a link to a paper called
"The Comcare self Insurance option", do yourself a favor and read
it it has all the info you need to know about Comcare and the
Governments implementation of the Productivity Commissions
Assessment of it.
If this assessment is anything to go by, then we have no hope of
this government implementing a fairer system from the Hanks Review.
workers compensation and Occupational Health and
Safety by stealth.
Comcare is the federal occupational health and safety
and workers’ compensation scheme.
This is unnecessary, given that the Victorian, NSW
and QLD state governments are harmonising their
OHS and compensation laws in key areas.
Workers are now worse off under the federal
government’s stripped back OHS laws and
recently the government made it harder to claim
compensation for common workplace illnesses
under Comcare.
Comcare is not a wanted option by either sides and was a
huge failure the first time around.
We at WCV’s don’t understand why the Government would
want to reintroduce a failed system like Comcare when they
already know, it doesn’t work
Safety at work blog states: "The word out in some Australian
OHS clique is that Australia’s Comcare agency will be given
a major overhaul through the National OHS Review
recommendations that is on the verge of completion.
The Minister for Workplace Relations, Julia Gillard, did
not name the brand new organisation that she intends to
introduce through the Alliance of Australian Governments
process" which is typical of her and it makes us here wonder
why she isn't releasing that information to us when she will
expect us to accept it all when she does!
Safety at work then notes that Comcare has started promoting
a succession of national seminars for the month of March 2009.
Probably to drum up business!
Safety At Work Blog also states that Comcare will be upgraded
to a fully functional national OHS authority and WCV’s
unfortunately agrees with them.
Comcare will just make being an injured worker even harder.
Julia, Comcare is not wanted !
Under the Comcare Link tab there is a link to a paper called
"The Comcare self Insurance option", do yourself a favor and read
it it has all the info you need to know about Comcare and the
Governments implementation of the Productivity Commissions
Assessment of it.
If this assessment is anything to go by, then we have no hope of
this government implementing a fairer system from the Hanks Review.
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