Government’s Wasteful Health and Safety Record Slammed

Tasmania’s public sector union today (Wed) released figures showing massive blowouts in both injury rates and workers’ compensation insurance premiums for state Government agencies.

“These figures provide a graphic picture of an employer who has lost the plot on workers’ health and safety”, Mat Johnston, CPSU Assistant General Secretary said today. “Figures published by
Workcover Tasmania show the Tasmanian State Service recording injury rates around 70% higher than comparable self‐insurers for incidents requiring a week or more off work. When it comes to
single day occurrences the State Service has almost three workers injured for every two in commercially insured business. This is clearly unacceptable.

“These injury rates are scandalous and are an indictment on this Labor/Green government”, Mr Johnston said. “If these types of rates were occurring in private industry the Premier and Minister
would be calling for action yet there is no such response to the life shattering problems right under their noses.

“This is yet another example of disgraceful waste from this government”, Mr Johnston said.

“In addition to having a detrimental and sometimes devastating affect on workers and their families, high injury rates have massive economic implications”, Mr Johnston said. “Between 2009/10 and 2010/11 financial years the insurance premiums for many government agencies have exploded. The six agencies paying more than $500000p.a. to the insurance fund for workers’ comp have paid increases of between 21 and 75% in that year alone. The government’s woeful record on health and safety has cost the Tasmanian community an extra $5.7M in insurance premiums for 2010/11 and untold amounts more in excess payments. Add in excess payments and the costs of administering the government’s failings and the total cost is a blowout.

“The Premier and her Ministers always spin the state’s financial problems as the fault of diminished GST revenues”, Mr Johnston said. “They conveniently ignore the abject mismanagement and waste they are responsible for.”

“This is grossly negligent from the government. At a time when they are denying Tasmanians critical services and cutting jobs around the state, they are wasting money by refusing to recognize and fix their safety record”, Mr Johnston said. “The waste associated with the government’s woeful record as an employer on workplace injuries alone would cover more than half the savings they are trying to make by unfairly and unreasonably cutting elective surgery to sick Tasmanians at the Royal Hobart Hospital.

“Unfortunately we don’t think there’s any reprieve in sight. There is more data due for release soon and we expect a worsening of the injury rate”, Mr Johnston said. “The government doesn’t recognize the problems. They are in denial and will no doubt continue that in response today.

“Through their ill‐conceived budget cuts they are piling more work onto fewer people and stripping critical support personnel away”, Mr Johnston said. “Unless Workplace Relations Minister David O’Byrne and Premier Lara Giddings step up on this issue, Tasmanian workers are going to continue to get hurt at unreasonable rates and the costs lumbered on the people of this state will continue to skyrocket.”

Quick Facts

• Injury Rates in the Tasmanian State Service are well above other workforces.
• The cost of Workers’ Comp insurance for Government Agencies has increased by around $5.7M this financial year, a rise of over 23%.
• The cost of insurance does not include excess payments, admin costs or backfill/overtime to cover absences; some Agencies choose to pay low premiums and higher excesses.

Download: CPSU_MR_re_injury_rates_and_WC_insurance_Charts.pdf