News
Work-related injuries and illnesses cost $57.5b in 2005-2006 financial year
Wed, 25 Mar 2009THE AUSTRALIAN Safety and Compensation Council (ASCC) says its new report shows work-related injuries and illnesses cost Australian $57.5b in the 2005 to 2006 financial year.
The ASCC’s new report is titled ‘The Cost of Work-related Injury and Illness for Australian Employers, Workers and the Community 2005-06’.
According to the ASCC, the report updates a National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (NOHSC) report from 2004. The previous report estimated the total cost of work-related injuries and illnesses for the year 2000-01 to be $34b dollars.
The updated estimate for 2005 to 2006 has been derived using the same methodology as the previous study. The $57.5b cost represents 5.9% of Australia’s GDP in that financial year.
The ASCC says this represents a significant increase in costs as a proportion of GDP from the 2000-01 estimates, where occupational health and safety costs consisted of 5% of GDP.
According to the ASCC, the change is mostly due to the relative growth in average weekly earnings. The GDP grew by 40% in the period, while average weekly earnings increased by 66%.
The loss of earnings is factored into the costs, so any increase in wages over GDP growth will have the effect of increasing costs as a proportion of GDP.