In Australia, stress-related workers' compensation claims in government employment are increasing steadily.
In the Commonwealth, claims for stress-related illness in 1989 amounted to 3.9 per cent of all workers' compensation claims and 13 per cent of costs. By 1990-91 these figures had increased to 4.6 and 18 per cent respectively.
In 1990, Comcare initiated the Quality of Working Life (Occupational Stress) Research Project. Quality of Working Life was defined as the total of organisational, economic, technological and social factors which enhance the well-being of people in the workplace.
It includes work organisation, task design, physical risk, workload, decision-making latitude, certainty of expectations, organisational support and assistance, task monotony and coercion, mechanisation, quality of communication and transparency of decision-making. Inability to cope with any of these factors may often be manifested as a stress reaction.
Four factors were found to be specifically associated with an increased risk of a workers' compensation claim for stress-related illnesses, self-reporting of work-related injury/illness, diagnosis of stress-related illnesses and/or increased sick leave. These were:
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workload
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trauma
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conflict with supervisor
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forced relocation or redeployment
Comcare has adopted a three-pronged approach to deal with the problems associated with occupational stress including effective claims management and return-to-work strategies, a review by the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission of liability provisions for stress-related workers' compensation, and the implementation of the Quality of Working Life Strategy.