Stay safe at workWorkSafe Victoria Annual Report 2017

Annual Report 2017Letter to Minister

September 2017

Robin Scott MP Minister for Finance 1 Macarthur Street East Melbourne Victoria 3002

Dear Minister

I am pleased to submit the 2016/17 WorkSafe Victoria Annual Report for presentation to the Parliament, as required by section 46 of the Financial Management Act 1994.

Yours sincerely

Paul Barker Chairman

Contents

About WorkSafe 2

Strategy 2017 4

Report from the Chairman and Chief Executive 6

Looking to the future 10

Our Board and organisation 12

Safety 14

Return to work 24

Service 28

Sustainability 34

Culture and place 40

Financial report 46

Appendix 1: Prosecutions 105

Appendix 2: Agent performance results 112

Appendix 3: Self-insurance report 120

Appendix 4: Governance and compliance 126

Appendix 5: WorkSafes response to Ombudsman Victorias recommendations 140

Appendix 6: Disclosure index 144

1WorkSafe Victoria Annual Report 2017

About WorkSafe

Our vision: Victorian workers returning home safe every day. Our mission: Actively working with the community to deliver outstanding workplace safety and return to work, together with insurance protection.

WorkSafe: strives to prevent workplace

injuries, illness and fatalities provides benefits to injured workers

and helps them return to work enforces Victorias occupational

health and safety and accident compensation laws (including relevant Commonwealth laws)

provides reasonably priced workplace injury insurance for employers

manages the Victorian workers compensation scheme

provides an emergency response service that operates 24 hours a day every day across Victoria.

Our statutory obligations are covered in the following Acts of Parliament:

Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 health, safety and welfare in the workplace

Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 workers compensation and the rehabilitation of injured workers

Accident Compensation Act 1985 workers compensation and the rehabilitation of injured workers

Dangerous Goods Act 1985 explosives and other dangerous goods

Equipment (Public Safety) Act 1994 high-risk equipment used in non-work-related situations

Workers Compensation Act 1958 workers compensation prior to 1985.

2 WorkSafe Victoria Annual Report 2017

About WorkSafe

WorkSafe provides a range of benefits to injured workers, including:

weekly payments medical and allied health treatment ambulance transport hospital treatment personal and household help impairment lump sums common law damages.

WorkSafe also provides a range of income support, lump sum compensation and expenses reimbursement to dependents of workers who die as a result of a work-related injury.

Funding We are funded by WorkSafe insurance premiums paid by Victorian employers. In 2016/17 this totalled $2.214 billion. This was augmented by investment income totalling $1.661 billion.

Our stakeholders Strong engagement with stakeholders helps us achieve our vision and mission. The Stakeholder Engagement Framework sets out the principles, processes and methods we use. Our stakeholders include employee and employer representatives, medical and allied health providers, legal practitioners and industry bodies. Our collaborations with them take many forms and extend across many contexts. Their invaluable expertise informs our strategy, policies and program development to help deliver the best outcomes for Victorians.

Stakeholder committees mandated by legislation are the Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Committee and the WorkCover Advisory Committee. Other working groups and committees include:

Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Stakeholder Reference Group

Rehabilitation and Compensation Working Group

Major Hazards Advisory Committee Legal Liaison Group Return to Work Working Group.

Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Committee The Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Committee (OHSAC) is established under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (OHS Act) to advise the WorkSafe Board about promoting healthy and safe working environments and the operation and administration of the OHS Act and regulations.

The purpose of the OHSAC is to focus on strategic issues, providing an important interface between WorkSafes operational activity and the WorkSafe Board.

WorkCover Advisory Committee The WorkCover Advisory Committee (WAC) is established under the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 (WIRC Act) to advise the WorkSafe Board about workers entitlement to compensation, return to work, rehabilitation, and the operation and administration of the WIRC Act and relevant regulations.

3WorkSafe Victoria Annual Report 2017

Strategy 2017 At the end of WorkSafes five-year corporate strategy, Victorian workplaces are safer than ever.

Over the last five years, there has been a substantial drop in the number of Victorians injured at work. Worker and employer satisfaction with the services they receive both from WorkSafe and its agents is strong.

The scheme remains financially sound. However, supporting injured workers to return to sustained and safe work remains a challenge and we did not meet our five year target. This is mainly due to the increase

of mental injuries in the workplace, which presents more complex return to work issues. This impacts the scheme but more importantly, it impacts the people who need the support of our compensation system.

Baseline 11/12 result

Year 4 15/16 result

Year 5 16/17 target

Year 5 16/17 result

Strategy 2017 target

Performance achieved

SafetyClaims per million hours worked1

8.23 6.95 6.62 6.43 1015% improvement

22% improvement

Four-week claims per million hours worked1

3.24 3.02 2.88 2.97 1015% improvement

8% improvement

Return to workNot yet at work six months after injury

21.90% 19.77% 19.47% 21.53% 1015% improvement

2% improvement

ServiceEmployer service 86.7% 90.4% 91.3% 90.3% 8790% 90.3%

Worker service 83.1% 87.2% 88.2% 88.0% 8590% 88.0%

Community service 70.9% 71.6% 73.8% 70.5% 7175% 70.5%

SustainabilityActuarial release $182m ($135m) $50m ($169m) $350m

cumulative$118m

Breakeven premium 1.282% 1.236% 1.238% 1.262% 1.200% 1.262%

Performance from insurance operations

$385m $280m $329m $233m NA2 $233m

Culture and placeSustainable engagement index

77 79 82 75 Top quartile Australian

National Norm (ANN)

2nd quartile

1. Safety results for 2011/12 differ from those reported in previous annual reports due to an ABS change to labour force data prior to January 2014.2. Set by the annual budgeting process.

4 WorkSafe Victoria Annual Report 2017

Strategy 2017

Our Strategy 2017 performance overview:

SafetyBiggest safety improvement ever 22% reduction in claims per million hours worked

Return to workResult influenced by growth in mental injuries

Service Service is a key focus of Strategy 2030

SustainabilityScheme remains financially sound

Culture and placeSuccessful relocation of first group to Geelong

1,000,000hours

5WorkSafe Victoria Annual Report 2017

Report from the Chairman and Chief ExecutiveThis year marks the end of Strategy 2017 and the commencement of our next long-term strategy: Strategy 2030.

We can be proud of our achievements over the last five years. We set ambitious targets across our strategic priority areas and we have made some great improvements, although some challenges remain. The scheme remains financially sound with consistently low premiums. We have built an extensive body of research to inform Strategy 2030. It will enable us to make progress in the areas where our results are still in need of improvement. Our approach will be to design our service based on the needs of workers and employers. It will improve the way we deliver services, enabled by technology, and will allow us to offer tailored products, services and support that focus on prevention of injury and illness and return to work. To achieve this we will become prevention-led, working with the Victorian community to actively prevent injury and illness from occurring in the workplace and in preventing further harm during recovery.

Safety During the five year strategy to 2017, there has been a 22 per cent reduction in claims per million hours worked. This is the largest reduction on record and particularly significant as this comes at a time when the number of hours worked in Victoria is growing. This is a strong indication that employers and workers are making safety a priority in the workplace. We are well placed to meet the National Australian Work Health and Safety Strategy 20122022 target of a 30% reduction in claims.

The result for our measure of more serious injuries; four-week claims per million hours worked, is being influenced by a rise in mental injury claims, particularly across Government.

Above from top: Paul Barker, Chairman Clare Amies, Chief Executive

6 WorkSafe Victoria Annual Report 2017

Report from the Chairman and Chief Executive

Mental wellbeing in the workplace is an increasingly challenging area for employers across the state to manage. We are committed to supporting employers to create workplaces with a focus on health and wellbeing. We are working in partnerships across Government, wi