Work-related injuries methodology

Non-sampling error may occur in any collection, whether it is based on a sample or a full count such as a census. Sources of non-sampling error include non-response, errors in reporting by respondents or recording of answers by interviewers and errors in coding and processing data. Every effort is made to reduce non-sampling error by careful design and testing of questionnaires, training and supervision of interviewers, and extensive editing and quality control procedures at all stages of data processing.

Standard errors can be calculated using the estimates (counts or percentages) and the corresponding RSEs. See How to Interpret Standard Errors on Levels and Movements, Reliability of estimates for Labour Force data for more details.

To have formally applied for workers' compensation by completing an application for compensation.

People who work without pay, in an economic enterprise operated by a relative.

A job that a person was working in during the reference week.

The job that a person was working in during the reference week in which most hours were usually worked.

Refers to a current job other than the current main job.

Includes all work hours spent on medical consultation, hospitalisation and rest due to the injury or illness. The days or shifts absent do not have to be consecutive.

Length of time worked in current main job.

Length of time worked in job where most recent work-related injury or illness occurred.

Level of highest educational attainment identifies the highest achievement a person has attained in any area of study. It is not a measurement of the relative importance of different fields of study but a ranking of qualifications and other educational attainments regardless of the particular area of study or the type of institution in which the study was undertaken. It is categorised according to the Australian Standard Classification of Education, 2001 (cat. no. 1272.0) Level of education classification.

All people aged 15 years and over who, during the reference week:

• worked for one hour or more for pay, profit, commission or payment in kind, in a job or business or on a farm (comprising employees, employers and own account workers), or
• worked for one hour or more without pay in a family business or on a farm (i.e. contributing family workers), or
• were employees who had a job but were not at work and were
  • away from work for less than four weeks up to the end of the reference week
  • away from work for more than four weeks up to the end of the reference week and received pay for some or all of the four week period to the end of the reference week
  • away from work as a standard work or shift arrangement
  • on strike or locked out
  • on workers' compensation and expected to return to their job; or
• were owner managers who had a job, business or farm, but were not at work.

People who work for a public or private employer and receive remuneration in wages, salary, on a commission basis (with or without a retainer), tips, piece rates, or payment in kind, excluding Owner Managers of Incorporated Enterprises (OMIES).

Employees who were entitled to either paid sick leave or paid holiday leave (or both).

Employees who were not entitled to, or did not know whether they were entitled to, paid sick and paid holiday leave.

People who operate their own economic enterprise or engage independently in a profession or trade, and hire one or more employees.

Monetary assistance received from any party to cover medical expenses or income loss, incurred due to their work-related injury or illness.

See 'Worked on a fixed-term contract'.

Employed persons who usually worked 35 hours or more a week (in all jobs) and others who, although usually working less than 35 hours a week, worked 35 hours or more during the reference week.

An enterprise which is registered as a separate legal entity to its members or owners (also known as a limited liability company).

In this publication, industry relates to a group of businesses or organisations that perform similar sets of activities in terms of the production of goods or services. Industry is classified according to Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 2006 (Revision 2.0) (cat. no. 1292.0).

See 'Work-related injury or illness'.

The 12 months up to and including the survey reference week.

The job in which most hours are usually worked.

People who worked in more than one job or business during the survey reference week, excluding those who only worked in more than one job because they had changed jobs during the reference week.

Non-school qualifications are awarded for educational attainments other than those of pre-primary, primary or secondary education. They include qualifications at the Postgraduate Degree Level, Master Degree Level, Graduate Diploma and Graduate Certificate Level, Bachelor Degree Level, Advanced Diploma and Diploma level, and Certificates I, II, III and IV levels. Non-school qualifications may be attained concurrently with school qualifications.

People who are either unemployed or not in the labour force.

People who are not in the categories 'employed' or 'unemployed' as defined.

An occupation is a collection of jobs that are sufficiently similar in their title and tasks, skill level and skill specialisation which are grouped together for the purposes of classification. In this publication, occupation refers to Major Group and Sub-Major Group as defined by ANZSCO - Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations, 2013, Version 1.2 (cat. no. 1220.0).

People who work in their own incorporated enterprise, that is, a business entity which is registered as a separate legal entity to its members or owners (also known as a limited liability company). These people are sometimes classified with employees as 'wage and salary earners'. They can work alone or in a business with employees.

People who operate their own unincorporated enterprise, that is, a business entity in which the owner and the business are legally inseparable, so that the owner is liable for any business debts that are incurred. Includes those engaged independently in a trade or profession. They can work alone or in a business with employees.

The entitlement of employees (excluding owner managers or incorporated enterprises) to either paid holiday leave or paid sick leave (or both) in their job. People employed in their own business or who were contributing family workers were not asked about their leave entitlements.

The last job in which employment ceased during the last 12 months.

The week preceding the week in which the interview was conducted.

A system of working whereby the daily hours of operation at the place of employment are split into at least two set work periods (shifts), for different groups of workers.

Worked under shift arrangements.

Classifies employed persons according to the following categories on the basis of their current job:

• Employees
  • with paid leave entitlements
  • without paid leave entitlements
• Owner managers with employees (employer)
  • Owner manager of incorporated enterprise with employees
  • Owner manager of unincorporated enterprise with employees
• Owner managers without employees (own account worker)
  • Owner manager of incorporated enterprise without employees
  • Owner manager of unincorporated enterprise without employees
• Contributing family workers.

Persons who were not employed during the reference week, and:

• had actively looked for full-time or part-time work at any time in the four weeks up to the end of the reference week and;
• were available for work in the reference week; or
• were waiting to start a new job within four weeks from the end of the reference week and could have started in the reference week if the job had been available then.

The hours usually worked per week by an employed person.

A business entity in which the owner and the business are legally inseparable, so that the owner is liable for any business debts that are incurred.

People who worked in a job in the last 12 months, regardless of whether they worked full-time or part-time.

People who usually worked 35 hours or more per week in the job in which the work-related injury or illness occurred.

People who usually worked less than 35 hours or more per week in the job in which the work-related injury or illness occurred.

Workers' compensation includes:

• payments by an insurer or other liable party for costs related to a work-related injury or illness:
• medical payments, incapacity payments (income maintenance and salary top-up), rehabilitation payments, travel payments and legal payments; and
• any 'settlement' or 'judgement of claim'.

Any injury or illness or disease which first occurred in the last 12 months, where a person suffers either physically or mentally from a condition that has arisen out of, or in the course of, employment.

The injury or illness was considered to be in scope if the respondent first became aware of it in the last 12 months, even though the cause of the injury or illness may have occurred outside the 12 month reference period. Included are injuries or illnesses that occurred while commuting to and from work, outside the place of work but while on work duty, or during work breaks.

Information was collected about the respondent's most recent work-related injury or illness if there was more than one work-related injury or illness in the reference period.

The number or people who experienced a work-related injury or illness in the last 12 months expressed as a percentage of the total number of people who worked at some time during the last 12 months.

Owner managers who were engaged by an organisation to provide a particular service or undertake a particular task at an agreed price or rate, and generally for a specified period.

Employees with a contract of employment which specifies that the employment will be terminated on a particular date or on completion of a specific task.

• Breaking of a bone, cartilage, etc.

• Arthritis
• Disorders of the joints
• Disorders of the spinal vertebrae and inervertebral discs
• Disorders of muscle, tendons and other soft tissues (e.g. Occupational Overuse Syndrome and Repetitive Strain Injury if this is the only description given)
• Acquired musculoskeletal deformities (e.g. flat feet, mallet finger, hammer toe)

• Sprains and strains of joints and adjacent muscles
• Acute trauma sprains and strains
• Sprains and strains of cartilage
• Dislocations

• Open wound not involving traumatic amputation (e.g. broken tooth, cuts, punctures, dog bites, tearing away of fingernail, serious wounds containing glass, metal or other foreign body)

• Internal injury of chest, abdomen and pelvis
• Injury with intact skin surface and crushing injury (e.g. bruises, haematomas)

Covers minor injuries such as:

• Needle stick puncture
• Abrasions, grazes, friction burns or blisters
• Scratch injury from a foreign body in eye
• Splinter or other foreign body in places other than eye

• Stress
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Nervous breakdown
• Effects of witnessing traumatic events
• Effects of involvement in a hold-up
• Victim of harassment
• Hyperventilation (hysterical, psychogenic)
• Hysterical symptoms
• Phobias
• Obsessional and compulsive symptoms
• Short term shock

• Traumatic amputation including loss of eyeball

• Electrical burns, chemical burns, cold burns, hot burns, friction burns, combination burn or burns not elsewhere classified

• Responses that could not be included into one of the categories above such as asthma, cancer, concussion or heart attack

• Muscular stress while lifting, carrying or putting down objects
• Single or multiple events
• Lifting or carrying resulting in stress fractures
• Repetitive movement, high muscle loading
• Muscular stress while handling objects
• Single or multiple events
• Pushing or pulling objects
• Throwing or pressing objects
• Stress fractures from handling objects
• Continually shovelling
• Climbing ladders causing upper and lower limb injuries
• Muscular stress with no objects being handled
• Bending down, reaching, turning and twisting movements where no objects are being handled
• Stress fractures without objects being handled (e.g. from running)
• Continually twisting neck with no object being handled

• Occupational overuse and repetitive movement occurrences

• Working in cramped or unchanging positions
• Prolonged standing causing varicose veins

• Any accident or incident on a private road, farm, mine site or footpath involving a vehicle where the most serious injury is sustained as a result of that accident or injury
• A vehicle catching on fire after the accident
• Any accident or incident in a factory, mine or car park involving a fall from a moving vehicle

• Hitting stationary objects or moving objects (e.g. cutting oneself while using a knife or other tool)
• Rubbing and chafing from wearing footwear or clothes, using tools or handling objects
• Being hit by falling objects
• Being bitten by an animal
• Being bitten by a snake
• Being trapped by moving machinery or equipment or between stationary and moving objects
• Exposure to mechanical vibration (e.g. from chain saws)
• Being assaulted by a person or persons

• All slips, trips, stumbles, steps and jumps, even if a fall does not follow
• Falls of short distances such as off a curb or into a gutter
• Falls up stairs
• Fall with no further description

• A fall from ground level to below ground level
• Landing awkwardly after a jump from a height
• Falling off an animal
• A fall down stairs etc.

• Exposure to a traumatic event
• Exposure to workplace or occupational violence (e.g. victim of assault or threatened assault by a person or persons, being a victim of or witnessing hold-ups etc.)
• Being a victim of sexual, racial, or other verbal harassment
• Work pressure (e.g. mental stress arising from work responsibilities, conflict with peers, performance counselling)
• Attempted suicide
• Other mental stress factors

• Long term exposure to workshop or factory noise, sharp sudden sounds, or low frequency (subsonic pressure) sounds

• Single contact with chemical or substance
• Immediate allergic reactions to a substance
• Splash with acid
• Caustic or corrosive substances in the eyes
• Contact dermatitis
• Swallowing chemical substances
• Exposure to smoke from a bush fire, chemical fire etc.
• Long term contact with chemicals or substances
• Acquired allergic reactions
• Slow poisoning, as with lead or other heavy metals
• Long term inhalation of dust or fibres, as with asbestos fibres
• Exposure to cigarette smoke
• Insect and spider bites and stings
• Contact with poisonous parts of plant or marine life (e.g. blue ringed octopus, bluebottles, stone fish etc.)
• Other and unspecified contact with chemical or substance

• Those responses that could not be included into one of the categories above such as contact with hot food/drink/beverages, exposure to extreme weather, jumping on objects, struck by lightning or sunburn

• New data items
  • Whether currently studying
  • Year completed non-school qualification
  • Reason away from work or worked less hours than usual
• 'Social marital status' and 'Relationship in household' data items are temporarily unavailable for this period due to an issue with some family coding for the period July 2014 to June 2018 which has affected a range of family estimates. These items will be revised at a later date.

• New data items
  • Whether reported most recent work-related injury or illness to someone in the workplace
  • Who in the workplace was told about the most recent work-related injury or illness
  • Sector of current main job
  • Sector of job where most recent work-related injury or illness occurred
  • Self-assessed health status
  • Long term health conditions
• Data items related to formal training in OH&S risks in the workplace were discontinued.

• New data items
  • Remoteness Areas
  • Number of days or shifts usually worked in job where most recent work-related injury occurred
  • Whether recieved formal training in OH&S risks in the workplace in current or most recent job
  • Type of OH&S training undertaken
• 'Whether received any formal training in OH&S risks in workplace at any time prior to work-related injury or illness' is determined from responses to questions about whether received particular types of training. In 2005-06 this item was determined by asking a question only about whether any training had been received, not particular types. Therefore, caution should be used when comparing these estimates as they have been determined in different ways.

• Survey collected as a topic of the Multipurpose Household Survey (MPHS) during the 2005-06 financial year.
• Changes in collection methodology between Sep 2000 and 2005-06 make comparisons between these surveys difficult.
• Work-related injuries and illnesses were specifically expanded to include any injuries or illnesses that occurred travelling to and from work, travelling for work, or during lunchtimes and any work breaks. The September 2000 survey did not specifically ask to include illnesses or injuries that occurred during these periods.
• Recurring injuries or illnesses were only included if the first occurrence was in the last 12 months. In September 2000, aggravation of an existing injury or illness was included if the aggravation was experienced while at work in the last 12 months.

• First national Work-related Injury survey. Previous surveys were run in specific states and territories. 
• Collected as a supplement to the Labour Force Survey during a single month (Sep 2000)