Australian workers with back injury: a statistical overview

This paper reviews international and Australian data concerning the occurrence of back injuries amongst the labour force. Analyses of Australian Bureau of Statistics data for the period 1977 to 1986 revealed substantial differences between Australian states in their rates of back injury claims for work injuries, with a decline in rates over the ten years surveyed. Analyses of WorkCare data from the State of Victoria in Australia revealed that claimants with back injury claims of greater than 12 months standing were very costly. A total of 8,633 claimants accounted for 68.7% of all payments for back injury ($362 million out of a total of $527 million) when these claimants represented only 10.7% of all back injury claimants for the period September 1985 to May 1989. Substantial variations were found in claim rates across occupations and age levels. An almost linear (r = 0.98) association was found between age and proportion of long term claimants at each age level. It is suggested that these data could be used to identify 'at risk' groupings with a view to the implementation of preventive measures.