Hurt at work: ACC's nearly 200,000 claims

ACC wants people to try to reduce the risk of injuring themselves during Safety Week.

Nearly 200,000 claims for work-related injuries were made to ACC last year, new figures reveal.

Statistics New Zealand figures show that in 2012, 180,000 claims were made for a work-related injury to the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC).

The provisional figures show the overall rate of injury claims was 93 claims for every 1000 full-time equivalent employees.

Males made 73 per cent of all claims for work-related injuries last year and since 2002, have consistently accounted for about three-quarters of all work-related claims.

One in four agriculture and fishery workers made an injury claim in 2012, making them the most likely occupation group to make a work-related claim.

Other occupation groups with higher-than-average claim rates included trades workers, workers in elementary occupations (such as labourers and cleaners) and plant and machine operators and assemblers.

Younger workers (aged 15-24) and older workers (65 and over) had the highest claim rates with about one in eight workers in the two age groups making a claim for a work-related injury last year.

Pacific people had a higher rate of injury claims (111 claims per 1000 full-time workers), than Maori (90), European (87), and Asian (55) workers.

Regional claim rate trends generally matched national trends, except for in the Canterbury region.

After the February 2011 Canterbury earthquake, the region's rate for the year rose to 98 claims per 1000 full-time workers, up from 90 in 2010.

• 158,900 people made a total of 180,000 claims for a work-related injury to ACC last year

• The overall rate of injury claims was 93 claims for every 1000 full-time workers

• Males made 73 per cent of all claims for work-related injuries, with a rate of 120 claims per 1000 full-time workers

• 1 in 4 agriculture and fishery workers made a work-related claim in 2012 - the highest rate by occupation

• At 95 per cent, males had the majority of the claims lodged for fatal work-related injuries

• The total number of claims has continued to fall each year since 2007 and the incidence rate has fallen each year since 2002.