Workplace Stress Costs $30 Billion

Work and mental stress costs Aussies over 30 billion dollars per year, shows study.

A comprehensive study of workplace fatalities, injuries and illness put the cost at 60.6 billion dollars a year, News.com.au reported.

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Physical and psychological stress has surpassed other forms of injury and illness and the long-term cost in lost productivity and compensation is worn by workers and the community.

According to the report, while the number of workplace fatalities dropped in 2009-10 during the global financial crisis to a record low of 216, signs were increasing again.

This week, Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten will announce a campaign to encourage workers to raise their voice about safety, and call for annual reporting to Parliament.

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The Safe Work Australia study divulged that when "body stressing" and "mental stress" are combined, they add up to half of the cost of job-related injury and illness.

The cost of workplace illness among managers and administrators was 9.6 billion dollars a year, injuries to labourers 7.9 billion dollars and to tradespeople, 10.6 billion dollars.

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The report showed the cost of workplace death and injury was presently worth around 5 per cent of Australia's total economic output.

However, the data did not draw a direct link between longer hours and illness and injury.

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"Over one-third of the total number of cases and total economic cost are associated with body stressing or manual-handling cases," the Safe Work report said.

"Mechanisms more associated with disease, such as sound and pressure, biological factors and mental stress, have a higher unit cost than those associated with injuries (such as falls and trips).

"While mental stress cases comprise 4 per cent of the ... cases, they contribute 9 per cent of the total cost."

Research by talent management firm SHL found that only 29 per cent of workers with a good manager take days off when they are not sick, compared with 35 per cent who rate their manager's performance as below par.

One-third of employees insist that having too much responsibility or "burnout" is a cause for them to take sick leave when they are not ill. It topped the list of reasons to take a sick day.

Source-ANI