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Job strain exposures vs. stress-related workers’ compensation claims in Victoria, Australia: Developing a public health response to job stress

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Abstract

We present a comparative analysis of patterns of exposure to job stressors and stress-related workers’ compensation (WC) claims to provide an evaluation of the adequacy of claims-driven policy and practice. We assessed job strain prevalence in a 2003 population-based survey of Victorian [Australia] workers and compared these results with stress-related WC statistics for the same year. Job strain prevalence was higher among females than males, and elevated among lower vs. higher occupational skill levels. In comparison, claims were higher among females than males, but primarily among higher skill-level workers. There was some congruence between exposure and WC claims patterns. Highly exposed groups in lower socio-economic positions were underrepresented in claims statistics, suggesting that the WC insurance perspective substantially underestimates the job stress problems for these groups. Thus to provide a sufficient evidence base for equitable policy and practice responses to this growing public health problem, exposure or health outcome data are needed as an essential complement to claims statistics.

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Acknowledgements

AD LaMontagne was supported by a Victorian Health Promotion Foundation Senior Research Fellowship (#2001-1088). Project funding was provided by grants from the Australian National Heart Foundation (#G 01M 0345) and the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation to AD LaMontagne. T. Keegel was supported in part through a PhD scholarship from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (#359306). A. Ostry was supported through a New Investigator award from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and a Scholar Award from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research in British Columbia. Support for collaboration between the University of British Columbia and the University of Melbourne was provided by an international collaborations small grant from the Canadian Institute for Health Research (Grant #20R 91434).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Population Health, McCaughey Centre: Vichealth Centre for the Promotion of Mental Health and Community Wellbeing, University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3010, VIC, Australia

    Tessa Keegel & Anthony D LaMontagne

  2. Department of Geography, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada

    Aleck Ostry

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  1. Tessa Keegel
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  2. Aleck Ostry
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  3. Anthony D LaMontagne
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How does stress on the job affect workers' compensation claims and what strategies might be invoked to reduce it?

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Keegel, T., Ostry, A. & LaMontagne, A. Job strain exposures vs. stress-related workers’ compensation claims in Victoria, Australia: Developing a public health response to job stress. J Public Health Pol 30, 17–39 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1057/jphp.2008.41

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