Bonus for safety

Press, 20 April 1981, Page 10

Bonus for safety

PA Wellington The Accident Compensation Corporation’s safetyincentive bonus scheme, which was introduced in 1980 tc recognise employers whose accident experience is signifi cantly better than their in dustry average, will be run again this year, according tc the corporation’s managing director, Mr J. L. Fahy. “The money will go tc those employers who, on the basis of the number of their work-accident claims over the three-year period April 1. 1977, to March 31, 1980, will have performed significantly better than others in the. same class of business,” he said. “However, the scheme is in its formative stage and the total sum to be paid is yet to be decided.” Mr Fahey said that the scheme had been introduced in line with section 73 of the Accident Compensation Act. As well as the incentive for good performers, a penalty might be imposed on employers whose accident record was below average but this would not be considered until 1982.

“Employers with poor accident records, however, are being identified so'that the corporation’s safety consultants and technical advisers can offer assistance and fol-low-up,” said Mr Fahy. The corporation would base its refunds on the frequency of accidents after consideration of . several overseas countries’ experiences where systems based on both the frequency of claims and the. cost, of claims, or a combination of the two, had been used. / “The cost of claims as a base for measurement can vary widely depending on the severity of the injury, which }ften has a large element of chance. In addition, to complicate matters, compensation paid following a fatal, accident is determined by the. number of dependants.” Mr Fahey said that only work accidents resulting in payment of earnings-related compensation would be included. Leisure-time' accidents and those occuring during travel to and from work would be excluded.