The National Party has annoucned its ACC policy which aims for safer workplaces, certainty of coverage and more effective compensation.
National supports a comprehensive, 24/7, no-fault accident insurance scheme that delivers certainty of coverage to all New Zealanders. However, the ACC scheme can be improved. Workplace accident figures are high by international standards.”OECD data to the end of 2003 showed New Zealand’s non-fatal injury rate rising when everybody else’s except Luxembourg were falling. ACC data shows the number of work-related injury claims increased each year from 2002 to 2005, only declining in 2006.
“Either way, we can do better.
“Incentives for employers to improve safety practices are poor in a scheme in which similar premiums are charged regardless of an employer’s workplace accident record.
“Incentives for employers to improve safety practices are poor in a scheme in which similar premiums are charged regardless of an employer’s workplace accident record.
“Where accidents do occur, incentives for quick, high-quality rehabilitation are weak, and entitlements under the scheme for injured people are not of high quality. “
Treating people well and getting them back to good health and work as soon as possible makes sense.
“National wants a more flexible scheme that rewards employers with good workplace safety records, penalises those with poor records, and encourages employers to buy more than the basic cover.”
This would be an improvement on the current system which takes no account of individual workplace records. Farming is regarded as a relatively high risk activity, so all farmers pay a higher premium regardless of their individual safety records.
Most insurance schemes take account of individual risk and have incentives to encourage fewer claims. ACC should have the flexibility to do this too and its priority should be helping injured people towards a speedy recover and return to work.
Homepaddock 