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

journal contribution
posted on 2009-01-01, 00:00 authored by T Keegel, A Ostry, Tony LaMontagneTony LaMontagne
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.

History

Journal

Journal of Public Health Policy

Volume

30

Issue

1

Pagination

17 - 39

Publisher

Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.

Location

Basingstoke, UK

ISSN

0197-5897

eISSN

1745-655X

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal