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published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

職業災害補償制度乃保護勞工之生命財產安全，而非以故意或過失為補償構成要件，制度目標為職災預防、勞工傷病補償以及災後勞工重建。各國政府長久致力於建構一套完善的職業災害補償制度，保護因工作災害導致傷病之勞工，補償損失並提供醫療支援，協助重返工作崗位維持穩定生活。澳大利亞為聯邦制國家，職業災害補償制度採地方分權主義，由各省立法管轄制度運作，聯邦政府的角色則為全國政策之指導與調和。職災補償以強制保險課以雇主保護照顧責任，勞動者依地區、身份之別，各別適用澳洲境內十種職業災害補償制度。地方政府依該省職災補償相關法規，設立職災補償局管理制度運作，職災保險則由政府或民營保險業者辦理，故澳洲各省間形成彼此獨立之職災補償體系。 隨著職災補償制度發展與勞動市場環境變遷，各省職業災害補償制度的異質性，逐漸影響制度辦理之成效，造成法律適用難度增加、勞工與雇主各省間差別對待、行政錯誤與詐領風險提高等問題。而新興工作型態勞動人數的增加亦衝擊制度管理，使得傳統定義下的適用對象，有擴增範圍及統一各省定義之必要。因此，未來澳洲職災補償制度之發展，聯邦政府應試圖以縮小省分間之差異性為政策方向，職災補償制度仍由地方管轄，惟應漸進式統一職災補償法令有關基本之定義範圍、福利架構、職災重建協助措施等，使全國各省的勞工職災補償制度具有整體一致性規範。此外，澳洲職災補償與安全衛生預防、災後重建三者間制度連結之特色，可作為台灣加強職災預防、重建之參考，包括職災保護法令單獨立法、宣導傷病管理計畫、相關機構整併與功能強化，健全我國職災補償事前防治機制及事後補償重建之完整性。 / The fundamental aim of workers’ compensation system is to protect labors’ right to survive in the Constitution, so it is not based on someone’s negligent and fault. Workers’ compensation system is set for preventing from occupational injury, compensating labors’ loss, and rehabilitation after the injuries. The worker’s compensation system of Commonwealth of Australia is governed by the territories while the federal government of Australia is in charge of making national policy and harmonizing state’s system. Workers’ compensation system requires most employers to insure against their statutory liability to compensate employees for work-related injury or illness. According to the district and state, there are ten workers’ compensation schemes in Australia. Workers’ compensation funding operates by government and authorized private insurance. Each state has its own workers’ compensation laws, and operates workers’ compensation arrangements independently. As each jurisdiction has developed its own arrangements and transition of labor market environments, this has resulted in numerous inconsistencies and problems in the each jurisdiction’s include application of workers’ compensation laws, inequities in treatment to workers and employers, and increase risk of errors and fraud etc. The increase of precarious workers also impacts the system, so it is necessary to enhance and definite coverage of workers’ compensation scheme. Consequently, workers’ compensation system in Australia would be narrow inconsistencies of territories. The system is still governed by each of territory, however. There should be harmonized all of the definition, benefit structure, rehabilitation program etc, so that workers’ compensation system in Australia has a united rule to follow. Besides, the advantage of arrangement in Australia that integrates compensation with prevention and rehabilitation can be a model for Taiwan to enhance function of prevention and rehabilitation. Other suggestions are like integrating the laws related to occupational injury and compensation, encouraging injury management plan and enforcing role of insurer to fulfill function of prevention and rehabilitation of workers’ compensation in Taiwan.

CHDS State/Local / This thesis focuses on the medical as part of the public health response to Hurricane Katrina, specific to the issues of the private, non-governmental health professional. A brief survey was completed by 39 state level Bioterrorism Hospital Coordinators. Information obtained highlights the issues of the inability to deploy these private health professionals. Traditional governmental mutual aid mechanisms do not cover private non-governmental health professionals for workers compensation and death benefits. A review of the potential deployment mechanisms provides insight to the challenges and complexity specific to private health professionals. The motivation for volunteerism highlights the importance of targeting volunteer activities to the motivation of the individual volunteer. Investigating the impact thwarting the private, nongovernmental health professionals may have on future planning and response activities reinforce the need to modify the structures currently in place. The National Response Plan stresses the importance of including private industry into emergency preparedness and response strategies. This thesis outlines a strategy to pilot a project working with an established state volunteer registry by providing mechanisms to federalize those pre-identified, pre-credentialed volunteer health professionals. Once completed, this pilot could be expanded to other states ensuring a solid mechanism to quickly and safely mobilize this critical response discipline. / Bioterrorism Hospital Coordinator, Michigan Department of Community Health

In Minnesota’s workers’ compensation system, injured employees at risk for sustaining permanent disability may be eligible for receipt of vocational rehabilitation (VR) services if they are determined to be capable of benefitting from such services. VR services can be a valuable resource to injured employees who need assistance minimizing their work disability and maximizing their residual wage-earning capacity. However, for VR services to be effective at a system level, it is necessary to precisely and accurately identify an injured employee’s rehabilitation potential. Failure to do so is likely to result in the misallocation of a scarce and costly resource. Given recent trends in Minnesota’s workers’ compensation system (e.g., higher VR service costs and lower RTW rates among injured employees with indemnity claims), this study was conducted with the purpose of developing and validating an objective, evidence-based method of predicting the RTW status as of claim closure of injured Minnesota employees who sustained permanent impairment and received VR services. To accomplish this purpose, a closed-claim, retrospective design was implemented. Data for this cross-sectional study was obtained from the Minnesota administrative claims database. There were 15,372 claims that met all eligibility criteria. With guidance from the biopsychosocial disablement models developed by Nagi and the World Health Organization, 15 discrete predictor variables that represented medical, individual, and workplace factors were selected for study inclusion. Descriptive and predictive analyses were used to assess the relationship between this study’s RTW outcome and its set of RTW predictors. Using logistic regression, an optimal RTW model was first developed and then internally validated with a split-dataset approach. The optimal RTW model included four main effects (attorney involvement; severity of permanent impairment; age; job tenure) and three first-order interaction effects (pre-injury average weekly wage X pre-injury industry; attorney involvement X severity of permanent impairment; attorney involvement X job tenure). Though not retained in the optimal RTW model, part of body affected and education also had notable bivariate relationships with the outcome. The optimal RTW model’s performance regarding goodness-of-fit and clinical usefulness suggests it may be of value to those assessing rehabilitation potential within Minnesota’s workers’ compensation system.

M.Com. (Taxation) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Thesis (M.M. (Public and Development Management))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Wits School of Governance, 2016. / The political and constitutional changes in South Africa brought about fundamental features through the transformation agenda in the public service. Of primary importance is that the South African political transformation processes have been characterised by a culture of transparency, participation and accountability. These values are in direct contrast to what presently obtains in the Department of Health’s exmineworker compensation system. Within this context it emerged as a concern that that the system of governance that managed the compensation system was not responsive to the needs of ex-mineworkers. Ex-mineworkers experienced serious delays in time before accessing government compensation. There were claimants that were deceased whilst awaiting an outcome of their applications for compensation. The enormity and complexity of the system was underestimated by government departments. Legal firms and related professionals handling the cases of ex-mineworkers earned more than £1.3-billion in fees for taking up the cases of claimants. The costs of administration in the handling of claims surpassed the actual amounts paid out to claimants eventually. At the centre of the civil service management in South Africa, was the Department of Public Service and Administration. It was here that policies on governance were developed. The Department of Public Service and Administration was responsible for the establishment of norms and standards for the entire Public Service. Under the auspices of this centralised function, service delivery mechanisms were ensured, there was access to integrated systems, the framework for human resources management was developed, and in the development of policies focus was given to the needs of the citizens. ii The purpose of this study was to explore reasons for the low compensation uptake, and to examine systems and inform changes that would allow exmineworkers in the Eastern Cape, Oliver Tambo District to better manage their access to government compensation. The mining industry plays a significant role in the South African economy long after the discovery of gold in 1886. With little evidence of policy and legislative reform, and after 22 years into South Africa’s democracy, the scourge of failing respiratory health amongst ex-mineworkers has not decreased. miners face an epidemic of occupational lung disease. The challenge of tracking and tracing ex-miners to capacitate them on their rights and benefits of compensation, owed and owing to them, forms the basis of this study. The governance of the system of compensation for ex-miners is not bringing the large numbers closer to easy access. Whilst the challenges may well be present, this study is intended to raise awareness of the problem, investigate the cause/s and offer recommendations that will provide relief to a population in South Africa that could be seemingly lost if not told of what benefits are available to themselves (if alive) and nominated beneficiaries (in the case of those who are deceased). This study was concerned with gaining a better understanding of why exmineworkers in the OR Tambo District of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa were not accessing their compensation benefits, rather than to measure certain outputs and outcomes. It was primarily interested in gaining an in-depth understanding of how information is being disseminated and how it is being influenced by different variables. A qualitative approach was chosen in order to portray the detailed understanding and specific dynamics experienced by ex-mineworkers in accessing compensation benefits from the Department of Health. iii The importance of good governance in improving service delivery was explained and spoke to what constituted good governance, the importance of proper planning during periods of transition and why governance should be a continuous activity as well as the importance of planning in public institutions. In this study, the need for good governance to improve service delivery, were identified, with specific reference to those aspects of good governance that could better equip the ex-mineworkers in the Eastern Cape to better understand the compensation and in so doing would guide the research process. / GR2018

Racial, ethnic, and linguistic minority workers suffer higher rates of work-related injuries and illnesses in the United States compared to their White counterparts. Explanations for these higher rates include potential socioeconomic causes (education, income, and wealth) and occupational segregation into more dangerous occupations. What is less studied are the post-injury sequelae for minority workers, which is their experiences in the workers' compensation system, as well as their health and return to paid employment. What is known comes primarily from qualitative literature, which includes themes of racial discrimination (from employers, health care providers, and workers' compensation employees), a lack of information on how to navigate the workers' compensation system, and linguistically inappropriate communication with those whose first language is not the majority language. In addition, qualitative studies have found differences in the treatment of minority workers, delays in receiving partial wage payments, and worse health outcomes. Most studies examining minority workers in the workers' compensation system have not provided a theoretical framework from which to test hypotheses as to why differences exist in a social insurance system based on race, ethnicity, and language. The purpose of this dissertation was to test the role of racial discrimination in creating worse post-injury workers' compensation outcomes for minorities, compared to English speaking Whites. This dissertation utilized fundamental cause theory to frame the hypotheses and analyses in a cross-sectional investigation of differences in workers' compensation system outcomes, using both administrative data from the workers' compensation agency, as well as survey responses from a sample of 488 injured workers in Washington State. The survey, conducted by Washington State University Social and Economic Science Research Center (SESRC), provided many variables not available in the WC administrative data including measures of perceived racial discrimination to test the hypotheses that racial discrimination is a fundamental cause of worse workers' compensation outcomes for minorities. Fundamental cause theory suggests that there are basic or fundamental reasons for health disparities that are not caused by mechanisms linking the fundamental cause with a health outcome; in fact, these mechanisms can and do change, but the relationship between the primary cause and the health disparity outcome will remain. In addition, a fundamental cause affects multiple outcomes via multiple mechanisms. Access to resources such as income, wealth, prestige, knowledge, and beneficial social connections can reduce the impact of a disease once it occurs. The analytic chapters in this dissertation are organized first, to address racial discrimination in health care provider outcomes; second, to address racial discrimination in workers' compensation agency outcomes; and third, to address the role of pre-injury racial discrimination in post-injury return to work outcomes. Racial discrimination was tested in this dissertation as the fundamental cause of health-care provider disparities in timeliness of follow-up care, adequacy of care, and patient satisfaction. Racial discrimination was tested in the workers' compensation agency as the fundamental cause of administrative delays and difficulties: delays in diagnostic approval and wage replacement payments, as well as language appropriate communication, and higher counts of independent medical exams. Racial discrimination was also tested as the fundamental cause of poor return-to-work outcomes (feeling a worker returned to work too early and overall general health). Workplace support, as a possible resource (social connection), was tested as a mediator in the relationship between racial discrimination and workplace outcomes. Due to the survey nature of the study design, replicate weights were calculated based upon information available in both the surveyed and not-surveyed population to account for non-response bias, and all analyses were bootstrapped using Stata survey software. The results support the role of racial discrimination as a fundamental cause of outcomes for hypotheses in the workers' compensation agency with clear differences in delays for diagnostic services, a higher number of independent medical exams, as well as linguistically inappropriate communication for language minorities. Racial discrimination (prior to injury) was found to be significant in overall general health for minority workers, and for feeling they had returned to work too early. Workplace support (a potential social resource), was found to mitigate the role of racial discrimination in the workplace return-to-work outcomes. This study is an initial effort to examine racial discrimination as a fundamental cause of disparities in occupational health after an injury. As the majority of adults will spend one-fifth to one-third of their lives in paid employment, the ability to heal and return to full and active employment after a work-related injury is critical to ones' self-worth, as well as to the economic stability of individuals, families, and societies. If racial, ethnic, and language minorities suffer worse outcomes in their post-injury sequelae, these results will have long-lasting implications in any quest for a more equitable society.

The central question posed in this thesis is why has the Queensland model of workers' compensation been so enduring? The legislation remained largely intact from 1916 until 2001, with the exception of the years from 1996 to 1998. This was so despite the fact the central feature of a state-controlled monopoly that underpinned this model was always potentially divisive in line with the variances between liberal-conservative traditions and social-democratic ideals that subsisted in broader political culture. In addressing this question of longevity, this thesis explores the capacity of an initially contentious piece of legislation to draw strong support from former opponents, and the argument is put forward that it is best explained through the development and operation of a policy community that fostered a shared set of core values relative to broad workers' compensation policy preferences. These core values were compulsory state monopoly, no fault insurance and full access to common law. Thus, the longevity of the legislation is attributed to the continued support by key stakeholders of these core values. The thesis also demonstrates that policy community relations deteriorated during the 1990s as governments responded to broader political pressures precipitated by reform agendas. Inconsistencies in core values and policy outcomes for each stakeholder emerged as governments attempted to assert unprecedented control over the direction of workers' compensation in order to meet broader political goals. The legislation was threatened as relations within the policy community proved unsustainable when existing core values were contested.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Injuries to people living and working on farms in New South Wales continue to be a significant burden on the health system, Workers’ Compensation system, agricultural industries and farming families. Strategies to reduce the number and severity of injuries suffered by farmers and people working on farms rely on accurate information. Unfortunately there is no one dataset available to describe the circumstances surrounding farm injuries and the size of this burden in Australia. Hence, a number of different data sources are required to provide a picture of farm injuries. To date, there has been very little critical examination of what value each of these datasets provides to describing farm injuries. This Thesis aimed to: • Undertake surveillance of injuries occurring to people on farms or during agricultural production in NSW using data from an Emergency Department, NSW Hospital Separations information, NSW Workers’ Compensation Claims, and ABS Deaths data. • Critically examine the utility of Emergency Department, Hospital, Workers’ Compensation, and ABS Deaths Data for the surveillance of farm injuries in NSW. • Critically examine data classification systems used in Emergency Department, Hospital, Workers’ Compensation, and ABS Deaths data collections to describe the breadth of farm injuries in NSW. • Define the priority areas for farm injury prevention initiatives in NSW based on the information obtained from the examination of the data from Emergency Department, Hospital, Workers’ Compensation, and ABS Deaths. • Evaluate the effectiveness of the NSW Rollover Protective Structure (ROPS) rebate scheme and examine the utility of the data currently available in NSW to measure the performance of the program. Four datasets, Tamworth Emergency Department, Hospital Separations, Workers’ Compensation and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Deaths data were used to provide information on the surveillance of farm injuries, describe the breadth of classifications used to describe farm injuries, and define priorities for the prevention of farm injuries. There were 384 farm-related injuries which presented to the Emergency Department at the Tamworth Base Hospital between 1 September 1997 and 31 August 1998. Emergency Department data collected in this study used the Farm Injury Optimal Dataset (FIOD) for classification, which allowed for a comprehensive picture of the circumstances surrounding the injury event. The three most common external causes of injury were related to horses, motorcycles, and animals. Commonly people were working at the time of injury. Children represented 21% of the people injured. The average number of injuries per 100 farms per annum was 34.7. An examination of hospital discharge data for NSW was undertaken for the period 1 July 1992 to 30 June 2000 where the location of the injury was a farm. Classification of cases in this dataset conformed to the International Classification of Disease (ICD) versions 9 and 10. There were 14,490 people who were injured on a farm during the study period. The three most common external causes of injury were motorcycles, animals being ridden and agricultural machinery. Children represented 17% of all farm injury cases. The rate per 1,000 farms ranged from 19 to 42 per annum. An examination of Workers’ Compensation claims for agricultural industries in NSW between 1 July 1992 and 30 June 2001 was undertaken. The ‘Type of Occurrence’ classification system was used to code the claims. There were 24,332 claims of which the majority were males (82%). The incidence of injury / disease in agriculture per annum varied from 37 per 1,000 workers to 73 per 1,000 workers. The rate per 1,000 agricultural establishments varied from 54 to 76. The average cost of a claim was $10,880 and the average time lost per claims was 9.2 weeks. There were 81 deaths and 3,158 permanent disabilities. The three most common agents were sheep / goats (5%), ferrous and non-ferrous metals (5%), crates / cartons / boxes / etc (5%). Using ABS deaths data to examine the deaths of people working and living on farms was limited to males whose occupation was recorded as ‘farmer and farm manager’ and ‘agricultural labourer and related worker’. There were 952 deaths over the period 1 January 1991 and 31 December 2000. The information provided a consistent series of cases over time. Areas where prevention should be directed included motor vehicle accidents; falls; agricultural machinery; other machinery; firearms; poisoning; and drowning. Using any one of the datasets alone to examine people injured on farms not only underestimates the number of people injured, but also misses particular types of agents involved in farm injuries. Each of the datasets used in this Thesis provides a different perspective of farm injury in NSW. By examining the information together, there are a number of areas which are consistently represented in each dataset such as falls and agricultural machinery. While no one dataset provided all the information that would be useful for the prevention of injuries, the available information does provide direction for the development of prevention strategies. The overall weakness of the information provided is that it misses a number of risk factors that contribute to farm injuries such as fatigue and training. The lack of appropriate denominator information also makes it difficult to directly compare the datasets and estimate the size of the problem. There are a number of additional coding categories that could be included in each dataset that would provide a better understanding of the different groups at risk of sustaining an injury on a farm or during agricultural work. These coding categories include activity at time of injury, admission to hospital, and occupation. An example of the use of data to determine the effectiveness of a farm injury prevention program is the ‘NSW Rollover Protective Structure (ROPS) Rebate Scheme’ evaluation. Tractor rollover deaths have been identified as an issue for prevention by Farmsafe Australia; however, such deaths were not identified in any of the datasets used in this Thesis due to coding limitations in the ABS data. In this Thesis information about the evaluation of the ‘NSW ROPS Rebate Scheme’ is presented. The scheme was successful in fitting 10,449 ROPS to tractors and the following lessons were learnt: when providing a rebate, the administration (i.e. sending the cheque) needs to be done well; advertising is important and should be co-ordinated, increase the awareness of the risk(s) the intervention is aiming to prevent and effectiveness of subsequent solution (s); the program should ensure there is an increased awareness of the outcome the intervention is aiming to prevent; if regulation is part of the program, enforcement needs to undertaken; and should address any barriers to uptake. The information provided in this Thesis highlights the substantial burden that farm injury places on the agricultural and rural sector of NSW. While there is no one data source that can describe the circumstances and the burden of farm injuries, the currently available datasets do provide an insight into the circumstances of farm injuries and the burden these injuries place on health, Workers’ Compensation, agricultural industries and farming families.