The Linkage between Employment Injury Scheme and Occupational Safety & Health

Definition and Justification

In employment injury scheme, compensation and prevention are not separable logically and practically. It is obvious, of course, that the most desirable way to reduce the cost of occupational injuries and disease is to reduce their incidence. For the effective setting of preventive strategy, the collection and analysis of data on occupational accident and disease is very important. In this regard, reporting system can be supplemented by sharing the broader data on occupational accident & disease and compensation among related institutions. Also certain portion of EII fund can be allocated for occupational safety & health and economic incentive such as experience rating system from EII be considered for facilitating employers to invest more on prevention. As a result, Successful prevention programmes to reduce industrial accidents not only decrease the number of beneficiaries naturally, but also reduce the expenditure of disability compensations thus facilitating stable finance. The evidence can be observed if we examine the experience of countries with long history of operating employment injury insurance.

Related International Labour Standards

Of the total number of international labour standards approved by the International Labour Conference(ILC), nearly half deal with occupational safety and health, more than any other subject. Among them, Convention No. 187(The Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006) promotes the development of a national policy, system and programme of occupational safety and health, in consultation with employers’ and workers’ organizations. The national system shall include (Article 4): (f) a mechanism for the collection and analysis of data on occupational injuries and diseases, taking into account relevant ILO instruments; and (g) provisions for collaboration with relevant insurance or social security schemes covering occupational injuries and diseases.

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Challenges and recommendations in the linkage between EII and OSH

Collection and analysis of data on occupational accident and disease is very important. The result of them affects the directions of OSH-related activities such as providing health and safety information, education and offering prevention resources to stakeholders, establishing standard and guideline for OSH, conducting worksite inspections, etc. In accordance with reporting system from employers about their own workplace’s occupational injury and disease, the number of them, the amount of compensation, the accident history, OSH-related department of institution could collect the data for OSH analysis. However, even though the reporting from employers is made on a periodical basis, it takes time to collect and analyze the data for OSH-related activities. In case reporting system does not function properly owing to employer’s negligence, data is not enough to analyze and OSH institutions cannot access the data of workplaces not reporting. In addition, data from small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) is not easy to obtain.

For the case of necessity of establishing the linkage, please click here.

There is no one-size-fits-all model for effective linkage between EII and OSH. Scheme type of workers’ compensation and what OSH strategies focus on is different according to nations because the difference is based on the cultural, historical, ethnic background, etc. However, the linkage system and its advantage could be found in developed countries’ system and some of Asian countries.

For the recommendation on the linkage, please click here.

The case of linkage in countries with long history of employment injury scheme

For the case of Germany on the linkage, please click here.

For the case of Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia in Canada on the linkage, please click here.

For the case of United Kingdom on the linkage, please click here.

For the case of Victoria in Australia on the linkage, please click here.

For the case of New Zealand on the linkage, please click here.

Case review of reporting system in a linkage perspective in Asia

Occupational accidents and diseases, in particular the ones which occur in small workplaces, are often left unreported in the government reporting system. We need to increase our efforts to develop well-functioning reporting systems and help occupational accident and disease victims receive timely treatment and compensation. Accident and disease reporting can be strengthened in many ways such as frequent campaigns, easy-to-use reporting systems. Several countries have succeeded in increasing the number of accidents and diseases reported through linking accident and disease reporting to the employment injury insurance scheme.

For the case of South Korea on the linkage, please click here.

For the case of Malaysia on the linkage, please click here.

For the case of Singapore on the linkage, please click here.