TAS Workers Compensation Insurance

• Ensure your employee receives appropriate medical treatment immediately
• Notify CGU as soon as possible after becoming aware of an injury in your workplace. The earlier you notify us, the sooner we can provide assistance with managing the claim.

Providing initial notification of an injury couldn't be easier with CGU's online initial injury notification system. If you're new to online notification you can use this quick reference guide or speak with your CGU Account Manager.

You can also notify us of an injury via email, fax or posting a notification of injury form to CGU.

The employee should complete the first two pages of the Workers Compensation Claim Form and submit it with the employee's medical certificate on the Employer as soon as practicable. The employer is required to complete the third page of the claim form and lodge it on CGU Workers Compensation within three working days.

• It’s important that you investigate the incident and identify a solution to ensure a similar injury doesn’t occur again. This should become part of your organisational WHS system
• If the injured worker is unable to immediately return to their pre-injury role, identify suitable duties that you may be able to provide within your workplace.

The WorkCover Injury Management model requires that you must have an Injury Management Plan (IMP) established. If you require assistance in establishing an IMP then please contact your case manager.

CGU provides all policy holders with free access to online injury management training.

This introductory training is designed to provide you with tips and techniques to help you successfully manage injuries in the workplace. The training includes:

• An overview of injury management
• Legal requirements
• Roles and responsibilities in injury management
• Responding to injuries
• Claims management and early intervention
• Recovery and returning to the workplace.

CGU also offers classroom style training on injury management. More information is available in our Employer WHS risk management and training section.

You are responsible for preparing a Return To Work Plan for your injured worker that:

• Describes how you will help your employee return to work after an injury
• Is based on the treating doctor’s recommendations and approval
• Is developed in consultation with your employee. You must make it available to them on request.

If the doctor thinks the employee is fit to work, but not in their normal job, you must consider suitable duties such as:

• Parts of the job the employee was doing before the injury
• The same job, but on reduced hours
• Different duties altogether
• Duties at a different site
• Training opportunities
• A combination of some or all the above.

When considering suitable duties, the following must be taken into account:

• The work capabilities the treating doctor has listed
• The age, education and work skills of the injured worker
• Where the worker lives
• What duties are useful within your business
• If the duties comply with the injury management plan
• They must not be demeaning or token duties.

Contact your case manager for more information and to obtain an Employer’s Guide and templates for developing a Return To Work Plan.

Please note, a penalty may be imposed for failing to comply with an approved injury management program, which includes the obligation to develop return to work and injury management plans within a time frame set out in the program and approved by the Board.

CGU offers a range of training courses to help you in the area of return to work. More information is available in our Employer WHS risk management and training section.

Although medical treatment can only be administered with the consent of the injured worker by their nominated treating doctor, an employer or CGU may require the employee to be examined by an independent medical examiner.

These reviews aim to provide medical opinion and information to assist the return to work process.

If CGU makes a decision to decline payment, it will be done in consultation with you. If you have concerns about how a liability decision was reached, please contact us immediately and provide any further information you think may be relevant.

While CGU must comply with legislative requirements, we endeavour to partner with you to ensure the best outcomes for you and your injured worker are achieved.

If you disagree with a decision, you can request CGU review the claim. The review will be conducted by a senior member of staff who was not involved in making the original decision.

As an employer, you must maintain a readily accessible register of injuries for all incidents, accidents and near misses and make sure all employees are aware of it.

You must also:

• Allow the injured worker to visit a doctor
• Consult with the injured worker, their treating doctor and CGU about the plan for assisting them return to work
• Prepare a Return to Work Plan
• Provide the injured worker with employment that is suitable based on their work capacity, until they are able to return to their pre-injury duties.

For further information about employer obligations, please refer to the Information for Employers Rights and Responsibilities brochure or contact WorkSafe TAS on (03) 6166 4600 (Outside Tasmania), 1300 366 322 (Inside Tasmania).

Following an injury an employer must:

• Attend to the injured worker as soon as possible, ensuring they receive medical treatment if required
• Notify CGU as soon as possible
• Complete your register of injuries as soon as possible
• Implement and monitor a Return To Work Plan for the injured worker
• Not dismiss an injured worker within 12 months of the worker becoming unfit as a result of a work injury.

Once a claim form is completed an employer must:

• Forward it to CGU within five working days of receipt
• Forward relevant medical certificates as soon as possible.

Employers also have a number of obligations relating to workplace health and safety.

An injured worker must:

• Notify their employer of any injury or illness as soon as they become aware of it
• Make a workers' compensation claim (including providing a WorkSafe TAS Form 1 Medical Certificate) in order to receive payment for medical expenses and any time lost
• Nominate their own treating doctor, usually a GP who agrees to participate in the planning of their return to work
• Actively participate in treatment and planning their return to work
• Participate in assessments to determine their capacity, rehabilitation progress and future employment prospects
• Make every reasonable effort to return to work in suitable employment
• Notify their employer within seven days if they are receiving workers compensation payments and start working for another employer or start their own business.

If your employee doesn’t meet these obligations, their entitlement to weekly payments and medical and other expenses may be affected.

For more information regarding employee obligations, see Information for Workers Rights and Responsibilities. Further information in relation to WorkSafe TAS claims, or copies of any posters, can be found at the WorkSafe TAS website.

Access online training

A growing focus on business transparency and performance metrics has increased the need for excellent reporting tools. We understand that all businesses have unique performance reporting needs, so we’ll work with you to establish your requirements and provide the claims and premium forecasting information to fulfil them.

Workers Compensation Online is a secure, web-based report management tool that:

• Provides you with information on injury and claims management
• Enables you to compare data and actively plan WHS strategies that will help minimise workplace injuries, improve health outcomes for your employees and produce tangible cost benefits for your business
• Lets you manage your reports in the format that suits you – choose between monthly reports that are automatically emailed to you, or develop your own reports that you can access at any time.

The tool covers areas such as:

• Injury notifications
• Claims durations
• Injury types by bodily location
• Injury trends
• Cost of injury by bodily location.

To register for Workers Compensation Online contact your adviser or CGU, or email wc.live@cgu.com.au.

Under the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (The Act) all employers are required to take out a policy to cover all employees including the following:

• Apprentices
• Contractors where the work is not work incidental to their trade or business
• Sub-contractors
• Family members who are employed and or engaged in the business
• Working directors.

For further information, see the WorkCover TAS website.

All employees are covered by a workers compensation policy and are entitled to compensation for any injury arising out of the course of their employment or an injury that is a disease where their employment is deemed to be a significant contributing factor.

If you are a sole proprietor or a member of a partnership, you are not an employee of your own business and therefore you cannot take out a Workers Compensation policy that will cover yourself.

When taking out a policy, you will need to submit a proposal form declaring estimated wages for the period of the policy (usually twelve months) and pay the deposit premium based on the estimate. The premium is adjusted at the end of the period based on actual wages paid during the period. For further information see the employer information pack and employer indemnity policy.

Premium rates are reviewed by CGU annually with rates set for each industry/occupation.

CGU calculates premiums in two stages. First, the appropriate industry rate is applied to the estimated gross wages declared by you.

Second, the resulting premium may be adjusted in accordance with your past claim experience and any additional risk factors including your commitment to OH&S, commitment to alternate duties and business size.

If one of your employees has a work-related injury or industrial disease and you are uninsured, you will be liable for the cost of that claim. You may also be liable for the cost of any damages awarded by a court. In addition, WorkCover TAS may prosecute any uninsured employer, with fines payable of up to 500 penalty points. For further information see the WorkCover TAS website.

Under the terms of the policy we issue, you have certain policy and claims responsibilities to fulfil. It is important that you take the time to read your policy document so that you are aware of these obligations.

The major obligations you have are to:

• Provide estimated and actual wages declarations for each policy period you are insured with us
• Maintain proper wages records for every employee
• Allow inspection of your wages records by a duly authorised representative appointed by us
• Notify us if your workplace or activities change (as this may change or alter your workplace classification and premium)
• Give notice of any injury as soon as practicable.

As an employer, you also have obligations when one of your employees is injured at work. For further information, see the claims section for employers.

As a large business, your company structure may mean that you have complex needs when it comes to managing your workers compensation policy.

We will work with you and your advisor to understand your business structure and strategy and help make the management of your portfolio of policies as effective and efficient as possible.

There are several things you need to know regarding your Workers Compensation insurance. You can access an Employers Information Pack by clicking on ‘Forms and downloads' in the Tools and Resources section of our website and then selecting 'Employers Information Pack'.

The pack contains information regarding your obligations, entitlements and procedures required by the Workers Compensation legislation in lodging and processing claims. It is important that you are fully aware of these requirements so that claims are efficiently managed and the interests of both you and your employee are protected.

The Forms and downloads webpage also contains other important information, such as:

• The Workers Compensation Handbook: The Basics (BG010 WorkCover document)
• Details of our Injury Management Program and our Injury Management Services
• Any recent changes to Workers Compensation Laws
• Sample policy documents and related forms
• Sample claim-related reporting forms and process information.

Did you know that if you employ over 50 employees you must maintain a list of alternate duties available?

Details on alternate duties available within your business must be provided to CGU within 60 days after the commencement of your policy and on each renewal period. A copy of alternate duties created by WorkCover can be found on our website by clicking on ‘Forms and downloads’ and then selecting ‘Register of Alternate Duties TAS’.

Please contact us by phone or email and we will arrange for this to be sent to you.

CGU offers free online courses to all employers holding our workers compensation cover.

CGU, in partnership with Kineo, provides innovative online WHS training solutions. Using a blend of workplace simulations, interactive assessments, audio, images and text, our courses actively engage and involve the user in problem-based learning.

The benefits of online learning include:

• Lower training cost per employee
• Standardised training throughout all business locations
• Reduced administration requirements.

• Free or discounted online training
• An opportunity to trial online learning in your organisation at no cost
• Discounts on future online learning courses.

There is a variety of modules in work health and safety, injury management and industrial relations. The following are an example of the types of courses available:

• Alcohol and other drugs in the workplace
• Duty of care
• Incident investigation
• Injury management
• Manual tasks for workers
• Minimising risk using personal protective equipment
• Risk management
• Work health and safety fundamentals.

If you already have access, log in via CGU Online Learning Portal - Online Training Portal.