Tough times for employers complying with their duty of care to employees and customers.
Ventilation audits, decisions on mask wearing and other things. Leaving themselves open to prosecution if they don't bring in expert advisers to carry the risk.
Lawyers picnic.
Workers’ compensation claims for contracting COVID-19 are expected to surge at the end of the NSW lockdown, with the industry regulator predicting a bill of up to $638 million within 12 months.
The State Insurance Regulatory Authority and workplace lawyers said employers and building owners face potential prosecutions or lawsuits from staff who can prove they were infected with COVID-19 at work.
The authority said there had been 1593 COVID-19 claims since the pandemic started last year to October 1, including 1198 since
June 16 when the Delta outbreak started. The total payment for COVID-19 related claims was $7.1 million to July, with an expected gross cost of $13.9 million for the year.
The most affected industries so far have been supermarkets and grocery stores, with 279 COVID-19 notifications and claims between June 16 and September 24. Takeaway food services had 101 claims and notifications, police services 91, correctional services 51, department stores 48, hospitals 46, fruit and vegetable wholesaling 30, building and other industrial cleaning services 30, other health care services 30, primary and secondary schools 25.
While workers’ compensation claims are expected to increase, non-essential workers will need to prove they were infected with the virus at work and not elsewhere, including on public transport or the shops.
