CGU says mental health claims now account for 20% of its workers’ compensation claims, prompting the insurer to introduce measures to support employees and employers.

The measures include streamlining and automating the claims process and engaging with external specialists to consider appropriate return-to-work options and promote the mental health benefits of returning to work sooner with right treatment.

The IAG-owned insurer says mental health claims can drive significantly higher claims costs than physical injury claims alone and can even quadruple if there are secondary psychological injuries, based on its workers’ compensation data from 2020 and last year.

Psychological claims include primary mental injuries (5%) where the initial claim relates to direct mental health impacts following incidents such as workplace bullying, and secondary psychological injuries (15%) which develop due to the impacts of a physical injury on other aspects of a person’s life.

“The measures we’ve put in place are designed to help deliver a better outcome for employees and their employers,” CGU Workers’ Compensation Executive Manager Dustin Bartley said.

“While most workers’ compensation claims relate to physical injuries, our data shows that these can often result in secondary mental health injuries, some of which can be addressed earlier and proactively, for the benefit of injured workers and employers.”

Workplace accidents happen but there are things that employers can do to reduce the risk and impact of both mental and physical injuries in the workplace.

“This includes the right safety and induction training, and providing support to injured workers through services like employee assistance programs,” Mr Bartley said.

CGU provides workers’ compensation to more than 27,000 Australian businesses in the ACT, the NT, Tasmania and WA.