LIBROS Y CAPÍTULOS DE LIBROS

The Compensation Commissioner (CC) reports that the Compensation Fund (CF) is a component within the DoL, administering the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA). The main objective of this Act is “to provide for compensation for disablement caused by occupational injuries or diseases sustained or contracted by workers in the course of employment, or for death resulting from such injuries or diseases.” (CC, 2000: 1)

The prime objective of the sub-directorate of compensation is to manage compensation payments, namely pension payments, and lump sum payments in respect of temporary, total disablement or loss of salary.

According to the CC (2000: 8), the Act requires employers to report occupational injuries within seven days of such injuries being reported, and occupational diseases within fourteen days of diagnosis.

The claims ratio is calculated by using the following formula:

Claims ratio = Compensation Claims Compensation Assessments

Table 1.4 illustrates the number of accidents reported for the period 1996 / 97 to 2000 / 01. The table indicates the total amount of cases processed by the Accident Fund and also the number of employers that received exemption.

TABLE 1.4: Accidents reported for the period 1996 / 97 to 2000 / 01 (CC, 2001: 10)

Year Accident Fund Exempted

Employers Total 1996/97 242 782 23 377 266 159 1997/98 261 841 28 111 289 952 1998/99 244 370 24 889 269 259 1999/00 220 753 21 373 242 126 2000/01 202 299 21 316 223 615

TABLE 1.5: Compensation awards for the period 1996 to 2003 (CC, 2003: 10) Year Number 1996/97 102 879 1997/98 86 903 1998/99 60 647 1999/00 62 504 2000/01 60 757 2001/02 45 236 2002/03 42 693

It is notable that the number of awards both compensation and medical, decreased by 21.9% for the year 2001, compared with an increase of 2.1% in the previous year. The number of awards for compensation also shows a decrease of 2.8% from R 62 504 to R 60 757. Other salient statistics according to Smallwood (2000: 22) are as follows:

• the Disabling Injury Incidence Rate (DIIR) of 2.03 in 1990 means that 2.03 workers per 100 received disabling injuries (CC, 1995), and

• when the Severity Rate (SR) of 1.93 in 1990 is multiplied by 2, it means 3.86 (1.93 x 2) days were lost per worker (CC, 1995).

According to the CC Report (1999: 5) the SR was 2.28 (1.14 x 2). This shows a decrease of 59% on the 1995 figures.

The SR is relative to 1 000 hours worked, whereas the average worker works 2 000 hours per year hence the multiplier of 2:

• it is notable that the DIIR rate also declined to 4.89 in 1999 from 6.57 in 1998; the total of 1 620 046 days lost as a result of fatal and non-fatal accidents in 1990 is the equivalent of 6 983 worker-days lost for every worker-day (FEM and CC, 1994), and

• the fatality Rate in 1990 was 53.51 / 100 000 workers (CC, 1995).

Current records also show that various accidents have taken place in South Africa over the past eight years. One of the most recent construction related accidents occurred at the Brooklyn Mall in Pretoria, where a roof collapsed, resulting in fatalities (DoL, 2002: 1). The following constitute other notable accidents in the past decade:

• Pretoria North slab collapse, 1996 (Construction World, 1999: 3); • Investec scaffold collapse, 1997 (Construction World, 1999: 3);

• Bushbuck Ridge bridge collapse, 1998 (Construction World, 1999: 3); • Kokstad prison crane accident, 1999 (Construction World, 1999: 3); • Bridge collapse, N1 highway, Pretoria bypass, 2002 (Cull, 2002:10); • N1 highway, Warmbaths, construction worker run over, 2002 (Le Roux,

2002: 1);

• Northpark Centre structure collapse, Pretoria, 2002 (Carstens, 2002: 2); • Randburg Mall scaffold collapse, Johannesburg, 2002 (Construction

World, 1999: 3);

• Coega, Port Elizabeth, bridge support work collapse, 2003 (Van Staden, and Mkokeli, 2003:1);

• Cape High Court, Cape Town, scaffold collapse, 2007 (www.iol.co.za), and

• Woodmead. Johannesburg. Concrete truck accident, 2007 (The Star, 2007: 3).

However, records also show that South Africa is not the only country where notable accidents have taken place in the past decade. The following international accidents are noted:

• Stadium scaffolding collapse Sari, Iran, 2001

(http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/meast/05/07/iran.collapse/); • Partially constructed Highway bridge collapse, Madrid, Spain, 2005

(http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/11/07/spain.bridge.collapse/ index.html);

• Linking bridge collapse, Monrovia, Liberia, 2006

(http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_Africa&set_id=1&click_id=68 &art_id=qw1162969023316B241);

• Minneapolis highway bridge collapse, 2007 (The Herald Tribune, 2007: 1)

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Death_toll_up_to_five_in_Minneapolis_bride collapse), and

• Scaffold Collapse, Pasadena, America, 2007

(http://www.knbc.com/news/13851726/detail.html?rss=la&psp=news).

According to the COID Report (1998: 1) with regards to the 1998 statistics, it is notable that the accident statistics for the year 1998 were closed off on 6 November 2002, a delay of approximately four years.

The abovementioned report also indicates that a total of 212 481 Accident Fund (AF) cases were finalised on this date. 76 585 cases were also reported during 1998 for other insurance carriers, totaling 289 066 cases in respect of which compensation and / or medical aid was paid. Of these, 9 297 were industrial cases and in addition to these 6 307 claims were repudiated.

TABLE 1.6: Extent of disablement according to Industry – number of cases shown as a percentage of total industrial group (Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Report, 1998: 1)

Class Industry Cases

(No.) Medical Aid % Temporary Disablement % Permanent Disablement % Fatal % 1 Agriculture and Forestry 19 388 66.5 30.7 2.4 0.5 2 Fishing 557 47.6 47.0 2.7 2.7 3 Mining 6 819 61.6 33.1 5.4 0.5 4 Building and Construction 16 595 73.4 23.4 2.6 0.7 5 Food, Drink and Tobacco 14 392 72.7 24.5 2.5 0.3 6 Textiles 5 583 73.4 24.6 1.9 0.1 7 Wood 11 252 68.8 27.7 3.3 0.2 8 Printing and Paper 2 784 72.9 24.6 2.4 0.2 9 Chemical 9 024 76.4 20.4 3.0 0.1 10 Leather 1 082 71.3 26.9 1.6 0.3 11 Glass, Bricks and Tiles 4 672 72.9 24.0 2.8 0.3

12 Iron and Steel 40 760 77.4 19.3 3.1 0.2

13 Diamonds, Asbestos and Bitumen 420 70.2 22.9 6.0 1.0 14 Trade and Commerce 23 619 77.3 20.6 1.7 0.3 15 Banking, Finance and Insurance 692 78.3 19.4 1.7 0.6 16 Transport 22 133 66.1 30.8 2.2 0.8 17 Local Authorities 8 701 73.1 25.1 1.4 0.4 18 Personal Services, Hotels 12 361 76.1 21.5 1.5 0.9 19 Entertainment and Sport 983 77.2 21.0 1.4 0.4 20 Medical services 3 989 87.8 11.3 0.8 0.2 21 Professional Services 1 505 75.1 22.5 1.7 0.7 22 Educational Services 2 407 70.2 28.4 1.1 0.3 23 Charitable, Religious, Political and Trade Organisations 1 763 76.5 22.2 1.3 0.1 TOTAL 212 481 73.0 24.1 2.5 0.4

Observing the number of cases shown as a percentage of total industrial groups, it is then also evident that the building and construction industry remains among the top sectors in respect of the extent of disablement.

The report indicates that the construction sector over this period ranked fourth after industries such as fishing, transport, diamonds, and personal services. Table 1.6 shows the extent of disablement according to the various industries during the year 1998.