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REAL CASES FROM THE FFTS WORKCOVER FILE


‘Vince’ was a 63 year old FFTS member. He worked as a glass production worker for a major glass manufacturer for over 18 years. On the last day before the Christmas break in 2006, he felt some pain at the back of his neck. Being the end of the year he did not report it to employer. He went home after end of shift and decided that it was the usual muscle soreness and that it would recover over holiday period. But the pain persisted over the holiday break. As the manufacturing plant had closed for the Christmas break and he was not due back at work until 11th Jan 2007, and he was not able to record the injury in the Register of Injuries.

When he returned to work, ‘Vince’ reported it to the employer, but the employer did not advise him to complete a WorkCover claim form. The member persisted with injury while completing normal duties. He raised the issue of requiring a lifter for the glass and told management about his injury. Nothing was done.

‘Vince’ was a hard worker, who did not like complaining and ‘wanted to do the right thing’, so he persisting working for a further month. But ‘Vince’ reached a point where the pain was no longer bearable. Finally he approached the FFTS. We advised him to lodge a WorkCover claim which he did.

Claim is denied claim


The WorkCover claim was rejected on the grounds that it was not work related and/or not substantially contributed by his employment. This decision by WorkCover was based on an ‘independent’ medical assessor’s report.

This WorkCover decision totally ignore some key facts in ‘Vince’s’ case:


  • that he had worked at this particular manufacturing plant for 18.5 years,
  • his work was repetitive
  • that his treating General Practitioner, a Neurologist and a Rheumatologist all agreed that he required serious back surgery to stop the degenerative progress or he would face permanent back .
  • All these treating practitioners stated that this member’s condition was a result of his employment.


The Union assisted with the filing of Request for Conciliation to get this unjust decision overturned. To make matter worse the Workcover Agent did not let Vince know that they should pay for all his medical reports. Without these expensive reports Vince could not win his case. The medical practitioners would not release the reports without payment. As is the case all too often we see the injured worker is caught up in system that is designed to serve bosses and insurance agents. To remedy this the union drew a cheque to pay for these reports while we sought to get the payment later from WorkCover Agent. We obtained the medical reports and went to Conciliation.

WorkCover changes its tune when union arrives


Upon arrival at Conciliation, the Workcover Agent’s attitude had suddenly changed no that the union was involved, they offered the following settlement:


  • no admission of liability,
  • payment of weekly compensation payments to date,
  • payment of all reasonable medical and like expenses to date
  • payment of all reasonable medical and like expenses in the future (in accordance with the legislation) and
  • processing of request for surgery upon receipt of that request.


At this time the Union became aware that Vince’s employer intended to offer 5
redundancies. The Union requested that the employer list ‘Vince’ as a priority candidate. ‘Vince’ lodged an application for redundancy and was subsequently approved a large payout of about $80,000.

‘Vince’ gets treatment and pays off mortgage


At present the Vince has been granted surgery and has used a portion of the lump sum of his redundancy to pay off his mortgage and is looking forward to a well earned holiday overseas. The union has now referred him to Maurice Blackburn Lawyers for an application for lump sum impairment payment.

Note: we have changed the above FFTS member’s name to ‘Vince’ to respect his privacy.

Don’t let WorkCover rob you - call the union


The lesson from ‘Vince’s case is simple. A serious injury can happen to anyone who works long and hard at a repetitive job for many years. Members should take any injury or pain they feel seriously. Always document any pain in a diary, get medical reports and most importantly come to the union so that we can make the system work for you. Remember the WorkCover system is a very complicated system run by businesses who want to reduce claims. They don’t feel your pain and in ‘Vince’s’ case they did not seem to care. If Vince had not contacted the union he would not have got the result he did.