WORKPLACE INJURY MANAGEMENT AND WORKERS COMPENSATION ACT 1998 - SECT 54 Second-injury scheme

WORKPLACE INJURY MANAGEMENT AND WORKERS COMPENSATION ACT 1998 - SECT 54

54 Second-injury scheme

(cf 1987 s 153A)

(1) The Authority is to institute and administer under section 53 a scheme (to be called
"the second-injury scheme" ) to encourage the employment of injured workers by providing financial incentives to their employers in connection with insurance liabilities arising from further injuries to the workers.

(2) The second-injury scheme applies to such injured workers as are approved by the Authority as being suitable for inclusion in the scheme.

(3) Any such approval--

(a) applies to such employment of the injured worker as is specified in the approval (including employment that is limited to, or excludes, employment with particular employers), and

(b) applies for a period of 6 months of any such employment or such other period as is specified in the approval, and

(c) applies to all injuries or only to particular injuries, or injuries of a class, specified in the approval, and

(d) is subject to any other conditions imposed by the Authority.

(4) If the second-injury scheme applies to an injured worker--

(a) the employer of the worker is not required under section 160 (Recovery of excess from employer) of the 1987 Act to repay the relevant part of any weekly compensation claim paid under a policy of insurance for compensation for an injury to the worker to which the scheme applies, and

(b) any such claim (or any liability of the employer independently of this Act for that injury) is to be excluded from the claims experience of the employer for the purposes of calculating the premium payable by the employer for a policy of insurance.

(5) Subsection (4) is subject to--

(a) the regulations, and

(b) the terms and conditions of the Authority's approval for the inclusion of the injured worker in the second-injury scheme, and

(c) any other limitation imposed by the Authority when giving that approval.

(6) The regulations may make provision for or with respect to the operation of the second-injury scheme.