12 December 2024
Rodney Parsons
[FYI request #29024 email]
Kia ora Rodney
Your Official Information Act request, reference: GOV-036431
Thank you for your email of 2 November 2024, to Minister Doocey’s office, asking for the following
information under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act):
1.
We understand that emergency dispatch centres are high-risk environments with several
occupational hazards that may not be covered by ACC. These risks include post-traumatic stress
injuries, hearing impairments, and sleep disorders, often arising from acoustic shock, high noise
levels, and high-stress cultures within these settings.
Could you please confirm whether ACC does indeed exclude these conditions, including post-traumatic
stress disorder, from coverage?
2.
Additionally, please provide a breakdown of the number of related claims received and the number of
claims declined by ACC over the past year.
3.
We also request any advice that ACC has issued to organizations operating these centres within the
same period.
4.
Furthermore, we seek information on any actions taken by ACC or WorkSafe to mitigate these
occupational risks in emergency dispatch centres. Specifically, we would like to understand the advice,
policies, and monitoring processes both agencies have implemented to ensure that Persons
Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBUs) are actively safeguarding workers in the high-risk
environments of police, fire, ambulance, and central dispatch centres (such as Spark).
5.
Lastly, please provide minutes or records of any executive or board-level discussions that pertain to
decisions regarding the funding of these conditions, the implementation (or lack thereof) of
preventative or monitoring programs, and claims related to injuries sustained by emergency dispatch
operators.
On 14 November, Minister Doocey’s office transferred your request to ACC for a response. This transfer
was made in accordance with section 14 of the Act.
Cover for occupational claims at emergency communication centres
ACC covers injuries due to work-related gradual processes under section 30 of the Accident Compensation
Act 2001 (AC Act). Regardless of the client’s occupation, the claim must satisfy the criteria in this section in
order to have cover for a gradual process injury. ACC can cover a claim for noise induced hearing loss
caused by noise exposure within a client’s employment if it also meets the hearing loss requirements of the
AC Act. As such, ACC would investigate any claim for hearing loss caused by work-related gradual process,
including claims by emergency dispatch operators, under sections 20(2)(e), 26(1A), 30 and 61 of the AC Act.
Please refer to the publicly available AC Act to read the sections:
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2001/0049/latest/whole.html#DLM100910.
The AC Act also provides cover for mental injuries related to work if the injury is the consequence of single
traumatic incident. ACC considers all claims for mental injuries related to workplace trauma under sections
21B and 28 of the AC Act. Accordingly, emergency dispatch operators are not excluded from receiving cover
for mental injuries such as post-traumatic stress disorder. For your reference, please find attached ACC’s
Work-Related Mental Injury Policy which ACC follows to determine cover for this type of claim (staff names
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have been removed). Please note that under section 30 of the AC Act cover for a work-related gradual
process injury, excludes personal injury related to non-physical stress.
We could not identify work-related claims for these roles
We are unable to identify how many claims were lodged for emergency dispatch operators. Work-related
claims only record the business activity of the employer, so we are unable to separate out claims for
emergency dispatch operators from any other role within the organisation, including frontline staff. For
example, the business activity recorded on the claim for a police dispatch operator would simply be “96310
Police services”. As we cannot identify claims for emergency dispatch operators, we are refusing this part of
your request. This decision is made under section 18(g) of the Act.
ACC has issued relevant advice regarding covering work-related mental injuries
In August 2023, ACC changed its
Work-related Mental Injury Policy to include work-related mental injury
cover for a traumatic event that has been experienced directly through a technological medium. This
change is reflected in section 5.0 of the current policy. Fire and Emergency New Zealand, Police and Spark
New Zealand manage emergency communication centres, and as Accredited Employers (AEs), are
responsible for managing claims for their employees. ACC advised all AEs and Third Party Administrators of
our new policy approach when it was promulgated.
Further, in October 2024, ACC ran an online refresher training session on work-related mental injury for AEs
and in November, our AE forum meetings also gave an overview of ACC’s evolved approach.
Monitoring of emergency communication centres
To a limited extent, ACC indirectly monitors emergency ambulance communication centres via the
Ambulance Team. The Ambulance Team – based in Health NZ, but jointly funded by Health New Zealand Te
Whatu Ora (Health NZ) and ACC – provides strategic leadership for the emergency ambulance sector. The
Ambulance Team commissions emergency ambulance services on behalf of Health NZ and ACC. These
contracts require the provision of emergency ambulance communication centres. The Ambulance Team
working on behalf of ACC has not provided any advice to the providers that operate the ambulance
communications centres.
In carrying out its duties, the Ambulance Team receives quarterly reports from the two emergency
ambulance service providers that run the emergency ambulance communication centres. Within those
quarterly reports are sections on health and safety, and risk. Both providers (Hato Hone St John and
Wellington Free Ambulance) report current risks regarding the psychosocial safety of staff in the
emergency ambulance communication centres. These risks are managed at the operational level by the
providers and monitored by the Ambulance Team on behalf of Health NZ and ACC.
The Ambulance Team is currently reviewing how it monitors health and safety risks and issues from
providers, including the risk of psychosocial harm to staff. In addition, ACC ensures that the Ambulance
Team is monitoring the Person Conducting Business or Undertaking risk on behalf of ACC. ACC also receives
the quarterly reports and can raise health and safety issues identified with the Ambulance Team and
providers to influence appropriate management of these issues by the parties.
ACC is not involved in monitoring occupational safety risks at communication centres for other emergency
services. If you are interested in how Police or Fire and Emergency New Zealand are monitoring safety risks
at their communication centres, you could request that information from them.
ACC’s Board and Executive team have not discussed the issues you have raised
We searched the minutes from meetings held by ACC’s Board and Executive team for references to the
matters requested about emergency dispatch operators. From our records, it does not appear that their
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meetings commented on these issues. As such, we are refusing your request for this information under
section 18(e) of the Act, as the document alleged to contain the information does not exist, or cannot be
found.
As this information may be of interest to other members of the public ACC may publish a copy of this response on ACC’s website. All requester data, including your name and
contact details, will be removed prior to release. The released response will be made available
www.acc.co.nz/resources/#/category/12 If you have any questions about this response, please get in touch
You can email me a
t [email address]. If you are not happy with this response, you can also contact the Ombudsman via
[email address] or by phoning 0800 802 602. Information about how to make a complaint
is available
at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz. Ngā mihi
Christopher Johnston
Manager Official Information Act Services
Government Engagement
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