27 June 2025
[FYI request #31216 email]
Kia ora Spencer
Your Official Information Act request, reference: GOV-040605
Thank you for your request of 4 June 2025, asking for various information about traumatic brain injury
(TBI) and post-concussion syndrome (PCS), resulting from work-related falls/trips, under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act).
Part 1. Workplace-Specific TBI and PCS claims (2018-2024)
Tables 1, 3, 4 and 5 of the data attached provide a count of work-related TBI claims lodged by cover
decision, industry type, accident cause, and injury severity. For further information about the
limitations of the data, please refer to the ‘Notes and caveats’ provided.
Mechanism of fall
The claims data set available to ACC is reliant on the information a person provides on their ACC45
injury claim form, which is completed when a person seeks treatment for their injury. There are multiple
fields on the form, some of which are mandatory to complete and others that are not.
There is a free text field where a person can provide a brief description of how their accident occurred.
Even when this field is completed, there is significant variation in the level and accuracy of details
provided. Therefore, identifying specifics about how an accident occurred e.g. if the fall occurred on a
level surface, is difficult to determine.
Given the above, we are unable to provide data for mechanism of fall as per your request, as this
information is not held. This decision has been made under section 18(g) of the Act.
Part 2. Causation and clinical evidence requirements
Each claim is assessed on an individual basis. The types of clinical information required by ACC to
establish causation between a workplace trip/fall and resulting injury include the clinical information
from the doctor (consultation notes) who assesses the client. This includes a clinical history,
examination findings and the diagnosis. This information will usually document how the accident
occurred, and the forces involved.
Please refer to Documents 1, 2 and 3 for further information about assessing claims for cover:
•
Assess claim for cover – Simple PICBA
•
ACC position statement – Post Concussion Syndrome and
•
Guidelines for accepting cover for concussion
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Additional clinical resources that can be used by the clinical advisors include the attached resources
(Documents 4 and 5):
•
Concussion, mild traumatic brain injury and post-concussion symptoms and
•
Visual symptoms and dysfunctions following mild TBI/concussion
The number of TBI claims arising from workplace falls declined
Table 2 of the data attached provides a breakdown of work-related falls/trips claims that have been
declined, by cover decision reason. Please note, we are unable to provide the same breakdown of
reasons for declined work-related falls/trips claims managed by Accredited Employers as ACC only
holds limited detail pertaining to claims manged by Accredited Employers.
Part 3. Updates to PCS Management Protocols (post June 2023)
Please refer to the up-to-date Clinical Advisor Reference Tool (Document 4) and Visual symptoms or
cognitive disfunction following TBI (Document 5), noted under part 2.
Also attached is a copy of the Concussion Services Service Page (Document 6). Eligibility for the
Concussion Service does not differ for work versus non-work injuries.
Part 4. Workplace TBI/PCS Prevention Programmes
ACC has not funded any programmes aimed at preventing workplace trips/falls that cause TBI or PCS.
Therefore, we are refusing to provide the information requested about workplace TBI or PCS prevention
programmes as it does not exist. This decision has been made under section 18(e) of the Act.
Part 5. Economic and social impact
Tables 6, 7 and 8 of the data attached provide a breakdown of average number of weekly compensation
days paid, count of active claims by service type and, cost of active claims by service type for work-
related TBI claims. For further information about the limitations of the data, please refer to the ‘Notes
and caveats’ provided.
Documentation provided
As staff names were not requested, they have been deemed out of scope of your request and removed
from the documentation provided.
The data provided
Some cells only indicate that the claims count is fewer than four (denoted as <4). In other instances,
the value is supressed and denoted as two dots (..). This limits the potential for individuals or matters
related to individuals from being identified. This decision has been made under section 9(2)(a) of the
Act. In doing so, we considered the public interest in making the data available and determined it did
not outweigh the need to protect our clients’ privacy.
If you have any questions about this response, please get in touch
You can email me at [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.
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Ngā mihi
Christopher Johnston
Manager Official Information Act Services Government Engagement
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