Temporary work accommodation accident: NSW workers compensation guide

Temporary work accommodation accident can occur through fall or premises incident during an activity incidental to the stay and injury travelling between accommodation and the temporary site. The incident history should identify the task, equipment, location and sequence of events rather than relying on the job title alone.

People commonly exposed include remote, seasonal, project and FIFO/DIDO workers and workers required to stay near a temporary site. Employment records should identify each person's task, employer and position in the work area when the incident occurred.

Medical records after a temporary work accommodation accident may identify fall, spinal, limb, head or fracture injury and road injury during site travel. Each diagnosis should be linked to the event or exposure and to the worker's actual functional change.

For a temporary work accommodation accident, the first evidence to preserve includes roster, project location, booking, payment and accommodation policy and employer requirement, transport and check-in records. It is most useful when dates, people, equipment, duties and later medical histories tell a consistent account.

• Precise activity, timing, premises photographs and witnesses.
• Incident, emergency, medical and any personal-activity records.

After a temporary work accommodation accident, an insurer may dispute the activity was independent private recreation rather than something induced or encouraged by the employer and the employer merely reimbursed accommodation without requiring or selecting the place. The written decision should be answered with evidence directed to those stated reasons.

Remote access and evacuation may affect the early treatment history. Return planning should address accommodation, travel and support arrangements. If treatment is disputed after a temporary work accommodation accident, the request should explain the accepted diagnosis, expected functional benefit and reasonable alternatives.

Work capacity after a temporary work accommodation accident may turn on capacity for local work may differ from remote work with travel and isolated accommodation and safe accommodation and communication can form part of a practical work plan. Proposed duties must be compared with the real task demands and the worker's ability to sustain them for the proposed hours.

WPI is assessed from stable, accepted medical impairment under the applicable NSW method; travel, collision, surgery or imaging does not create an automatic percentage. Each diagnosed body system must be assessed using its own clinical findings, and any pre-existing impairment issue must be addressed separately. Any WPI assessment after a temporary work accommodation accident occurs after stabilisation under the NSW method for the accepted body system; the accident or surgery alone does not determine a percentage.

A NSW road crash may also require a separate CTP claim or advice, depending on the vehicle, road and circumstances. Another business controlling a client site, vehicle, venue or premises may raise a separate recovery issue that needs individual advice. These issues are separate from workers compensation and depend on the particular facts.

For a temporary work accommodation accident, assistance may involve identify whether the facts concern work-duty travel, a section 10 journey, a section 11 recess or another course-of-employment question and preserve route, employer, vehicle, event and medical records before app or camera data is overwritten. The purpose is to identify the disputed decision and the evidence needed for the next step, not to promise an outcome.