Important information for impairment assessors

Transitional issue – Assessment of impairment caused by original injury and subsequent surgery and scarring where the injury and subsequent surgery occurred prior to 1 July 2015.

A transitional issue arises which only applies to the assessment of injuries which occurred prior to 1 July 2015, and where there has been subsequent surgery which also occurred prior to 1 July 2015.

An assessor may be asked to assess the impairment caused by the initial injury separately from impairment caused by the surgery and scarring, and not combine them. We appreciate that this issue may be causing some uncertainty and complexity in the approach you are asked to take.

The reason for this is that there is case law regarding the repealed act which determined that as the original injury and surgery occurred on different dates they are therefore to be treated as separate traumas and the consequences there of are to be assessed chronologically and separately. There is currently no alternative case law that changes the approach for these claims.

For these claims, the impairment assessment request letter may ask you to assess the impairment caused by the initial injury and the impairment (including scarring) caused by the surgery separately.

For example:

• The worker has an initial injury to their right arm on 3 November 2014 and had surgery to treat that injury on 6 March 2015.
• The impairment assessment produces a WPI of 10%.
• The impairment caused by the initial injury i.e. impairment immediately prior to surgery, is assessed at 7%WPI.
• The impairment from the initial injury is deducted resulting in 3%WPI plus an additional 2%WPI for surgical scarring.
• 2 summary tables would be provided in the WPI report:

• In this case, the injured worker will receive 2 lump sums - 7%WPI is paid on the 2014 prescribed sum and 5%WPI is paid on the 2015 prescribed sum.

If you are not sure as to the approach to take in these circumstances, please don’t hesitate to call the requestor for clarification prior to undertaking the assessment.

As always, we value the work that you do in undertaking impairment assessments and acknowledge that sometime it is complex and difficult. Please don’t hesitate to contact the Impairment Assessment Services team with any issues or questions anytime. You can call us on 13 18 55 (ask for Impairment Assessment Services) or email us at wpi@rtwsa.com.

Kate Smith
Manager, Impairment Assessment Services