Mental health injuries made up almost 50 per cent of all WorkSafe claims by cost – or $52 million.

But the most common compensation claims related to musculoskeletal disorders, such as sprains, and back injuries.

Freedom of information documents obtained by The Age also reveal that school staff have suffered burns, skin diseases, infections and hearing damage.

The log of workplace injuries, which spans from 2013 to mid-2018, is likely to grow as there is often a lag between lodging a claim and receiving compensation, particularly when the matter is contested. This explains why the 2016 and 2017 total payments are lower than previous years.

Over the entire period there were 104 successful claims for concussion and 352 claims for crushing injuries and bruising.

Australian Education Union Victorian branch president Meredith Peace said workplace injuries made up a significant proportion of the union’s work.

“You are dealing with large numbers of children and young people and are in very dynamic environment where injuries can occur, as they can in any workplace,” she said.

She said the complexity and intensity of the work led to high-levels of stress-related injuries.

“We are dealing with complaints from parents, an intense workload, young people with challenging behaviours. There is a whole variety of reasons why people’s mental health is impacted.”

Many years ago, when Ms Peace was working as a teacher, she lodged a claim after injuring her back while running a sports class. It’s an injury she still lives with today.

Teachers lodged 883 successful claims for workplace injuries in 2017, up from 864 the previous year. And during the first eight months of last year, there were 514 successful claims.

The largest amount awarded to a school staff member was $961,442 for a mental health injury.

Melbourne primary school teacher Gemma Duncan* lodged a claim after seriously injuring her vocal cords.

She said years of projecting her voice in the classroom, coupled with a bad bout of laryngitis, had left her with a permanently croaky, breathy and often inaudible voice.

“You are with those kids from 9am to 3.30pm. There is a lot of talking,” she said.

A speech pathologist diagnosed Ms Duncan with vocal swelling and after taking some sick leave she now works part-time as a teacher.

“I did not expect this when I went into teaching,” she said. “It’s had a big impact on my life. Talking is now a lot of effort."

But the WorkSafe figures don’t tell the entire story.

Many teachers, including Catherine, who does not want to reveal her surname, don’t lodge claims with WorkSafe because they find the process overwhelming.

The secondary school teacher left her job at a rural Victorian school at the end of 2014 after one of her year 9 students threatened to punch her face in.

“I was a mess,” she said.

Catherine was also afraid of the boy’s father, who had a reputation as a violent person.

“When you’re a woman who lives alone in a little town, anything can happen,” she said. “Everyone knows where you live.”

Catherine said she was given no support to deal with the incident, and had to discipline the student herself and seek external psychological help.

“Every job is tough but if you have support you can get through it. The people in charge didn't step up. My principal at the time could only offer me trite consolations with: 'Our school demographic has changed',” she said.

An Education Department spokeswoman said the wellbeing and safety of staff was always taken seriously.

“Improving the mental health and wellbeing of all staff is a high priority and the department provides counselling and other support services to all employees,” she said.

The state government announced before the election that it would spend $51 million on improving the mental health of principals.

The spokeswoman said the department also ran a service that advised schools on workplace health, safety and wellbeing and offered a conflict resolution support service.

*name has been changed