Dwayne Hayes is fighting for changes to workers compensation by asking election candidates to make a pledge

In 2008, Mr Hayes lived and worked in Sydney as a garbage truck driver. While on shift, he tried to move an overweight bin out of an alleyway and ruptured a disc in his back.

"That was it, that's how it happens. Just pulling a bin out," he said.

"I went to court in 2009 and won my court case. I was supposed to be covered for medical, wages and overtime until retirement."

An amendment to the Workers Compensation Act in 2012 meant he was no longer eligible for this settlement, which limited weekly compensation payments to those whose whole body impairment was above 20 per cent.

The loss of a limb is considered about 10 per cent impairment, and My Hayes was considered to have 13 per cent whole body impairment. He was recently reassessed to have 25 per cent impairment.

Mr Hayes never received superannuation payments as part of his settlement.

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He's now able to fight to get his medical bills paid for by workers compensation, but not everyone is in his position. To help those people fight for what they're entitled to, he's collecting pledges from NSW election candidates to amend legislation for the Injured Workers Campaign Network.

"There are people who are worse off than me, there are people who have lost everything," Mr Hayes said.

"We're fighting for [anyone who] has an injury... whether they go back to work and that injury occurs again, they're covered. Your medical should be covered, that's why employers are paying premiums."

So far, he has contacted 37 candidates, and secured signatures from some of them, including Member for Wagga Dr Joe McGirr, Member for Murray Helen Dalton, and independent candidate for Murray Greg Adamson.

"We've got so many workers in our community working in manufacturing, in agriculture, labouring jobs, and we produce so much for our country," Mr Adamson said.

"It's important that we have the checks and balances in place for when those people are injured in the course of doing their work for our communities."

Candidates who pledge their support agree to fight for a workers compensation system that features injured worker representation, protects injured workers from unfair terminations, and ensures doctor-led care with timely and appropriate treatment.

The pledge also requires candidates to promise to remove sections 39 and 59A from the Workers Compensation Act 1987, which would ensure ongoing medical and financial support for workers unable to return to work.

Mr Adamson himself also has first hand experience with claiming workers compensation. Working as a labourer after university, an injury to his knee left permanent damage.

"Since that time, I've been in pain daily, I carry the financial burden of having to pay for my own healthcare, which was meant to be covered but they changed the regulations around it," he said.

"I've gone to apply for a job in Canberra as a teacher in the past... and I was required to go back to my doctor who had passed away.

"They don't consider the impact on workers, it's very bureaucratic and I think that there needs to be a common sense approach."

A NSW government spokesperson said there was currently an "extensive reform" to deliver better outcomes for injured workers.

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