Lowest number of workplace deaths in 11 years

Australian workplaces have recorded the lowest number of fatalities in 11 years according to data released by Safe Work Australia in the report ‘Work-related Traumatic Fatalities, Australia 2014’.

The annual report found that 191 workers died from injuries received at work in 2013.

Distressingly, the fatality rate for self-employed workers (4.39 deaths per 1,000,000 self-employed workers) was three times higher than the fatality rate for employees (1.31). This is partly due to the high fatality rates in the agriculture, forestry and fishing and transport, postal and warehousing industries, both of which also have a higher than average proportion of self-employed workers.

In releasing the report, Safe Work Australia Acting Chief Executive Officer Michelle Baxter urged all workers, whether employed by a business or self-employed, to make work health and safety a priority.

“While we have seen a 16% reduction in work-related deaths since 2012 (228), this does not mean workers should become complacent about reducing and eliminating risks while working,” said Baxter.

“In particular, it is alarming to see the fatality rate for self-employed workers is so much higher than for employees.

“This report serves as a reminder that self-employed workers still have the same legal requirements as an employer to ensure their own health and safety is maintained while at work, as well as the safety of people entering their workplace.

“Even if a worker is conducting a business in their own right, they should not ignore their own health and safety.”

Other key findings from the report include:

• The decrease in the number of work-related deaths from previous years can be attributed to fewer crashes on public roads, particularly involving workers in cars.
• The worker fatality rate in 2013 was 1.64 fatalities per 100,000 workers. Male workers had a fatality rate of 2.80 while female workers had a rate of 0.28.
• Over the 11 years of the series, one-third of workers who were killed while working died in vehicle collisions on public roads, one-third in vehicle incidents at workplaces and the remaining one-third of fatalities did not involve a vehicle.
• The agriculture, forestry and fishing industry recorded the highest number of fatalities in 2013 (48) followed by the transport, postal and warehousing (46) and construction (19) industries.
• 66 members of the public died as bystanders to someone else’s work activity in 2013.

The report is available at www.swa.gov.au.