Men six times more likely to be injured at work

A report titled 'Hospital separations due to injury and poisoning, Australia 2004–05', released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in November 2008, suggests Australian men are six times more likely to be injured at work than women.

Males aged 20–24 years have the highest rate of hospitalisation due to work-related injury at 347.2 per 100,000 in the population. Women in the same age group are injured at a rate of 51 per 100,000. Women aged 50–54 were slightly more likely to be injured, the rate being 54.6.

The report says males were more commonly injured in the agriculture, forestry and fishing and construction industries, whereas the wholesale and retail trade and health services industries attracted higher rates of injuries among women. The construction industry was the most commonly specified industry for work-related injuries involving people aged 15–44 years.