Work-Related Fatalities Continue To Decline But More Work Needed

Safe Work Australia has released the Work-related Traumatic Injury Fatalities Australia 2018 report, which provides the latest detailed national statistics on all workers and bystanders fatally injured through work-related activity.

The Work-related Traumatic Injury Fatalities Australia 2018 report, outlines the latest in national work-related traumatic injury fatality statistics.

Over the last decade, the fatality rate has more than halved with 1.1 worker fatalities per 100,000 workers in 2018.

The report details that 69 per cent of worker fatalities occurred in the following industries:

• Transport, postal and warehousing (38 fatalities)
• Agriculture, forestry and fishing (37 fatalities)
• Construction (24 fatalities)
• The most common causes of worker fatalities in 2018 were:
• Vehicle collisions (44 fatalities)
• Being hit by a moving object (24 fatalities)
• Falls from a height (18 fatalities)

The report and data are drawn from a range of sources, including initial reporting of fatalities in the media, notifications from jurisdictional authorities, and the National Coronial Information System.

“While the downward trend in work-related fatalities is encouraging, it is not a cause for celebration. Every work-related fatality is a tragedy, and there’s a lot more work to be done,” Safe Work Australia CEO, Michelle Baxter said.