SWA Release Latest Work-Related Fatalities Report

Safe Work Australia (SWA) has published a new report which provides the latest detailed national statistics on all workers and bystanders fatally injured at work.

The Work-related Traumatic Injury Fatalities Australia 2020 report reveals that while the rate of work-related fatalities has decreased 25% over the last decade and 50% since 2007, 194 people were fatally injured at work in 2020.

SWA say that understanding the causes of injury and the industries most affected can help reduce work-related fatalities.

The report details that over two-thirds of worker fatalities occurred in the following industries:

• Transport, postal and warehousing (49 fatalities)
• Agriculture, forestry and fishing (46 fatalities)
• Construction (36 fatalities)

The most common causes of worker fatalities were:

• Vehicle collisions (41%)
• Being hit by moving objects (13%)
• Falls from a height (11%)

This report complements and provides additional detail to the Key Work Health and Safety Statistics published on 25 October, which includes trends, gender and age comparisons, and industry and occupation breakdowns for work health and safety and serious workers’ compensation claims.

SWA say that these statistics should be considered in the broader context of the COVID-19 pandemic when comparing data over previous periods. The potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on this data are explored in the COVID-19 and Safe Work Australia data report.