- by Graham Holton
- The Guardian
- Issue #2194
Artwork by Rini Templeton
Workplace deaths and serious injuries have risen in Australia in recent years, especially in construction, transport, mining, agriculture, manufacturing, forestry, fishing, warehousing, postal, public administration, safety, and health care.
In 2021 there were 172 traumatic workplace fatalities, increasing in 2023 by 5 per cent to 200 workers. Vehicle incidents remain the leading cause of workplace deaths, accounting for 42 per cent of fatalities. Falls from heights remain the second most common mechanism of death and has steadily increased since 2018.
Particularly vulnerable groups include machinery operators, drivers, older and young labourers, transport workers, migrant and casual workers in construction and logistics. Nationwide there are 400 serious workers’ compensation claims every day.
Queensland has recently recorded especially high workplace deaths compared to other states, with major increases in serious compensation claims. In 2023–24 there were 146,700 serious workers’ compensation claims. Mental health injury claims are rising rapidly, especially in health care, retail and public-facing jobs. The Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2024 report found that claims for mental health conditions account for 10.5 per cent of all serious claims. This is a 19.2 per cent increase on 2021-22, and a 97.3 per cent increase compared with ten years ago. Over the past ten years, almost 1.2 million workers have made a serious workers’ compensation claim involving more than one week of work time lost.
There are several contributing factors to the increase in deaths and injuries. A major factor is the growth of subcontracting, labour hire and the casualisation of work. Labour shortages of skilled workers lead to workers taking on jobs they are not fully qualified for. Unrealistic deadlines lead to safety shortcuts, with workers under pressure for faster construction and delivery times. Other factors are aging infrastructure and equipment. There is also the problem of the underreporting of injuries.
The Australian Council for Trade Unions (ACTU) highlighted the staggering number of workplace deaths across Australia in hope of reinforcing health and safety protocols. ACTU assistant secretary Liam O’Brien said, “Preventing workplace tragedies means defending the laws that provide justice for victims and their families and corporate accountability for employers who fail in their duty to workers.”
A major issue is the decline of union presence on worksites. Trade unions argue that cost-cutting and weakened worker protections are major causes of preventable deaths.
In 2024, the Labor government introduced legislation allowing for employers found to have recklessly or negligently caused the death of a worker to face criminal liability and up to twenty-five years imprisonment, as well as extreme fines. Several states, including Queensland and Victoria, now have industrial manslaughter offences carrying major prison terms and corporate penalties for severe negligence leading to worker deaths. Employer groups have focused on training, compliance culture and individual safety practices, placing culpability on the worker.
Of course there’s an economic side to the problem. Findings from Safe Work Australia’s Safer, Healthier, Wealthier report show that in the absence of work-related injuries and illnesses, on average each year Australia’s economy would be $28.6 billion larger, 185,500 additional full-time equivalent jobs would be created, and workers across all occupations and skill levels would benefit from an average wage rise of 1.3 per cent.
