Safe Work Australia has published the Work-related Traumatic Injury Fatalities Australia 2020 report, which provides the latest detailed national statistics on all workers and bystanders fatally injured at work.
While the rate of work-related fatalities has decreased 25 per cent over the last decade and 50 per cent since 2007, any workplace death is unacceptable. Tragically, 194 people were fatally injured at work in 2020.
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%); and falls from a height (11%).
