Each year, Safe Work Australia produces national work health and safety statistics, providing important evidence on the state of work health and safety in Australia.
Our latest publication, the , provides an overview of national work-related fatality data for 2021 and workers’ compensation claims data for 2020-21.
Understanding the causes and the industries most affected can help reduce work-related fatalities, injuries and disease which have a devastating impact on workers, their families and the community.
Work-related fatalities 2021
Tragically, 169 people were fatally injured at work in 2021.
Key findings include:
- The fatality rate of workers in Australia has decreased by 35% in the last 10 years.
- 96% of worker fatalities were male.
- Vehicle collisions accounted for 38% of all worker fatalities.
- Machinery operators and drivers had the highest number of fatalities by occupation (68 fatalities).
- The agriculture, forestry and fishing industry had the highest worker fatality rate (10.4 per 100,000).
Workers’ compensation claims 2020-21p
- There were 130,195 serious workers’ compensation claims in Australia.
- Body stressing was the leading cause of serious workers’ compensation claims (37%).
- Mental health conditions account for a relatively small but increasing proportion of serious claims, rising from 6% of all serious claims in 2014-15 to 9% in 2019-20.
- In 2020-21p, there were 474 accepted workers’ compensation claims for COVID-19.
- The age group with the lowest frequency rate was workers aged 35-39 years, at 5.2 serious claims per million hours worked.
Read the .
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