Most Dangerous Industries in Australia

Everyone deserves to be safe at work.

Yet last year, 200 Australian workers died from injuries related to their jobs. On average, over the last 5 years, 191 workers were killed each year at work in Australia.

What can business owners do to better protect their employees, and themselves? How can they create safe workplaces that prevent harm and injury? Before we delve into solutions, let's have a look at the statistics. 76% of work-related traumatic injury and fatalities and 61% of serious workers' compensation claims occurred in just 6 industries. Let's look at the six most dangerous and deadly industries for Australian workers.

Understanding workplace risks is the first step towards preventing injuries, improving compliance and protecting your workforce. Effective health and safety services can help businesses build stronger safety systems and safer workplaces.

1. Three fatal F's: farms, forestry, and fishing

Agriculture, forestry and fishing is hard and dangerous work.

Not only do workers have to deal with hazards like chemicals, noise, dust, sun, animals and dangerous equipment, the work is often remote and isolated.

This is the deadliest business for Australian workers to be in.

Safe Work Australia says 27 workers in agriculture, forestry and fishing died in workplace incidents in 2023.

As a raw number, that doesn’t represent the most fatalities in a single industry. But it is by far the highest rate of deaths given industry size.Workers in this industry suffered 9.2 deaths per 100,000.

2. The dangerous road: transport, postal, warehousing

The transport, postal and warehousing industry had the most fatalities in 2023 on raw figures, with 51 employees losing their lives.

That’s a rate of 7.0 per 100,000 workers, which tells you something about both how huge this industry is, and how disproportionately dangerous agriculture, forestry and fishing are.

Transport in particular is an inherently hazardous line of work.

Fatigue, speeding, drug use, poor vehicle maintenance, driver ability and attention, road conditions, environmental factors — these are just some of the things that can cause incidents among transport operators. In fact, machinery operators and drivers accounted for the highest proportion of worker fatalities and also recorded the highest fatality rate.

3. Digging deep: mining

Mining has made huge inroads into improving health and safety over the last decade.

Back in 2003, the fatality rate in the mining industry was 12.4 per 100,000 workers. In 2023, that figure plummeted to 2.1.

But it still represents one of the most dangerous work scenarios in Australia, with an average of 6 workers dying each year.

Inherent risks include manual handling, slips trips and falls, being hit by moving objects or machinery and working with high risk machinery.

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4. Building a safer world: construction

The construction industry holds some important clues for every employer about managing Work Health and Safety.

In 2023, 45 construction workers died because of their jobs. That’s a rate of 3.4 per 100,000 workers. The number of fatalities in the construction industry was 36% higher than the 5-year average for this industry.

Work Health and Safety (WHS) is not a static set of rules that employers can set and forget. It requires constant and ongoing attention.To make sure their workplace is safe, employers need to consistently maintain and review their procedures and safety protocols.

5. The front lines: public administration and safety

The public administration and safety industry has a high number of work-related deaths, injuries and illnesses. It includes work in government bodies and workers who provide:

police services
investigation and security services
fire protection and other emergency services
correctional and detention services
regulatory services
border control
other public order and safety services

In 2023, the industry as a whole had 16 deaths, which was a rate of 1.7 workers per 100,000.

This gives it the fourth highest fatality rate of any industry in Australia. It's not just physical health for this industry but mental health disorders are common for this industry. Public administration and safety workers are at higher risk for anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress conditions.

6. Made in Australia: manufacturing

In 2023, 12 workers in the manufacturing sector died because of their jobs, representing about 1.3 workers per 100,000.

Manufacturing in Australia is a huge and diverse industry with thousands of workers doing many different activities.

From food and beverages, to textiles, wood and paper products, chemicals (think pesticides, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics), metal and plastics, machinery and furniture, the list could go on.

The employers responsible for these workplaces could be anything from small, independent manufacturers producing limited stock to large-scale production chains.

This all leads to the big question: how do WHS rules protect such a huge variety of employees? And how do employers navigate them?

How to build a safety culture at work

Australia has some of the most comprehensive Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws in the world.

They have been designed to make workplaces safer, and thankfully, they do.

But they’re complicated. If you’re an employer who wants to be 100% sure you are protecting your staff — and your business — it’s hard to know exactly where to start.The first thing you need to understand is what your obligations are. Then you need to have a plan in place: how will you best position yourself to do the right thing you make sure you’re in compliance and keep records to demonstrate it? Finally you need to train your employees to follow the health and safety policies and constantly update those policies over time.

Want greater confidence in health and safety?

Talk to a specialist about practical steps for your workplace.