This figure represents a worrying 50 per cent increase on the previous month’s figures. It’s also the highest number of monthly-recorded fatalities for nearly three years, since Safe Work Australia switched to monthly reporting at the beginning of 2012. Unfortunately, the figure is not unusually high, with 27 fatalities recorded in March 2014, 24 recorded in December 2013 and 26 in March 2013.
Nineteen of the fatalities were male workers, one was a female worker, five were male bystanders and three were female bystanders.
Of these fatalities, seven workers and seven bystanders died as a result of incidents in the air or on public roads.
Accidents involving vehicles remains the biggest killer (13 fatalities) followed by ‘Hit by a Falling Object’ (four fatalities) and ‘Trapped in Machinery’ (two fatalities). The remaining six fatalities were all different types of incidents, including a vehicle incident air crash.
Transport, postal and warehousing workplaces accounted for seven fatalities, six fatalities occurred in Construction workplaces, five fatalities occurred in Electricity, gas, water & waste services and three fatalities occurred in Agriculture, forestry & fishing workplaces.
Manufacturing, Arts & recreation services and Administrative & support services workplaces each had two fatalities. The final fatality occurred in a Public administration & safety services workplace.
The total number of workplace fatalities in the year to date stands at 162.
There were a large number of work-related
fatalities in August 2014, and the 28 fatalities recorded is the highest number recorded since the beginning of 2012.
Read the full Safe Work Australia report
on the Safe Work Australia website:
www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au.
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