Drivers and machinery operators worked the most dangerous jobs in the country last year, a government report investigating workplace deaths has revealed.
The agriculture, forestry and fishing industries recorded the worst worker fatality rates, with 10.4 deaths per 100,000 people, the 2021 data from Safe Work Australia showed.
In total, 169 Australians died at work last year, leaving home to earn a dollar and never returning, almost all of them men.
The report showed 96 per cent of worker fatalities were male – only six women died – and substantially more older people died compared to the young.
The most dangerous age demographic was 55-64 years old, with 43 deaths, followed by 33 fatalities in the 45-54 age range, and 29 fatal accidents for those aged 65 and over.
Vehicle collisions accounted for 64 deaths, or 38 per cent of all fatalities.
Twenty-four workers were killed by a moving object, 19 fell to their deaths, and 16 were fatally struck by an item falling from above.
Eleven people were fatally trapped by moving machinery, the report said.
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After machinery operators and drivers, jobs which counted 68 deaths, labourers and managers recorded the next highest fatalities.
Other industries with high number of worker deaths included the transport, postal, warehousing, mining and construction sectors.
The Northern Territory was by some margin the most dangerous state or territory by capita, with 3.1 fatalities per 100,000 workers.
From a peak of 310 deaths in 2007, the fatality rate of workers in Australia has decreased by 35 per cent over the past 10 years.
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There were 130,195 serious workers’ compensation claims in 2021; the most common complaint was “body stressing”, accounting for 37 per cent of all injuries.
Median compensation was $55,270 per claim.
Mental health accounted for a relatively small but increasing proportion of claims.
