WA has released new work safety stats. 

In an effort to heighten awareness of occupational safety, the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety, through its Safety Regulation Group, has released a report as part of the State of the Work Environment (SOWE) series. 

The initiative focuses on Western Australia's work-related traumatic injury fatalities, considering both workers and bystanders in its analysis.

The latest data from the 2021-22 period reveals a troubling scenario: 16 work-related fatalities alongside 14 motor vehicle incident fatalities. 

Disturbingly, this equates to a person being fatally injured in a work-related incident every 23 days in Western Australia. 

While there's a declining trend in such fatalities since the introduction of the OSH Act in 1988-89, the numbers remain concerning. 

The 1990s averaged 23 fatalities per year, the 2000s saw 20 per year, and the 2010s reported 18 per year, marking a three-quarters reduction over the OSH Act's duration.

The report lists numerous specific incidents from 2021-22, ranging from construction site accidents to motor vehicle incidents, highlighting the diverse nature of these tragedies. 

These include a 19-year-old builder's labourer fatally injured while lowering a ramp and a 72-year-old farmer crushed by a tractor he was attempting to start.

A significant change in recording practices from July 2021 saw motor vehicle incident fatalities being counted as work-related, aiding in the collection of on-duty motor vehicle fatalities statistics. 

This change is pivotal for informing future policy advice, prevention strategies, and resource allocation.

An analysis of the past decade shows that from 2012-13 to 2021-22, 172 people succumbed to work-related traumatic incidents in Western Australia. 

The state's fatality incidence rate stands at the national average but is the fourth highest among eight jurisdictions.

Demographically, workers aged 65 and over, though only 4 per cent of the workforce, account for 18 per cent of work-related fatalities. Males, representing 62 per cent of the workforce, comprise a staggering 93 per cent of these fatalities. 

The most common mechanisms of fatal incidents involve being hit by moving objects, which account for 52 per cent of work-related fatalities.

Occupationally, labourers and machinery operators and drivers are disproportionately represented in these statistics. Truck drivers, for example, make up only 2 per cent of the WA workforce but 14 per cent of work-related fatalities.

Industry-wise, agriculture, forestry and fishing; arts and recreation services; and transport, postal and warehousing are the most affected sectors. 

However, in terms of frequency rates and sheer numbers, agriculture, forestry, and fishing top the list, despite having a relatively small workforce.

The full report is accessible here.