Despite the efforts of many employers to curb worker injuries, recent numbers from Down Under suggest more must be done.
Fourteen more fatalities were recently added to the official work-related death toll, according to the latest figures from Safe Work Australia. The monthly notifiable work-related incidents report shows that eight workers and six bystanders—13 men and one woman— died in September 2013.
Prelim Numbers for Year Show More Than 180 Deaths
This brings the death toll to 152 for the first 9 months of 2013. (Preliminary statistics reveal that an estimated 184 people died in 2013.)
In September, three of the fatalities involved vehicle crashes on public roads and another three involved vehicles not on public roads. Also, a pedestrian died after being hit by a vehicle on a public road, and another person died after being hit by a moving, unattended vehicle not on a public road.
Two other people died from falls from a height, and one person each died from being trapped in machinery, being hit by a falling object, electrocution, and a bee sting. This information comes after information shows that seven more people died in July work-related incidents than in June.
Vehicle incidents figured prominently in July. Ten of the fatalities involved crashes on public roads, while one person was killed in a vehicle incident not on a public road. Two pedestrians were also killed: one was hit by a vehicle on a public road and the other was hit by a vehicle not on a public road.
In other fatalities, two people were killed in each of the following incidents: trapped in machinery, hit by a falling object and hit by a moving object other than vehicle.
One person was also killed in each of the following incidents: electrocution, drowning, a fall from a height and being hit by an animal.
Author Kori Shafer-Stack, Editor, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in post-injury response procedures and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: [email protected].
©2014 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law.
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