6324.0 - Work-Related Injuries, Australia, 2005-06  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 20/12/2006   
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MEDIA RELEASE

December 20, 2006
Embargoed 11:30am (AEDT)
127/2006

Young men at most risk of work-related injury or illness: ABS

Young men were most likely to experience a work-related injury or illness, according to the latest findings from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Younger people generally experienced higher rates of work-related injury or illness than people of other ages. Men aged 20-24 years had the highest rate of all (98 per 1,000 men who worked in the last 12 months had experienced a work-related injury or illness), while for women the highest rate occurred among those aged 15-19 years (65 per 1,000 women).

Men had a higher work-related injury or illness rate (74 per 1,000 men) than women (51 per 1,000 women).

Overall, 64 per 1,000 people who had worked in the last 12 months experienced work-related injuries or illnesses. Almost 700,000 of the 10.8 million people who worked at some time in the last 12 months experienced a work-related injury or illness during that period.

The occupation groups with the highest work-related injury or illness rates were intermediate production and transport workers (108 per 1,000 employed people had experienced a work-related injury or illness), tradespersons and related workers (107 per 1,000 employed people) and labourers and related workers (106 per 1,000 employed people).

The industries with the highest work-related injury or illness rates were agriculture, forestry and fishing (109 per 1,000 employed people), manufacturing (87 per 1,000 employed people), and construction and mining (both with rates of 86 per 1,000 employed people).

The most commonly reported injuries or illnesses were sprains or strains (30%), followed by cuts or open wounds, and chronic joint or muscle conditions (19% each ).

Almost one-third (32%) of people who sustained a work-related injury or illness did so through lifting, pushing or pulling an object.

More than two-fifths (43%) of those people who experienced work-related injury or illness had not received any occupational, health and safety training in the job where the injury or illness occurred.

Almost three-fifths (58%) of those people who experienced a work-related injury or illness took some time off work. More than half (57%) of those people who experienced a work-related injury or illness received some sort of financial assistance.

Further information is available in Work-Related Injuries, Australia (cat. no. 6324.0).