General Publications
WORKING BETTER: Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2007
APPENDIX 1: WORKPLACE FATALITIES IN 2006/07
Workplace fatalities are an important indicator to report in terms of the enormous social impact and costs, and resource commitment for the Department to investigate. It is one of the many indicators of occupational health and safety trends investigated and monitored by the Department. On its own, the number of fatalities investigated by the Department is not a reliable guide to levels of safety performance in the workplace now or over time.
In 2006/07, the Department received reports of 55 workplace deaths. The deaths included six bystanders (four customers and two visitors). This figure is similar to the average in previous years, although lower than the number (65) for the 2005/06 year.
In the agricultural sector, vehicle incidents, especially tractors and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) continue to be the leading cause of serious injury and death, accounting for more than two-thirds of the fatalities in that sector. Six fatal ATV incidents occurred this year, compared to two in the previous year and five in 2004/05.
Three of the fatalities in the construction industry were due to electrocution, and a fatal fall from a ladder occurred after the worker received an electric shock. There was one other fatal fall from heights in the construction sector in 2006/07, compared to seven in the previous year. Also for 2006/07, vehicles were involved in four other fatalities in this sector.
Vehicles also continue to be the most common factor associated with fatalities in the diverse general industrial and commercial sector category, and three deaths also resulted from crushing incidents in manufacturing enterprises.
Research was carried out during the year following the summer peak in fatal incidents reported last year. The research analysed 362 workplace fatalities investigated by the Department from 2000 to 2005 and confirmed the rate of workplace fatalities was highest in summer, followed by the autumn months. The peak in summer workplace fatalities was mostly due to the seasonal variations in fatalities in the agriculture industry. This is linked to the seasonal nature of agricultural work. Independent of season, most workplace fatalities were workers aged 65 and over, again with higher representation in the agriculture industry. This research points to areas where further work can be done in partnership with stakeholders including industry, business and unions to reduce fatalities and other health and safety incidents. The focus of such work would be on workplace systems design, and training and workplace culture.
There were 55 workplace fatalities reported during 2006/07
| Cause | Number of fatalities |
|---|---|
| Tractor incident |
9 |
| All terrain vehicle (quad bikes) incident |
6 |
| Other vehicle incident |
4 |
| Helicopter on ground |
1 |
| Animal |
1 |
| Total | 21 |
| Cause | Number of fatalities |
|---|---|
| Vehicle incident |
4 |
| Electrocution |
3 |
| Crushed by falling object |
2 |
| Fall from height |
2 |
| Trench collapse |
1 |
| Rail incident |
1 |
| Total | 13 |
| Cause | Number of fatalities |
|---|---|
| Crushed by underground roof fall |
1 |
| Total | 1 |
| Cause | Number of fatalities |
|---|---|
| Tree felling |
2 |
| Vehicle incident |
2 |
| Hit by log |
1 |
| Total | 5 |
| Cause | Number of fatalities |
|---|---|
| Vehicle incident |
5 |
| Crushing by machinery |
3 |
| Fall from height |
2 |
| Drowning |
2 |
| Crushed by falling object |
1 |
| Carbon monoxide poisoning (forklift) |
1 |
| Animal |
1 |
| Total | 15 |
Source: Department of Labour: Workplace health and safety fatalities register, August 2007.
| 2006/07 | 2005/06 | 2004/05 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | 21(19 vehicle incidents) | 17(10 vehicle incidents) | 24(20 vehicle incidents) |
Construction |
13(2 from a fall) | 14(7 from a fall) | 5(0 from a fall) |
Extractives |
1 | 1 | 1 |
Forestry |
5 | 7 | 1 |
Industrial/ commercial |
15(5 vehicle incidents) | 26(10 vehicle incidents) | 16(2 vehicle incidents) |
| Total | 55 | 65 | 47 |
| 2006/07 | 2005/06 | 2004/05 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employee | 37 | 51 | 28 |
| Self-employed | 12 | 11 | 11 |
| "Bystander" | 6 | 3 | 8 |
| Total | 55 | 65 | 47 |
| Under 18* | 4 | 3 | 4 |
* Under 18 included in prior totals
Source: Department of Labour: Workplace health and safety fatalities register, August 2007.
Data limitations
It is important to note that the workplace fatality investigation statistics collated by the Department are administrative statistics. They do not purport to give an accurate measure of New Zealand's workplace fatalities as a whole. These figures reflect only the workplace deaths, arising from sudden incidents, reported to the Department of Labour and determined, on investigation, to be within the coverage of the Health and Safety in Employment Act. Deaths from occupational illness are not included in this figure. Not all sudden workplace deaths are investigated by the Department - Maritime Safety New Zealand and the Civil Aviation Authority maintain their own records for deaths on ships and aircraft. The Police Commercial Vehicle Inspection Unit investigates work-related deaths involving commercial vehicles on the road. Other work-related deaths while driving on the road may not be reported to the Department.
The statistics published in this annual report may differ from those published on the Department of Labour's website for the same period because further information about fatalities for the period may have become available after publication of the annual report. The statistics on the website are updated if additional information becomes available following subsequent enquiries.