Hawke's Bay-based health and safety consultant Gordon Anderson said while a lot of people were doing great work around safety, there was a "myriad" of reasons why injuries from accidents were increasing.
Anderson said many, particularly smaller businesses, did not have the financial backing or time to implement procedures.
"The other reason too, is they don't have the ability to train people, or the systems to train with.
"There are some very good people out there and companies that are doing a good job. The big players are doing a good job but it's the little guys that are missing.
"What there isn't out there are the training courses for small business to go and learn how to do it. So. They rely on people like me or other consultants but many don't have the spare dollars to employ those consultants. Often, it's just put in the too-hard basket.
"There's a lot of information out there, so quite frankly, there is no excuse that any employer to say they don't know where to get the information. If anything's going to happen with this subject to make people sit up, it's when a business owner or a chief executive goes to jail - and that will be a sad day."
Anderson added there were still issues with a "she'll be right" attitude that all that was needed to be safe was common sense.
"Owners of businesses know they have to do something but they delegate that responsibility to an employee - it could be a secretary or a receptionist - without giving them the tools to do it, on top of all the other work they have to do. It's a bit of lip service, and it's something I've seen so often.
"It's bloody scary for some of these employees to have to take this issue on with no budget and no training, it's a major issue."
Agriculture, forest and fishing industries accounted for 2133 injuries, with manufacturing (1785) and Construction (1170) having the second and third highest numbers of injuries.