Farms remain deadliest work sites

Thirty-seven workers were killed on the job in the last financial year and the agricultural industry was deemed to be the deadliest. Photo / NZPA

Minister says new safety campaign will target sector’s poor record but onus remains with industry leaders

Thirty-seven workers were killed on the job in the last financial year and the agricultural industry was deemed to be the deadliest.

With 10 deaths, the sector's toll was the worst for the second year running, followed by the maritime, transport, postal and warehousing, and forestry industries.

Figures provided by WorkSafe NZ revealed there were 30 deaths on the job in the year to last June, while separate figures from Maritime NZ for deaths on commercial vessels reported seven in the same period.

Work-related incidents which fell within the jurisdiction of the police, who handle incidents where people die on the road, were excluded.

No work-related deaths were reported to the Civil Aviation Authority.

While the construction, forestry and manufacturing sectors appear to have become safer in the past year, maritime, transport, postal and warehousing were more dangerous.

The number of deaths reported by WorkSafe NZ and Maritime NZ was down on the 48 the previous year.

WorkSafe NZ national programmes manager Francois Barton said farming was consistently one of the most deadly sectors, with over half of farm fatalities involving quad bikes or tractors, and the impact was widely felt.

"There's a massive cost to families losing a brother or a father or a son or in some cases children."

Federated Farmers spokeswoman Katie Milne believed the number of deaths on farms was higher than for any other sector due to the large number of variables farmers faced each day, such as weather and unpredictable animals, which made it even more important to ensure everything else was as safe as it could be.

Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse said there was no room for complacency in agriculture despite the drop in fatalities, because it was still the sector where more people were killed or injured than any other.

While WorkSafe was launching a campaign to target the agricultural sector, he said, there was only so much the government could do.

"Responsibility needs to be taken by industry leaders to ensure the risks associated with the agriculture industry are appropriately managed."

Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union health and safety co-ordinator Fritz Drissner welcomed the decline, but questioned whether industries such as manufacturing were getting safer or the sector had just got smaller.