Accommodation and food services

Overview

On this page:

A young workforce
Highest proportion of part-time workers
Injuries and illnesses
Our national approach
Further advice

The accommodation and food services industry has a high number of work-related injuries and illnesses.

In 2014–15, the industry had an incidence rate of 7.9 injuries and diseases per 1,000 workers, which was 25% lower than the rate for the Australian workforce.

View the Accommodation and food services: Priority industry snapshot for an overview of the industry and its WHS performance.

A young workforce

The accommodation and food services industry has the highest proportion of workers (43%) aged 15–24 years.

This is significantly higher than any other industry—retail is the next highest with 32%—and almost three times higher than the proportion for the Australian workforce.

Highest proportion of part-time workers

The industry has the highest proportion of part-time workers (people who usually work less than 35 hours per week) in Australia.

In 2012–13, 58% of workers in the industry worked part time, which is higher than any other industry and almost twice as high as the proportion of part-time workers in the Australian workforce.

Injuries and illnesses

Between 2010–11 and 2012–13:

Body stressing led to the highest proportion (32%) of serious claims in the industry. Nearly half (48%) of all body stressing disorders arose from muscular stress while lifting, carrying or putting down objects.
The bodily location most commonly affected by injuries and diseases that led to serious claims was the hand, fingers and thumb, which accounted for 22% of serious claims.
The median time lost from work for a serious claim was four weeks.
The median payment for a serious claim was $4,700.

Serious claims in accommodation and food services industry

Percentage of serious claims for each subdivision by mechanism of injury or disease, 2010–11 to 2012–13 combined

Mechanism of injury or disease	Clubs	Accommodation	Pubs, taverns and bars	Cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services	Industry total
Body stressing	37%	40%	29%	28%	32%
Muscular stress while lifting, carrying, or putting down objects	51%	40%	60%	49%	48%
Muscular stress while handling objects other than lifting, carrying or putting down objects	30%	43%	24%	31%	33%
Muscular stress with no objects being handled	13%	12%	12%	12%	12%
Falls, trips and slips of a person	23%	26%	22%	25%	24%
Falls on the same level	81%	75%	76%	83%	80%
Falls from a height	14%	20%	20%	12%	15%
Hitting objects with a part of the body	10%	10%	13%	14%	13%
Hitting moving objects	53%	46%	65%	62%	58%
Hitting stationary objects	47%	54%	35%	38%	41%
Being hit by moving objects	11%	11%	15%	12%	12%
Being hit by moving objects	34%	35%	31%	41%	37%
Being hit by falling objects	30%	30%	25%	30%	29%
Being assaulted by a person or persons	11%	13%	27%	8%	13%
Heat, electricity and other environmental factors	4%	4%	6%	11%	7%
Contact with hot objects	92%	93%	94%	97%	96%
Vehicle incidents and other	5%	5%	6%	5%	5%
Mental stress	8%	3%	7%	3%	4%
Exposure to workplace or occupational violence	32%	15%	46%	23%	30%
Work related harassment and/or workplace bullying	28%	20%	13%	23%	21%
Work pressure	14%	18%	17%	16%	16%
Chemicals and other substances	1%	2%	1%	1%	1%
Total	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%

Columns may not add up to 100% because the table outlines selected mechanisms of injury or disease.

Source: National Data Set for Compensation-Based Statistics.

Our national approach

The Australian Work Health and Safety Strategy 2012–2022 has identified the accommodation and food services industry as a priority to reduce the high number of work-related injuries and illnesses. It records around 7,000 serious claims per year, which accounts for 6% of the total number of serious claims in Australia.

The Strategy aims to reduce the incidence of serious injury by at least 30% nationwide by 2022, and reduce the number of work-related fatalities due to injury by at least 20%. The accommodation and food services industry will play a critical role in meeting these targets.

Since the Strategy launched, Safe Work Australia and all jurisdictions have been working collaboratively with the industry, unions, relevant organisations and the community to reduce fatalities and injuries in the accommodation and food services industry.

Further advice

SWA is not a regulator and cannot advise you about compliance in the accommodation and food services industry. If you need help, please contact your state or territory work health and safety authority.