What causes injuries, illnesses and fatalities in Australian workplaces? In 2025, Safe Work Australia’s Data Improvement and Analysis team set out to examine the mechanisms – the actions, exposures or events – that lead to work-related harm.
Whether it’s a fall from height, a vehicle incident, or body stressing, each mechanism tells a story about the nature of workplace risk. Guided by the Australian Work Health and Safety Strategy monitoring approach, the team analysed existing datasets to uncover patterns, compare causes of serious injury claims and fatalities, and identify the most common and costly mechanisms.
These findings will help to shape evidence and data-informed policies to make Australian workplaces safer and healthier.
A closer look into fatalities and serious injury claims
The analysis began by comparing the mechanisms behind serious workers’ compensation claims and fatalities. In 2023-24p1, there were 146,700 serious claims2, while 188 traumatic injury fatalities were recorded in the 2024 calendar year. The data revealed notable differences in the types of incidents driving these outcomes.
Vehicle incidents emerged as the leading cause of work-related deaths in Australia, and by a significant margin. In 2024, they accounted for 42% of all workplace fatalities and more than triple the next most deadly mechanism, falls from a height (13%). Trucks, semi-trailers and lorries featured prominently in vehicle incident fatalities, with males making up 94% of vehicle-related deaths. The data also revealed a trend that older workers had an increased fatality risk in vehicle incidents.
In contrast, the most widespread mechanism for serious workers’ compensation claims was body stressing. These incidents made up more than one-third of all serious claims in 2023-24p and were the most common mechanism across every major occupation group.
Body stressing injuries impacted both males and females across all age groups, resulting in 50,326 serious claims in 2023-2024p. The average number of serious claims for body stressing injuries over the past 5 years (2019-20 to 2023-24p) was 47,237. Its prevalence underscores the ongoing challenge of managing physical strain in the workplace.
‘The differences between claims and fatalities paint an interesting picture, with a stark contrast between what causes serious injuries and what leads to fatalities. By spotlighting these trends, we are strengthening the evidence base to influence policy work and in turn helping to make workplaces safer and healthier for Australians.’
Figure 1: The distribution of incidents across different mechanisms, highlighting the most common mechanisms for both serious claims (2023-24p) and fatalities (2024).
High-impact and emerging mechanisms
Building on the differences between the causes of fatalities and serious workers’ compensation claims for injuries, the analysis also identified mechanisms with the greatest impact on Australian workers.
With vehicle incidents remaining the deadliest mechanism in Australia for the last 10 years, and body stressing continuing to be the most widespread, a third mechanism has begun to shape Australia’s workplace risk landscape – mental stress.
Mental stress claims were the most expensive and resulted in the longest time off work, driving lost productivity and significant personal impacts for affected workers. Although mental stress accounted for just 11% of serious claims in 2023-24p, the rate of these claims has grown rapidly. Over the past decade, the rate of serious mental stress claims increased by 123% compared to a growth of just 13% in the rate of all serious claims over the same period.
Figure 2: The rate of mental stress serious claims has outpaced all other claims for the last 10 years.
‘By deepening our understanding of high-impact mechanisms – like mental stress – and identifying emerging trends, we’re enabling proactive, data-driven policy work on issues that are affecting Australian workers now.’
How age and sex influence workplace injuries and fatalities
Understanding who is most affected by each mechanism is just as important as identifying the mechanisms themselves. The analysis looked at mechanisms across age and sex, uncovering several clear trends.
The rate of body stressing serious claims increased steadily with age for both men and women, reflecting the cumulative impact of physical strain over time.
Falls, trips and slips showed an even sharper trend, particularly for females aged 55 and over, whose rate is nearly 3 times higher than that of younger women.
Males under 25 recorded much higher rates of being hit by moving objects and hitting objects with a part of the body, pointing to risks linked to their physical work environments and potentially lower levels of experience or training.
Mental stress showed a different story again, with females recording higher claim rates than males across every age group. This may be influenced by women having greater exposure to harmful behaviours at work and being more likely to work in jobs where workers are exposed to mental health hazards more often.
Figure 3: The frequency rates of selected mechanisms when comparing age and sex (2023-24p).
What’s next?
As Australian workplaces continue to evolve, Safe Work Australia’s Data Improvement and Analysis team is working to uncover the stories behind the numbers – particularly those relating to serious injuries and fatalities at work.
By turning data into actionable insights, the team provides a robust evidence base to guide policy development where it’s needed most. This ensures Safe Work Australia remains responsive to emerging risks, helping to ensure safe and healthy workplaces for all.
Footnotes
1Claims data for the 2023-24 financial year are considered preliminary (denoted by ‘p’) as revisions may occur in future years as open compensation claims are resolved.
2‘Serious’ workers' compensation claims are defined as accepted claims which have resulted in one or more working weeks lost.