Next week marks the start of National Safe Work Month – Safe Work Australia’s annual public awareness campaign, a time for employers and workers across Australia to commit to creating safe and healthy workplaces.
In 2023, 200 people lost their lives at work. There were also 139,000 serious workers’ compensation claims for injuries and illnesses. While injury and fatality rates have fallen significantly over the last decade, the people and the stories behind these numbers remind us not to be complacent. No one should lose their life, or have their life seriously altered by injury or illness, because of their job – that’s why each October Safe Work Australia puts WHS in the spotlight through our National Safe Work Month campaign.
This year’s theme, safety: every job, every day, encourages all workplaces – regardless of occupation, industry, location, and size – to prioritise safety every day. Practicing safety: every job, every day means we can reduce the rate of fatalities, serious injuries and illnesses in our workplaces, and ensure that everyone gets home safely from work.
To support workplaces in achieving this vision, each week in October, Safe Work Australia will be stepping through the WHS risk management process – identify hazards, assess risks, control risks, and review controls – with practical resources to guide discussions and activities that workplaces can use in National Safe Work Month and beyond.
Safe Work Australia looks forward to joining thousands of workplaces around the nation putting WHS front and centre this National Safe Work Month.
Quotes attributable to Marie Boland, Safe Work Australia CEO
“I’m delighted to see National Safe Work Month, now in its 16th year, kicking off for 2025.”
“This year’s theme – safety: every job, every day – is one that every workplace can get behind. Whether you’re on a construction site, in an office, driving a truck or tractor, in a classroom or a laboratory, you have a right to be safe at work every single day.”
“We’ve got practical resources to guide workplaces through the risk management process throughout the month, and our hope is that by the end of October, workplaces around the country will have a refreshed understanding of work health and safety risks and how to manage them, so they can prioritise safety in every job, every day.”
Media contact | media@swa.gov.au