This page provides statistics on worker fatalities by occupation between 2003 to 2016.
- Work-related fatalities data is reported on an annual basis and is sourced from our work-related traumatic injury fatalities database.
Information about the deceased’s occupation is coded using the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations, 2013, Version 1.2.
Number of fatalities and fatality rate by occupation
More detailed statistics to those provided below can be found in the Number and incidence rate of work-related traumatic injury fatalities by occupation - 2012-2016 statistical table.
In 2016:
- 34% (62) of workers killed were employed as machinery operators and drivers
- 22% (40) of workers killed were labourers
- 13% (24) of workers killed were managers
- 14% (26) of workers killed were technicians and trades workers.
Table 1: Worker fatalities: number of fatalities by occupation and sub-group, 2003 and 2012-2016 (sorted by 2016 fatalities)
| Occupation | 2003 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | % of 2016 | 10yr average (2007-2016) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Machinery operators and drivers | 86 | 77 | 62 | 67 | 71 | 62 | 34% | 33% |
| Road and rail drivers | 65 | 61 | 47 | 49 | 46 | 50 | 27% | 24% |
| Mobile plant operators | 11 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 17 | 8 | 4% | 4% |
| Machine and stationary plant operators | 7 | 5 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 2% | 4% |
| Labourers | 61 | 48 | 41 | 50 | 38 | 40 | 22% | 20% |
| Farm, forestry and garden workers | 22 | 16 | 11 | 23 | 17 | 15 | 8% | 8% |
| Construction and mining labourers | 24 | 14 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 6% | 5% |
| Technicians and trades workers | 31 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 35 | 26 | 14% | 16% |
| Construction trades workers | 10 | 11 | 3 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 7% | 5% |
| Automotive and engineering trades workers | 10 | 4 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 1% | 4% |
| Electro-technology and telecommunications trades workers | 9 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 3% | 4% |
| Managers | 40 | 39 | 35 | 19 | 35 | 24 | 13% | 15% |
| Farmers and farm managers | 31 | 27 | 30 | 16 | 24 | 19 | 10% | 11% |
| Professionals | 19 | 22 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 8% | 8% |
| Design, engineering, science and transport professionals | 17 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 4% | 5% |
| Community and personal service workers | 11 | 9 | 14 | 11 | 10 | 3 | 2% | 4% |
| Protective service workers | 7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | .. | 3 | 2% | 2% |
| Sales workers | 7 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2% | 2% |
| Clerical and administrative workers | 4 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1% | 1% |
| Total* | 259 | 231 | 202 | 197 | 211 | 182 | 100% | 100% |
*Totals include occupations which are unknown, therefore the sum of figures for each column may not equal the total.
Table 2: Worker fatalities: fatality rate (deaths per 100 000 workers) by occupation, 2003 and 2012 to 2016 (sorted by 2016 fatalities)
| Occupation | 2003 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 10yr average (2007-2016) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Machinery operators and drivers | 13.7 | 10.4 | 8.0 | 8.9 | 9.5 | 8.2 | 10.4 |
| Labourers | 5.6 | 4.2 | 3.6 | 4.4 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 4.1 |
| Managers | 3.5 | 2.7 | 2.4 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 1.6 | 2.4 |
| Technicians and trades workers | 2.2 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 2.2 |
| Professionals | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.8 |
| Sales workers | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Community and personal service workers | 1.4 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.9 |
| Clerical and administrative workers | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Total* | 2.7 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 2.1 |
*Totals include occupations which are unknown, therefore the sum of figures for each column may not equal the total.
Note: Only selected subcategories are included. Therefore, the number of fatalities in the selected subcategories will not add to the category total.