Transport, postal and warehousing sector is in the top three for industries with the highest work-related injury or illness rate.
Transport, postal and warehousing was one of the highest risk industries to work in during the last year, findings from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show.
The ABS’s report on work-related injuries shows there were 76 injuries or illnesses per 1,000 employees working in transport, postal and warehousing in the past 12 months.
Only the manufacturing industry recorded a higher rate of 82 injuries per 1,000 employees.
Machinery operators and drivers accounted for the highest rate of injury or illness based on occupation group (88 per 1,000 employees), followed by community and personal service workers (73 per 1,000 employees).
“The most commonly reported problems were sprains and strains, which accounted for one in three injuries, followed by joint or muscle conditions at one in five,” ABS spokesman Stephen Collett says.
“Injuries most commonly occur when lifting, pushing, pulling, or bending, or by hitting or being hit by an object.”
Overall, the number of people suffering a work-related injury or illness in Australia has declined.
“We’ve seen a fall of just over two percentage points. It was 6.4 per cent in 2005-06 and it’s now down to 4.3 per cent,” Collett says.
“Most people who experienced a work-related injury or illness took less than five days off work and about 40 per cent took no time off at all.”