Today, Safe Work Australia published Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2026, revealing the latest national data on work-related fatalities, injuries and disease.
Tragically, 222 workers lost their lives in 2025 as a result of traumatic injuries sustained at work. This is the highest annual number of worker fatalities since 2012 and is above the 5-year average of 197 fatalities.
These figures demand attention and action. Behind every worker fatality is a person, a family and a community whose lives have been changed forever.
While emerging work health and safety (WHS) challenges associated with artificial intelligence and new technologies are attracting increased attention, the report shows that workers continue to be killed or seriously injured by well-known hazards that can and must be better controlled.
Vehicle incidents remained the leading cause of work-related traumatic injury fatalities, accounting for 41% of all worker deaths. Falls from a height and Being hit by falling objects were the next most common causes.
Work-related harm also remains concentrated in a small number of industries. In 2025, 74% of work-related traumatic injury fatalities and 61% of serious workers' compensation claims occurred in agriculture, forestry and fishing; public administration and safety; transport, postal and warehousing; manufacturing; health care and social assistance; and construction.
The report also highlights the continuing burden of work-related injury and illness. In 2024-25, there were 147,200 serious workers' compensation claims involving one week or more of time off work. Mental health conditions accounted for 12% of serious claims, representing a 169% increase over the past decade.
The findings show that current efforts are not delivering the improvement we should expect. Reducing work-related harm will require governments, regulators, employers, workers and industry to strengthen prevention, act on evidence, share lessons from serious incidents and ensure effective controls are applied consistently across industries and workplaces.
Through the Best Practice Review of the model WHS laws, Safe Work Australia has recommended to WHS ministers a range of practical measures intended to strengthen harmonisation, support greater national consistency in compliance and enforcement and ultimately improve work health and safety across Australia.
These recommendations include establishing dedicated advisory groups focused on compliance, enforcement and the reduction of work-related fatalities. These groups would unite regulators, employers and unions to turn evidence into action, accelerate the sharing of lessons from serious incidents and drive improved safety outcomes.
Quotes attributable to Marie Boland, Safe Work Australia CEO
'Every worker in Australia has a fundamental right to a safe and healthy workplace and to return home safe at the end of the day. Yet in 2025, 222 workers did not.
'Behind that number are 222 people, and families, friends and communities whose lives have been changed forever. This is an unacceptable human cost and a stark warning that we must do more to prevent work-related harm.
'The data is confronting, but it also tells us where action is needed. Workers are still being killed and seriously injured by hazards we understand and know how to control.
'These deaths and injuries are not simply statistics, and they must never be accepted as an inevitable part of work. Current outcomes are not good enough. We need stronger prevention, greater consistency and a relentless focus on the measures that save lives.
'Improvement will not come from doing more of the same. We must learn from every serious incident, share those lessons quickly and ensure proven controls are applied in every workplace where the same risks exist. The evidence is available. The controls are known. What is needed now is the collective resolve to put them into practice consistently.
'Governments, regulators, employers, unions and industry each have a responsibility to act. No single part of the WHS system can deliver the change required on its own.
'We must bring together expertise from across the WHS community, strengthen accountability and turn evidence into action. Preventable harm is not inevitable. Safer workplaces are possible but achieving them requires decisive action from us all.'
Explore Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2026
Visit Safe Work Australia's data website to access the report and explore the data through interactive charts and new visualisation features.
