The 10 Most Dangerous Industries in Australia: Workplace Health and Safety Statistics

Some of the most dangerous industries in Australia are what you’d expect, but others are surprising. Hazards come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and forms; some lead to injury or death, while others cause invisible harm. Work health and safety laws are there to help, but they can only do so much. Danger doesn’t have a single definition, so if you’re thinking about your next job or are concerned with the one you currently have, what you find here could surprise you.

Agriculture

Farm, forestry, and fishing work puts workers around powerful machinery, in remote locations, and in environments where conditions can change without warning. Tractors and harvesting equipment operate on uneven terrain, far from sealed roads and well outside the ambulance response times of a big city. When a vehicle incident or equipment failure occurs, the time between the injury and medical help can determine whether a worker survives.

Transport

Trucks, forklifts, and delivery vehicles are the main hazard across this sector. Long-haul freight drivers share high-speed roads with other heavy vehicles on shifts that push fatigue hard. In 2024, at least 50% of all vehicle-related worker deaths nationally involved at least one truck, with a fatality rate of 7.4 per 100,000 workers.

Construction

Working at height is a normal part of life in construction, and it is the hazard that kills more construction workers than any other. Scaffolding, rooftops, elevated platforms, and ladders are everyday working environments for trades workers and labourers on residential and commercial sites. Falls from height increased 71% as a cause of worker deaths nationally between 2022 and 2023, and 45% of all those deaths occurred within construction alone. In 2023, 45 construction workers were killed: 36% above the sector’s five-year average.

Beyond falls, active sites add more layers of risk. Tools, materials, and debris dropped from above cause serious injury to workers below, while machinery moving at ground level creates collision risk throughout the working day. Contact with underground or overhead electrical lines during earthmoving, trenching, and mechanical work causes fatalities every year across civil and residential projects. Construction is consistently one of the most dangerous industries in Australia, generating 12% of all serious workers’ compensation claims in 2023-24.

Mining

Underground, rock falls and tunnel failures can happen with little warning and leave workers with almost no time to get clear. On the surface and underground alike, the machinery is enormous: haul trucks, draglines, and continuous miners move with limited driver sightlines, and workers on foot nearby face serious risk from the sheer size and weight of that equipment. Mining sits among the most dangerous industries in Australia by fatality rate, recording 3.4 deaths per 100,000 workers in 2024, with ten workers killed that year.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing is physically demanding work, and the body pays for it over time. Repetitive tasks, heavy lifting, and working in awkward positions across full shifts wear down joints, muscles, and tendons at a rate above most other sectors. Body stress is the most common cause of serious workers’ compensation claims across the entire Australian workforce.. The sector accounts for 10.1% of all serious claims in 2023-24, placing manufacturing third by volume across the most dangerous industries in Australia.

Electricians

Electricians, linespeople, and maintenance workers face electric shock, arc flash, and cardiac arrest as occupational risks. Even when a shock does not kill, it can cause deep burns to skin and internal tissue, nerve damage, and falls from heights when the jolt causes a worker to lose control of their body. The sector recorded a fatality rate of 2.5 per 100,000 workers in 2023, placing it among the most dangerous industries in Australia.

Healthcare, Public Administration, and Safety

Police, security workers, firefighters, and paramedics deal with hazards that come with the job by design. There’s physical assault as a normal occupational risk; confrontations with the public are not rare events in these roles, they are part of the job description. Public administration and safety is one of the most dangerous industries in Australia when physical and psychological harm are both counted, with 16 workers killed in 2023 and 9.2% of all serious claims nationally.

The toll on mental health in this sector is severe. Emergency workers and first responders are over-represented in mental health claims. The national median time off work for a mental health claim is 35.7 working weeks, nearly five times the median for other serious injuries, and the compensation paid averages more than four times that for physical claims.

Sports and Recreation

Instructors, coaches, and event workers spend their days in environments where uneven ground, unpredictable weather, and physical effort all create real injury risk. Body stressing and falls are the most common causes of serious injury in this sector. Safe Work Australia recorded a fatality rate of 2.3 per 100,000 workers across the arts and recreation services sector in 2023, with six workers killed that year, placing sports and recreation among the most dangerous industries in Australia by rate.

Retail

Retail employs more Australians than almost any other sector, and the scale of that workforce is reflected in the volume of serious injuries it produces. The hazards are not dramatic, but slips, trips, heavy stock, and customer violence cause thousands of serious workers’ compensation claims every year. Retail accounted for 16% of all serious workers’ compensation claims involving slips, trips, and falls nationally, behind only health care and construction, and sits among the most dangerous industries in Australia when measured by total injury volume.

Warehouses and Wholesale Trades

In wholesale trade, forklifts and delivery trucks share the same space as workers on foot, all day, every day. Loading docks, depot floors, and stock receiving areas are where forklifts reverse, trucks manoeuvre, and workers move between them, often with limited sightlines and a lot happening at once. Four workers were killed in wholesale trade in 2023, and the injury risk is constant across a shift.

How First Aid Training Can Give You a Less Dangerous Job

As you can see, some of the most dangerous industries in Australia aren’t what you’d expect. Retail sharing space with the construction industry and the warehousing industry as one of the most dangerous jobs in Australia is surprising. The picture it paints is that danger isn’t about which industry has the highest number of fatalities, it’s about the many different kinds of danger one can face every day.

The injuries are diverse, but they have one thing in common. The best way to help isn’t to wait for an ambulance to arrive, it’s to step in and lend first aid. Taking a first aid training course gives you the ability to manage a medical emergency in the window before professional help arrives. You can help someone in need, make your industry a little safer, and maybe even save a life.

FAQs

Which Industry Has the Highest Rate of Workplace Fatalities?

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing recorded the highest workplace fatality rate of any industry in Australia in 2024 at 13.7 per 100,000 workers. Workers aged 65 and over face the highest fatality rate of any age group across all industries at 4.3 per 100,000, more than three times the national average.

Which Industry Has the Most Workers Compensation Claims?

Construction, manufacturing, and public administration and safety together accounted for more than 30% of all serious workers’ compensation claims in 2023-24, despite representing well under a third of jobs covered by the workers’ compensation scheme.

Which Industry Has the Most Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses?

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing records the highest injury rate per hour worked at 10.0 serious claims per million hours in 2023-24.