DYING ON THE JOB
Decades of deregulation have made our workplaces downright dangerous
The 2010 tragedy at
Pike River Mine laid
bare the appalling
truth about New
Zealand work
environments:
they some of the
worst death and
injury rates of any
developed nation.
Every year in New Zealand workplaces…
75
people
are
killed
400 1 in 10 200,000
people are
seriously
injured
people
are
injured
make
ACC
claims
Four in every
100,000 workers
die from
workplace injury
in NZ every year
600-900
people die each year from work-related
diseases, such as asbestos*-related illnesses
v
DID YOU KNOW that New Zealand has not banned imports
of products with asbestos? Other countries have.
The cost of
workplace
accidents is at least
$3.5 billion yearly
Find out more: http://union.org.nz/election2014
Authorised by Helen Kelly, NZCTU, Level 7, 178 Willis Street, Wellington
DYING ON THE JOB
Decades of deregulation have made New Zealand a dangerous places to work
The 2010 tragedy at Pike River Mine laid bare the appalling truth about New Zealand’s work environments: they
have some of the worst death and injury rates of any Western nation.
Every year, on average 75 people are killed at work, and there are as many as 400 further “serious” injuries. One
in every ten workers is injured every year, leading to around 200,000 claims being made to ACC. The cost of
workplace accidents is conservatively estimated at $3.5 billion each year.1
In addition, 600-900 people die from work-related diseases such as asbestos-related illnesses.2 This shocking
figure, which gains relatively little attention, is equivalent to two-three times our annual road toll.3
Asbestos – which has been known to cause cancer since the mid-1980s – is one of the most dangerous elements
of our workplaces. Workers on the Christchurch rebuild, in particular, are being exposed to harmful levels of
asbestos. New Zealand should be banning imports of products with asbestos (as other countries do) and working
to eliminate it from the country entirely by 2030 – yet the government is dragging its heels over the issue.4
At a global level, many more people die at work in New Zealand than they do in countries like Australia and
Britain (adjusting for country size) – and their records have been improving much more quickly than ours.5
The table below shows New Zealand’s rates of death and serious injury. The threshold for something being classed
a serious injury is very high – the incident has to result in a hospital admission with a significant probability of
death – so we need to be very concerned indeed about these injuries.6
Number
Rate
(age-standardised per
100,000 person years at risk)
Total fatal and
serious non
fatal injuries
Fatal injuries
429
96
2002
Serious non
fatal injuries
Total fatal and Fatal injuries
serious non (3-year rolling
fatal injuries
averages)
333
2002
22.9
..
Serious non
fatal injuries
17.8
2003
423
75
348
2003
24.8
4.55
20.1
2004
423
75
348
2004
21.0
3.97
17.3
2005
450
75
375
2005
20.1
3.50
16.6
2006
477
90
384
2006
20.7
3.09
17.3
2007
453
54
402
2007
20.4
2.82
18.0
2008
450
63
387
2008
19.8
2.72
17.1
2009
432
72
360
2009
18.7
3.20
15.6
2010
456
87
366
2010
19.4
3.97
15.5
2011
498
114
384
2011
21.3
3.54
16.4
2012
432
48
387
2012
18.0
..
16.0
Source: Injury data from Serious injury outcome indicators: 2000–12 at http://nzdotstat.stats.govt.nz/wbos/Index.aspx and rates
from http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/health/injuries/serious-injury-outcome-indicators-2000-12.aspx
1
New Zealand government, Working Safer: a blueprint for health and safety at work, August 2013, p5. See also the tables below.
2Ibid.
3http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/road-deaths/toll.html
4http://union.org.nz/news/2014/asbestos-biggest-workplace-killer-%E2%80%93-government-must-do-more-now
5
Working Safer.
6
Statistics New Zealand, Serious injury outcome indicators – technical report, 2011, Wellington, p12.
General Election 2014
Authorised by Helen Kelly, NZCTU, Level 7, 178 Willis Street, Wellington
1
Work-­‐related injuries per 100,000 employed persons 25 20 15 10 5 0 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Fatal injuries 2007 2008 2009 2010 Serious non-­‐fatal injuries 2011 2012 Source: Calculated from injury data from http://nzdotstat.stats.govt.nz/wbos/Index.aspx, accessed 1 June 2014. Employment from
Infoshare Table HLF025AA, averages for December years.
Changes over time
Under Labour from 2000 to 2008, the rate of fatal injury was trending down – though not nearly fast enough
compared to other countries, especially given our high fatality rates. Following National’s return to power, there
was a sharp upward turn with the Canterbury earthquakes and the 2010 Pike River tragedy. It is too soon to tell if
the fall in 2012 reflects an improvement in workplace safety. However we know that 2013 was a terrible year for
deaths in the Forestry industry. It remains to be seen whether the reforms undertaken by the current government
are enough to create a sustained downward trend. We should never forget that all injuries and deaths in New
Zealand workplaces are preventable, and any death in a workplace is unacceptable.7
7Independent Taskforce on Workplace Health and Safety, The Report of the Independent Taskforce on Workplace Health and Safety,
Executive Report, April 2013, p9.
General Election 2014
Authorised by Helen Kelly, NZCTU, Level 7, 178 Willis Street, Wellington
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Systemic problems
The 2013 Independent Taskforce on Workplace Health and Safety found that New Zealand’s problems in
this area are “systemic”. In particular, the Taskforce highlighted changes since the 1980s, “notably resource
constraints (including public sector staff cuts), changing attitudes towards the roles of government and business
(including an ethos of business self-regulation), and the liberalisation of the labour market with weakened union
representation”.8
These issues are at their worst in the five big industries – manufacturing, construction, agriculture, forestry, and
fishing – that contribute half of all workplace injuries. In the forestry industry alone, since 2008 there have been
26 deaths and nearly 900 accidents causing serious harm.9
Much of the problem is in the conditions of work. The forestry industry has multiple layers of subcontractors,
none of them taking sufficient responsibility for health and safety. Meanwhile workers are forced to work brutally
long shifts under immense pressure, leading inevitably to corner cutting and mistakes by exhausted workers.
Responding to outrage over these health and safety issues, the government has created a new regulator, WorkSafe,
and toughened up our health and safety laws. These moves are welcome – but not enough by themselves to
completely turn around our appalling health and safety record.
What can we do to make workplaces safer?
1. Require all those with control in the workplace to actively ensure it is as safe as possible – suppliers,
designers, owners, principal contractors, and direct employers. Require their directors, chief executives
and other senior staff to actively ensure the workplace is safe.
2. Strengthen worker participation in their own health and safety in the workplace, with elected health
and safety representatives and health and safety committees which are involved in assessing hazards
and risks in the workplace and taking action to remove, isolate or minimise their dangers, and with
powers to require improvements, stop dangerously unsafe work, and protection against reprisals from
their employers.
3. Strengthen the role of unions in the workplace. Strong unions are a key part of good health and safety,
because without someone backing them up, workers are often reluctant to raise issues about health and
safety – and powerless to make sure anything happens about them.
4. Give workers a seat at the table. At the moment, WorkSafe’s board doesn’t have a guaranteed seat for
worker’s representatives. It needs to have one, so that the interests of ordinary staff are well represented.
8Ibid, p11.
9
http://union.org.nz/news/2013/ctu-calls-government-inquiry-forestry-death-toll-rises-four
General Election 2014
Authorised by Helen Kelly, NZCTU, Level 7, 178 Willis Street, Wellington
3