Safe Work Australia National Safe Work Month October 2016

National Safe Work Month kicks off Friday 30^th September and we’re all being urged to focus on ways to reduce death, injury and disease in Australian workplaces.

In 2015, 191 Australians died at work. While 96% of these deaths were men, it’s important to remember that their deaths affect the whole community – including families, co-workers and friends. During National Safe Work Month, we encourage you to consider your health and safety to make sure you return home safely to your family. For more information and how to get involved see the National Safe Work Month web page http://bit.ly/safeworkmonth

The key message from Safe Work Australia for this year is “Remember to look after yourself and your colleagues”.

It’s a powerful message asking us to think of the reasons why being safe at work is important. For some, it might be important to support physical and mental health at work. For others it might be to reduce business costs and to increase efficiency. For all of us it should be so we can return home safely to our friends and families, able to enjoy the lives we work hard to maintain.

Whatever your reason, it’s important to reflect on the importance of workplace safety and think of ways you can play your part.

Vital Statistics

These statistics compiled by Safe Work Australia are evidence about why safe work practice should be a year-round focus:

• Each work related injury costs approximately $116,600
• Being involved in a vehicle incident continues to be the most common cause of workplace fatalities
• The transport, postal and warehousing industry has the highest rate of serious claims in 2013-14
• In 2015, 34% of workers who died were machinery operators and drivers
• The occupation group with the highest rate of serious claims in 2013-14 was labourers
• In 2013-14 there were 106,565 serious workers compensation claims in Australia

National Safe Work Month Electronic Information Kit

As with every year, there are a number of ways you can get your workplace involved in National Safe Work Month 2016.

The resources below are available to help you raise awareness about work health and safety within your organisation. You can print, use and display the resources around your workplace as part of your National Safe Work Month activities. 

• Workplace activities
• Fact or fiction Quiz
• Suggested social media posts
• Intranet/email message template for distribution within your organisation

Safety Statistics

• National safety statistics
• Industry safety statistics

Posters

• National Safe Work Month 2016
• Customisable event listing poster (add your own workplace event to the box provided on this poster)

To find out more about National Safe Work Month and download your workplace resources visit safeworkaustralia.gov.au http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/swa/media-events/safety-month/pages/electronic-info-kit