Men more prone to workplace accidents

Photo / File

Men were more prone than women to workplace accidents in 2014, generating 71 per cent of all injury claims and 96 per cent of fatal injury claims, Statistics New Zealand said today.

This is based on work-related injury claims accepted by the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC).

Age is also a factor, with the highest rates of injury claims coming from workers in the younger (15-24 years) and older (65 years and over) age groups.

"Older workers had high rates of injury claims accepted by ACC, especially for more-serious injuries," customer, policy, and research manager Michele Lloyd said.

Provisional figures for 2014 show that workers aged 65 years and over had the highest rates of claims for more-serious injuries, with 24 entitlement claims per 1,000 full-time equivalent employees (FTEs). However, this age group had the lowest number of these claims.

For the first time, with the aim of increasing accuracy, Statistics NZ has included Accredited Employers Programme (AEP) claims in work-related injury statistics. This has generally increased the number of work-related claims across the entire series.

The overall rate of injury claims in New Zealand was 111 claims for every 1,000 FTEs. In 2014, ACC approved 226,100 claims for injuries incurred while working.

The regional picture places Gisborne/Hawke's Bay with the highest incidence rate - 159 claims per 1,000 FTEs with lowest rates found in Auckland and Wellington.

Agriculture (including forestry) and fishery workers had the highest rate of injury claims by occupation. In 2014, these workers made 242 injury claims per 1,000 FTEs.

Other occupation groups with high rates of work-related injury claims in 2014 were elementary occupations, with 238 claims per 1,000 FTEs, and trades workers, with 209.

The agriculture, forestry, and fishery industry had the highest rate of more-serious injuries, with 30 entitlement claims per 1,000 FTEs. The manufacturing and construction industries also had high rates of entitlement claims.

The release also reveals that self-employed workers were more likely to experience workplace injuries than employees were.