Improving adult literacy is key to reducing workplace accidents, a health and safety and literacy expert says.
New Zealand Institute of Safety Management national manager Paul Jarvie said most New Zealand adults can read and write straightforward information but around half have significant literacy and/or numeracy gaps.
"Literacy issues make it difficult to reduce workplace accidents because people don't understand written information about hazards.
"It also means that many people are unable to correctly fill in the health and safety incident forms that provide valuable information to employers and the authorities," he said.
"It's widely agreed that more research is needed to understand where and why workplace accidents are happening and in what kinds of businesses, but getting good data requires workplaces to supply accurate information about incidents."
