Two Rotorua fatalities and one Te Puke death added to the national total of 41 workplace fatalities in 2011.
A 66-year-old male agricultural worker died in Te Puke after falling from a mezzanine floor on January 9 last year. A 61-year-old man employed in the manufacturing sector died after falling from logs in Rotorua on July 4 and a 2-year-old boy died on a Rerewhakaaitu farm on September 11 when he was run over by a tractor.
This was the same number of work-related deaths as in 2010 when there was a forestry death in Tokoroa, a fatal construction fall in Rerewhakaaitu and a fall from a bike that killed an arts and recreation services worker in Taupo.
Nationally, fatalities dropped from 77 in 2010 to 41 during 2011, but Department of Labour chief executive Lesley Haines noted the previous year's statistics included the 29 men killed in the Pike River Mine explosions.
"While there were fewer people dying at work last year, 41 people were tragically unable to return home to their friends and family after a day at work - this is unacceptable. The tragedy at Pike River where 29 men lost their lives saw a spike in the workplace death rate in 2010, so the figures released today should not be any suggestion for complacency when it comes to health and safety," said Haines.