Auckland has second-lowest workplace injury rate: stats

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Auckland had the second-lowest rate of workplace injuries last year despite more workers claiming ACC than in any other centre.

Provisional figures released by Statistics New Zealand today show almost one in 10 workers made a claim for a work-related injury last year, with 97 out of every 1000 workers reporting an injury.

The overall number of claims was the lowest on record, with a total of 187,900 injury claims last year - the first year there have been fewer than 200,000 claims since figures were first collated in 2002.

The Auckland region had the highest number of claims, with 54,600 reported injuries, but the economic powerhouse had the second-lowest injury rate overall.

Auckland was topped only by Wellington as the safest place to work, while the highest claim rates were in Gisborne and Hawkes Bay, followed by Northland and the Bay of Plenty.

Men accounted for almost of three-quarters of claims, at 71 per cent, while younger and older workers had the highest claim rate across all age groups, with one in eight workers aged 15-24 and 65 and older making a claim last year.

Pasifika people had the highest injury rate by ethnicity, with 115 claims per 1000 workers.

Agriculture and fishery workers were the most likely to make a claim, with more than two out of every 10 workers reporting a workplace injury. Office clerks had the lowest claim rate.

Tradespeople made the most claims overall, followed by agriculture and fishery workers, and plant and machine operators and assemblers.

Only 10 per cent of all claims resulted in entitlement payments, including for weekly compensation and rehabilitation.

The February 22, 2011 Canterbury earthquake was responsible for a spike in workplace fatalities, with 63 fatal claims in the region last year compared with nine the previous year.