Thirteen people have died at work and more than 4000 injury claims have been made in Melbourne’s South East in a 12-month period, according to WorkSafe statistics.
The staggering data relates to the council areas of Cardinia, Casey, Greater Dandenong, Kingston, Frankston and Mornington Peninsula in 2021-‘22.
On 7 October, WorkSafe will host a work safety breakfast for small business owners in Narre Warren as part of a Health and Safety Month.
At the event, WorkSafe health and safety executive director Narelle Beer will talk on topics such as WorkSafe support for small businesses, improving outcomes for injured workers and improving mental health in the workplace.
Business owners can also raise issues at a Q&A session at the event.
“Small business owners can, at no cost, source a significant amount of resources from WorkSafe that will help make their workplace a safer place for everyone,” Dr Beer said.
“This includes WorkSafe’s WorkWell Toolkit for Small Business, which provides practical support in creating a safe and mentally healthy workplace, and a free workplace safety consultation service, delivered by independent occupational health and safety experts through the OHS Essentials program.”
According to the 2021-‘22 stats, the manufacturing sector attracted the most injury claims (795), followed by health (689) and construction (633).
Most common causes of injury were body stressing (1576), falls, slips and trips (894) and being hit by moving objects (837).
The most common injuries were musculoskeletal (1351), traumatic tendon, muscle or ligament injuries, (692) and wounds, cuts and amputations (661).
During WorkSafe’s Health and Safety Month, there will be free webinar sessions from 24 to 28 October.
To register for the breakfast, go to worksafe.vic.gov.au/health-and-safety-month
