New work, old mistakes: Rates of workplace deaths are declining, but organisations aren’t off the hook

Experts are noticing familiar failings when it comes to the cause of workplace fatalities.

Safe Work Australia data suggests safety awareness is high, but its practice is not.

Work-related fatalities data published in early September 2026 revealed that 188 workers were fatally injured in 2024, compared to 200 in 2023, exhibiting a decrease in deaths per 100,000 workers from 2.7 to 1.3.

While vehicle incidents remain the most common cause of workplace fatalities, accounting for more than 40 per cent of cases in 2024, other statistics show other contemporary forces at play, both in the manner of death and potential reasons why.

For example, latest Safe Work Australia data showed that mental health conditions accounted for 12 per cent of all serious workers’ compensation claims in 2023–24, with diseases and conditions rising by more than 25 per cent over the last decade.

UNSW Business School Emeritus Professor Michael Quinlan said: “People still die for the same reasons they died in the past: failures in engineering, design and maintenance at work; failure to take account or risk warning signs.”

He said that organisations consistently fail to assess risks correctly, whether because of system breakdown, unsuccessful audits, or production pressures that take precedence over workers’ safety concerns. At the same time, insecure employment and financial pressure, weaker training, fragmented management, and reluctance to report have apparently formed a symbiotic relationship that continues to see management failings with fatal consequences.

Quinlan said some of these issues can be addressed through higher pay to avoid workers extending hours, skipping breaks, or taking shortcuts.

“You can’t have a safe workplace if you’re not giving people decent pay,” he said.

“If they don’t get decent pay, they will either work too many hours or they’ll find other ways of cutting corners, which can harm safety or their own health.”

In this vein, Quinlan’s research has found that independent, legislated worker representation is strongly connected to worker safety. Coal mining, he exemplified, continues to follow a two-tier safety system and employ health and safety representatives that retain statutory powers to address hazards.

Similarly, the removal of industry-level representation and dedicated site safety and health representatives within the metalliferous mining sector resulted in weaker worker representation, which is especially impactful in the ability for workers to verbalise safety concerns or feel safe from victimisation.

Quinlan highlighted that the fear of victimisation can be especially prevalent in cases where workers depend on a specific mine or contract, posing fragmentation and experience concerns for contractors and labour-hire workers.

He said: “You need proper induction and training systems, not just online quizzes.

“You need to take time, like having a mentor, so that an inexperienced worker can work alongside a more experienced worker and learn the ropes.”

As the most contemporary workplace impactor, artificial intelligence continues to add layers of complexity for managers in the agricultural, mining, and general labour sectors. According to Quinlan, AI and algorithmic management can give rise to both psychosocial and physical injuries.

For example, automated vehicles run the risk of damaging roads that then create corrugations and vibrations for manual drivers – a connection that many employers fail to consider. In the same way, while digital systems are purposed to prevent collisions, Quinlan said organisations must also address and make allowances for the human element of the equation.

He recommended employers assess work systems before introduction, as opposed to dealing with injuries and deaths after they have occurred.

“The trouble with health and safety at work is it’s more process-oriented… we’ve got to start doing more risk assessment before work systems come in,” Quinlan said.

He also urged employers to allow industrial relations legislation to be a launching pad for health and safety measures, especially in a dynamic compliance landscape that now includes gig platforms, subcontracting, AI, and automation.

He concluded that, despite the more contemporary forces at play, older patterns of economic pressure, weaker worker voice, inadequate planning, and ignored warning signs continue to have dire consequences.

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