Farm workers 20 times more likely to be killed
11 March 2016
Farm workers 20 times more likely to be killed
New data released by Labour shows workers are almost
20 times more likely to be killed in the agriculture sector
than in other workplaces, Labour’s Workplace Safety
spokesperson Sue Moroney says.
“Despite this, Agriculture is missing from regulations listing high risk.
“National is putting farmers, farm workers and their families at risk by failing to provide the full protection of health and safety laws for the most dangerous of our workplaces.
“The Minister told Parliament yesterday that he expected Agriculture would always have a high number of deaths and injuries.
“That's not acceptable. The National Government’s acceptance of high death and injury rates on farms is alarming.
“Last year 18 people working in the agriculture sector lost their lives.
“Today’s reported death of a Wairarapa forestry worker is a tragic reminder of why we need robust health and safety laws,” Sue Moroney says.
Fatality
rate by sector, sourced from Work Safe data:
· Agriculture: 18 fatalities and 119,563 in employment is a rate of 15.05 per 100,000 in employment
· Non-agriculture: 17 fatalities and 2,191,497 in employment is a rate of 0.78 per 100,000 in employment
The
fatality rate in agriculture is 19.3 times that of
non-agriculture
ends