National Safe Work Month is observed every October and encourages employers, workers, and communities to commit to workplace health and safety. It is a time to reflect on the importance of preventing injuries, illnesses, and fatalities, while reinforcing a culture of safety across Australia.
In 2023, 200 workers lost their lives due to workplace incidents, and there were 139,000 serious workers’ compensation claims. These figures underscore why safety must remain a top priority.
2025 Theme: “Safety: Every Job, Every Day”
The 2025 campaign theme emphasises that safety is everyone’s responsibility, regardless of occupation, industry, or workplace size. It encourages organisations to:
- Identify hazards that may cause harm, whether physical or psychological.
- Assess risks and implement controls to reduce workplace dangers.
- Engage workers in safety discussions and training.
- Review and improve safety practices regularly to ensure they remain effective
Please see below a SafeWork snapshot of injuries and workers’ compensation claims arising as a result of work-related harassment, bullying or exposure to occupational violence.
Across the workers’ compensation schemes in Australia there is an increasing trend of increasing frequency, complexity, severity and duration of psychological claims.
Governments and authorities have been very active in working to raise awareness of the importance of mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.
For example, the NSW Government is currently pursuing a strategy to help support mentally healthy workplaces.
Surveys conducted in this push by the government found that less than 1 in 10 businesses were likely to have an integrated mental health and wellbeing approach in the workplace.
The focus is now moving to how do we proactively prevent or mitigate mental health and wellbeing issues in the workplace.
There is also a push to possibly legislate this as a business’ obligation.
As part of National Safe Work Month, there are many good resources to help educate and raise awareness in this area.
Particularly we would recommend to access the recent seminar by Safe Work Australia – Building a bully-free workplace – link here.
If you have any questions or would like assistance in this area, please contact us.
Sources:
https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/national-safe-work-month