Workplace fatalities

Note that this definition came into effect on 1 July, 2020.

1. the death of any person where the death occurs:
   • at a workplace; or
   • arising from the conduct of the undertaking of an employer, a self-employed person or a person who manages or controls a workplace; and where the person was owed a duty under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 by an employer, self-employed person or a person who has, to any extent, the management or control of a workplace; or
2. the death of a worker, within the meaning of the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 (WIRC Act), that is compensable under the WIRC Act; or
3. the death of an employer or self-employed person in the conduct of that person’s undertaking; and of which WorkSafe Victoria has been notified

Exclusions

A death is not a work-related fatality if:

• the cause of the person’s death was organ failure (including cerebral haemorrhage or cardiac arrest), illness, disease or other natural cause, unless the organ failure, illness, disease or other natural cause is directly attributable to worker's employment
• the workplace, or the circumstances of the conduct of the deceased person’s undertaking, is subject to the workplace health and safety laws of a jurisdiction other than Victoria (such as, for example, the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth)
• the death occurred as a result of train derailment, collision or other misadventure, unless the deceased person was in the course of their employment
• the deceased person is a bystander not in the course of their employment, or the driver or passenger of another vehicle not in the course of their employment in a transport accident, unless the transport accident is attributable to a breach of a relevant duty under the OHS Act
• the person dies as a result of medical negligence or malpractice
• the person dies in a workplace while committing an indictable offence and the person is not an employee or employer (within the meaning of the OHS Act) connected to the undertaking

Suicide

Point 1 includes suicide attributable to conditions in an unsafe working environment or unsafe system of work (for example, as the result of workplace bullying). Suicide will be included under point 2 where occupation was a significant contributing factor to the death.

Disease

Deaths that result from, or are materially contributed to by, an illness arising out of, or in the course of a person’s employment, are included when they are compensated under the WIRC Act. Under the WIRC Act, the death of a worker will not be compensated where it is caused by:

• heart attacks and stroke unless it is the result of an injury or disease for which the worker’s employment was a significant contributing factor;
• disease contacted by a worker in the course of the worker’s employment unless the worker’s employment was a significant contributing factor to the disease; or
• the recurrence, aggravation, acceleration, exacerbation or deterioration of any pre-existing injury or disease unless the worker’s employment was a significant contributing factor to the injury or disease.

Bystander fatalities

Deaths of bystanders are included where the death arises out of the conduct of an employer’s or self-employed person’s undertaking or occurs at a workplace. For example, where the wall of a workplace collapses onto a pathway crushing a person standing on the other side. This includes any person that dies as a consequence of:

• faulty or unsafe work practices performed by an employer, employee or self-employed person (e.g. faulty electrical work); and
• the acts or omissions of a designer, manufacturer, importer, supplier, erector or installer of plant for use in a workplace, or of a manufacturer, importer or supplier of a substance for use in a workplace

Deaths resulting from criminal activity

Persons sustaining fatal injuries as a result of crime while the person was engaged in work associated with the employer or self-employed person’s undertaking are included (for example, a police officer dying in the course of duty or an employee of a bank being murdered during an armed robbery).

Road fatalities

Employees or self-employed persons who sustain fatal injuries in a road accident would be reported if they are at work at the time. This would include, but is not limited to, truck drivers, emergency services personnel travelling on the road (police, ambulance officers, firefighters etc), cycle couriers, and employees driving between workplaces or on a sanctioned work break. It also includes the death of a driver who is an employee (including independent contractor) or self-employed, including through Uber and other app based ride share services.

However, it does not include employees or self-employed person commuting to and from work, except where work starts from home. For example, employees of businesses that provide mobile services that have no fixed workplace that employees attend on a regular basis. Further, the death of any other person (for example, drivers or passengers of another vehicle or a pedestrian) that is the result of a transport accident involving an employee or self-employed person would not be reported as a work-related fatality unless it was caused by the employee or self-employed person or a breach of a relevant duty under the OHS Act, for example poor vehicle maintenance.

Notifications

WorkSafe only reports work-related deaths for which it has been notified and / or has otherwise been made aware. This includes the following sources:

1. notifications from employers or self-employed person under Part 5 of the OHS Act of a death at a workplace within their management or control
2. the submission of a death and dependency claim from the deceased’s family member(s) under the WIRC Act or
3. by Victoria Police or another emergency service organisation such as Ambulance Victoria when they respond to a fatality at a Victorian workplace or consider that a fatality is work-related
4. Victoria Police Accident Records System (VPARS)
5. Findings of the Coroners Court of Victoria
6. Requests pursuant to s131 of the OHS Act and
7. other verifiable sources

WorkSafe reviews each notification on a case by case basis to determine if it is a “work-related” fatality for the purposes of this reporting. If WorkSafe does not have sufficient information to determine if the death meets the definition it will not be reported.

WorkSafe reviews notifications to ensure duplicates are removed from the data.

Disease

Deaths that result from, or are materially contributed to by, a disease arising out of, or in the course of a person’s employment, are included when they are compensated under the WIRC Act. Under the WIRC Act, the death of a worker will not be compensated where it is caused by:

• disease contacted by a worker in the course of the worker’s employment unless the worker’s employment was a significant contributing factor to the disease; or
• the recurrence, aggravation, acceleration, exacerbation or deterioration of any pre-existing disease unless the worker’s employment was a significant contributing factor to the injury or disease.

Medical including heart attack and stroke

The cause of the person’s death was heart attack, stroke, organ failure (including cerebral haemorrhage or cardiac arrest), illness or other natural cause. These fatalities are only reported where either:

• the heart attack, stroke, organ failure (including cerebral haemorrhage or cardiac arrest), illness or other natural cause is directly attributable to worker's employment; or
• the heart attack, stroke, organ failure (including cerebral haemorrhage or cardiac arrest), illness or other natural cause is the result of an injury or disease for which the worker’s employment was a significant contributing factor.

Suicide

Suicides that are work-related are reported. This includes:

• suicide that is attributable to conditions in an unsafe working environment or unsafe system of work (for example, as the result of workplace bullying); and
• suicide where occupation was a significant contributing factor to the death and that is compensable under the WIRC Act.

Transport accident

Employees or self-employed persons who sustain fatal injuries in a road accident would be reported if they are at work at the time. This would include, but is not limited to, truck drivers, emergency services personnel travelling on the road (police, ambulance officers, firefighters etc), cycle couriers, and employees driving between workplaces or on a sanctioned work break. It also includes the death of a driver who is an employee (including independent contractor) or self-employed, including through Uber and other app based ride share services.

However, it does not include employees or self-employed person commuting to and from work, except where work starts from home. For example, employees of businesses that provide mobile services that have no fixed workplace that employees attend on a regular basis.

Further, the death of any other person (for example, drivers or passengers of another vehicle or a pedestrian) that is the result of a transport accident involving an employee or self-employed person would not be reported as a work-related fatality unless it was caused by the employee or self-employed person or a breach of a relevant duty under the OHS Act, for example poor vehicle maintenance.

This category is limited to transport accidents that occur on the road. It does not include off-road transport accidents, for example, fatalities at farms involving tractors or quad bikes, or in factories involving fork-lifts. These fatalities are reported in the “traumatic injury” category.

Traumatic injury or event

This includes fatalities of people that traumatically die each year from injuries sustained from work-related activities. This includes traumatic fatalities resulting from an injury sustained in the course of a work activity (worker fatalities) and as a result of someone else’s work activity (bystander fatalities). Example of traumatic injury fatalities include falls from height, being hit by falling or moving objects, contact with electricity, and off-road transport fatalities such as those involving tractors or quad bikes on a farm.

This category also includes persons sustaining fatal injuries as a result of crime where the person was engaged in work associated with the employer or self-employed person’s undertaking are included (for example, a police officer dying in the course of duty or an employee of a bank being murdered during an armed robbery).

This category does not include:

• those that die as a result of self-inflicted injuries (suicide). These fatalities will be reported under the “suicide” category if the suicide is work-related;
• those that die as a result of traumatic injuries from work-related transport accidents which will be reported under the “transport accident” category.

Other

This category includes all other fatalities that meet the definition of a reportable fatality that are not reported in one of the above categories.

LGA

Local Government Areas (LGAs) are an ABS approximation of officially gazetted LGAs as defined by each State and Territory Local Government Department. Each incorporated area has an official status. In the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) the various LGA status types currently in use for Victoria are: Cities (C), Rural Cities (RC), Boroughs (B) and Shires (S)

Industry division

This is the Australian Bureau of Statistics Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification 2006 Edition (ANZSIC). The ANZSIC is a hierarchical classification with four levels, namely Divisions (the broadest level), Subdivisions, Groups and Classes (the finest level). For more information please refer to:

ANZIC Classification