Almost a quarter of agriculture, forestry and fishery workers in New Zealand had a work-related injury claim accepted by the country’s official Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) in 2013.
Provisional figures for the year released by Statistics New Zealand show that agriculture, forestry, and fishery workers made 226 injury claims per 1,000 full-time equivalent employees, and 2.6 per cent of these workers experienced an injury that resulted in a week or more off work.
“Clearly workers in these areas are over represented. There is something seriously and systemically wrong when a quarter of the workforce in any particular sector are injured at work,” said Helen Kelly, president of the national union federation NZCTU. “There seems to be an acceptance that there are some sectors where a certain number of injuries, or even fatalities, are expected. This is an unacceptable perspective. Every worker should be able to return home from work safely.”
She added: “The thing all three of these sectors have in common is workers have no viable form of independent representation including through unions and the current employment law makes collectivising across these types of businesses extremely difficult. The industries are then characterised by poor working conditions, high turnover, and a lack of investment in training and long hours.”
Kelly warned: “Instead of dealing with this reality, the government intends to attack workers’ rights and in this environment, we can expect these disastrous statistics to be repeated next year.”