Safe Work Australia is calling on employers and workers across the country to put safety at the centre of their activities as National Safe Work Month begins next week.
The national work health and safety agency said the annual October campaign is a reminder that every workplace, regardless of industry or size, has a responsibility to ensure people can return home safely at the end of the day.
“In 2023, 200 people lost their lives at work. There were also 139,000 serious workers’ compensation claims for injuries and illnesses,” Safe Work Australia noted in a news release.
“While injury and fatality rates have fallen significantly over the last decade, the people and the stories behind these numbers remind us not to be complacent.”
This year’s theme, safety: every job, every day, highlights the need for workplaces to prioritise health and safety practices consistently.
Safe Work Australia said it will provide resources throughout October to help businesses follow the WHS risk management process: identifying hazards, assessing risks, controlling risks, and reviewing controls.
Marie Boland, CEO of Safe Work Australia, said the campaign has now become a fixture in the national calendar. “I’m delighted to see National Safe Work Month, now in its 16th year, kicking off for 2025,” Boland said.
She added that the theme applies to every workplace setting. “Whether you’re on a construction site, in an office, driving a truck or tractor, in a classroom or a laboratory, you have a right to be safe at work every single day.”
Boland said the agency’s aim is to ensure workplaces have practical tools to strengthen their safety culture.
“We’ve got practical resources to guide workplaces through the risk management process throughout the month, and our hope is that by the end of October, workplaces around the country will have a refreshed understanding of work health and safety risks and how to manage them, so they can prioritise safety in every job, every day.”
Safe Work Australia said it expects thousands of workplaces nationwide to take part in the initiative, reflecting its ongoing vision of safer, healthier work for all Australians.
