The State of the Work Environment (SOWE) series is produced by the WorkSafe Division of the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) with the assistance of WorkCover WA, to promote awareness of occupational safety and health in Western Australia.  Previously, reports in the series provided data on work-related fatalities from 1988-1989 a period which coincided with the effective operation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984, which gave WorkSafe legislative responsibility for all work-related fatalities, other than those on mine sites. This publication in the SOWE series, however, mainly focuses on work-related fatalities that occurred between 1 July 2006 and 30 June 2015 with some reference to the period between 2000-2001 and 2014-2015. This change in time period is due to the adoption of updated versions of coding standards by WorkSafe and WorkCover WA from 1 July 2011 to:

• Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification 2006 (ANZSIC 2006);
• Type of Occurrence Classification System Third Edition Revision 1 (TOOCS 3.1); and
• Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations First Edition (ANZSCO).

To enable time series analysis, data has been retrospectively coded for the period from 2006-07 to 2009-2010. Data for 2010-2011 was dual coded in anticipation of the change.

The data used to produce this report differs from reports on lost time injuries and diseases.  The definition and identification of work–related fatalities requires case-by-case assessment of the work being performed, and the circumstances of the fatal event.  The data in this report comes from a number of sources, mainly:

• all work-related fatalities known and reported to WorkSafe directorate of DMIRS;
• workers’ compensation information from WorkCover WA (in relation to compensated fatalities);
• the Energy Safety directorate of DMIRS (in relation to electrocutions);
• Resources Safety directorate of DMIRS (in relation to fatalities in the Mining Industry); and
• published information from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (in relation to air incidents).

Fatal injuries or diseases leading to death for Commonwealth Government workers, workers covered by Comcare and defence personnel are not included in this data.

More information

• State of the Work Environment Work-related fatalities in Western Australia, 2009-2010 to 2018-2019
• Information paper Recording of Work-related fatalities