INSIGHT · LICENSING & COMPLIANCE
Construction fatalities in Australia:
the count, the rate and the revisions.
Safe Work Australia counts 41 construction workers killed by traumatic injuries at work in 2025, 18% of the 222 worker fatalities across all industries (Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2026, released 12 October 2026). The construction rate was 3.0 fatalities per 100,000 workers in the report (3.06 in the data file), against 1.5 for all industries. Earlier years are revised in each release: 2024 construction was first published as 37 and now reads 35. Deaths from disease, natural causes and suicide, commuting deaths and bystanders are outside these worker counts.
Analysed 2 November 2026 · Safe Work Australia, Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2026, released 12 October 2026 (web page and PDF) · Traumatic Injury Fatalities detailed data file 2025 (published 9 October 2026) · National Dataset for Compensation Based Statistics detailed data file 2024-25 (published 9 October 2026) · Traumatic Injury Fatalities explanatory notes (November 2024) · Key WHS Statistics 2023, 2024 and 2025 release pages · all read 2 November 2026.
Key takeaways
- 41 construction workers in 2025: Safe Work Australia's Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2026 reports 41 worker fatalities in Construction in 2025, 18% of the national 222, compared with 35 in 2024 and 46 in 2023 as revised in the same release. Worker fatalities are traumatic injury deaths in the course of work, by calendar year.
- About twice the all-industry rate: The data file gives Construction 3.06 fatalities per 100,000 workers in 2025 against 1.52 for all industries, about 2.0 times (our calculation), and the fourth highest rate of the industry divisions with a published rate (our ranking). Agriculture, forestry and fishing (12.96) and Transport, postal and warehousing (8.31) are far higher.
- Most construction deaths sit in construction services: In 2025, 30 of the 41 were in Construction services (ANZSIC subdivision 32), 7 in Building construction and 4 in Heavy and civil engineering construction. Over the 10 years to 2025, Construction services accounts for 193 of 331 (our sum).
- A year's figure depends on the release you read: The 2024 all-industry total was first published as 188 and is 192 in the current release. The 2023 construction count was first published as 45 and is now 46. Safe Work Australia states historical data is updated annually as finalised coroners' reports and workers' compensation claims become available.
- We would store the count with its release, scope and period: A system-design recommendation: a fatality figure in a safety plan, tender or board paper carries the dataset, table, calendar or financial year, whether it is workers or workers and bystanders, and the release date.
01
The latest year,
industry by industry.
Worker fatalities by industry division for calendar 2025. The count and first rate column are as printed in Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2026; the second rate column is Table 1.2 of the Traumatic Injury Fatalities detailed data file 2025. Rates are fatalities per 100,000 workers.
Rate columns can differ at the second figure: Construction is printed as 3.0 in the report and 3.06 in the data file. Quote one source and name it. Financial and insurance services recorded no fatalities in 2025 and has no published rate. Safe Work Australia advises caution with small counts and changes based on them.
| Industry | Fatalities, 2025 | Rate, report | Rate, data file |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transport, postal and warehousing | 61 | 8.3 | 8.31 |
| Construction | 41 | 3.0 | 3.06 |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 38 | 13.0 | 12.96 |
| Manufacturing | 15 | 1.7 | 1.75 |
| Administrative and support services | 10 | 2.3 | 2.32 |
| Public administration and safety | 8 | 0.8 | 0.77 |
| Electricity, gas, water and waste services | 7 | 3.3 | 3.34 |
| Mining | 7 | 2.3 | 2.35 |
| Other services | 7 | 1.3 | 1.25 |
| Arts and recreation services | 6 | 2.3 | 2.26 |
| Accommodation and food services | 5 | 0.5 | 0.52 |
| Rental, hiring and real estate services | 3 | 1.3 | 1.28 |
| Wholesale trade | 3 | 0.9 | 0.90 |
| Retail trade | 3 | 0.2 | 0.22 |
| Professional, scientific and technical services | 3 | 0.2 | 0.22 |
| Information media and telecommunications | 2 | 1.1 | 1.07 |
| Education and training | 2 | 0.2 | 0.16 |
| Health care and social assistance | 1 | <0.1 | 0.04 |
| All industries | 222 | 1.5 | 1.52 |
02
Ten years of
construction fatalities.
Calendar years, as they stand in the Traumatic Injury Fatalities detailed data file 2025, Tables 1.1 and 1.2. Over the 5 years to 2025 construction averaged 35.4 a year, and the 10 years sum to 331 (both our calculation).
| Year | Construction, count | Construction, rate | All industries, count | All industries, rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 36 | 3.47 | 190 | 1.60 |
| 2017 | 30 | 2.68 | 192 | 1.57 |
| 2018 | 24 | 2.06 | 144 | 1.14 |
| 2019 | 28 | 2.40 | 193 | 1.50 |
| 2020 | 36 | 3.09 | 199 | 1.57 |
| 2021 | 26 | 2.28 | 174 | 1.33 |
| 2022 | 29 | 2.37 | 197 | 1.44 |
| 2023 | 46 | 3.50 | 201 | 1.42 |
| 2024 | 35 | 2.63 | 192 | 1.33 |
| 2025 | 41 | 3.06 | 222 | 1.52 |
- The all-industry long view: Safe Work Australia reports the all-industry rate fell 15% from 1.8 in 2015 to 1.5 in 2025, and that the rate has been relatively steady in recent years. It also reports 222 is the highest annual number since 2012 and above the 5-year average of 197.
- Annual counts move a lot: Construction ranges from 24 to 46 in the 10 years shown. Safe Work Australia states annual fatality counts can vary widely and should be interpreted with caution.
- Calendar year and financial year differ: The same file gives Construction 32 fatalities in 2024-25 (rate 2.39) against 41 in calendar 2025. The report's headline series is calendar years.
03
Why published totals
disagree.
Different numbers for the same subject usually differ by year, by release or by scope.
| Year | All industries, first published | Construction, first published | Release | All industries, current file | Construction, current file |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 195 | 27 | Key WHS Statistics 2023, released 18 July 2023 | 197 | 29 |
| 2023 | 200 | 45 | Key WHS Statistics 2024, released 2 September 2024 | 201 | 46 |
| 2024 | 188 | 37 | Key WHS Statistics 2025, released 16 October 2025 | 192 | 35 |
| 2025 | 222 | 41 | Key WHS Statistics 2026, released 12 October 2026 | 222 | 41 |
- Final and preliminary are different datasets: Safe Work Australia first captures worker fatalities in a preliminary dataset, drawn often from media reports and updated fortnightly on a dashboard. It validates them at year end against notifications from work health and safety authorities, the National Coronial Information System and compensation data. It states preliminary counts are usually less than finalised counts.
- Workers, or workers and bystanders: The Traumatic Injury Fatalities database covers workers and bystanders. The headline counts are worker fatalities. The explanatory notes state bystander estimates should be regarded as an undercount and are not provided on public dashboards.
- What is excluded: Deaths from disease, natural causes and suicide, complications of medical care, commuting to or from work, and worker deaths while undertaking criminal activity. A death from long-term exposure at work is not in this count.
- A regulator's number can differ: The explanatory notes state there are differences between the Safe Work Australia data and what jurisdictions report, mostly from differences in coverage and scope.
- Totals we could not trace: Of the totals in circulation, 222 is 2025, 188 is 2024 as first published, and 41 and 45 are construction in 2025 and in 2023 as first published. We could not match 167 or 178 to an annual total in the releases and file read: neither is a calendar or financial year total in the current file, and we do not know where they come from.
04
Where the construction
count sits.
Industry and occupation are two separate cuts of the same deaths and cannot be crossed in the published rates: the explanatory notes state it is not possible to calculate rates for occupational groups within specific industries. The occupation rows below include workers in any industry.
Subdivision counts are small and move sharply from year to year: Heavy and civil engineering construction went from 12 in 2023 to 4 in 2025. Rates on counts this small carry Safe Work Australia's caution.
| Group | Fatalities, 2025 | Rate, 2025 | Sum, 2016 to 2025 (our calculation) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building construction (ANZSIC 30) | 7 | 1.93 | 86 |
| Heavy and civil engineering construction (ANZSIC 31) | 4 | 3.40 | 52 |
| Construction services (ANZSIC 32) | 30 | 3.49 | 193 |
- Construction trades workers (ANZSCO 33): 8 fatalities in 2025 (9 in 2024), a rate of 1.92 per 100,000 workers in that occupation group, in any industry (Table 2.2 of the data file).
- Construction and mining labourers (ANZSCO 82): 11 fatalities in 2025 (12 in 2024), a rate of 5.57 per 100,000 workers in that occupation group, in any industry (Table 2.2 of the data file).
- Mobile plant operators (ANZSCO 72): 5 fatalities in 2025 (4 in 2024), a rate of 3.52 per 100,000 workers in that occupation group, in any industry (Table 2.2 of the data file).
05
Causes: published for all
industries, not for construction alone.
The mechanism tables in the data file cover all industries. The figures below are not construction counts, and the file has no table that crosses mechanism with industry. Vehicle incidents led in 2025 with 92 worker fatalities (41%).
- Falls from a height: 28 workers in 2025, all industries: 13% of worker fatalities, compared with 24 in 2024 and 30 in 2023. Safe Work Australia reports this mechanism has occupied the second most common position for 3 consecutive years.
- Being hit by falling objects: 21 workers in 2025, all industries: 9% of worker fatalities, compared with 13 in 2024 and 12 in 2023, and third in the report's 2025 chart of the most common mechanisms.
- What the report says about construction: A data spotlight states both mechanisms are commonly associated with work in the Construction industry, and that high construction activity and labour shortages across many trades have coincided with an increase in fatalities associated with falls from height and falling objects. It states coincidence, not a measured cause, and gives no construction-only mechanism count.
06
Serious claims: a different
count of a different group.
In 2024-25 (preliminary) Construction recorded about 17,200 serious workers' compensation claims (17,167 in the data file), 11.7% of the national 147,200. Its frequency rate was 8.8 serious claims per million hours worked, against 6.7 for all industries, and its incidence rate 16.9 per 1,000 jobs, against 10.7. Serious claims are accepted claims with one week or more away from work, excluding fatalities and specific duty statuses.
| Financial year | Construction, serious claims | Construction, frequency rate | All industries, frequency rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | 15,447 | 8.40 | 6.18 |
| 2020-21 | 16,069 | 8.77 | 6.62 |
| 2021-22 | 16,100 | 10.46 | 6.85 |
| 2022-23 | 17,185 | 9.08 | 6.91 |
| 2023-24 | 17,877 | 9.47 | 7.00 |
| 2024-25 (preliminary) | 17,167 | 8.80 | 6.69 |
- Who is in this count: The explanatory notes state the compensation dataset captures employees under workers' compensation schemes, while the fatalities database reaches all workers, including the self-employed. A sole trader's injury can be missing from the claims count, and that matters in an industry with many self-employed workers.
- Time lost and compensation: Median time lost for Construction is 8.8 weeks and median compensation paid is $21,500. The report states both use 2023-24, the most recent non-preliminary period, because a high proportion of 2024-25 claims remain open.
- The latest year will change: Safe Work Australia marks 2024-25 as preliminary and subject to revision in future years as further claims are finalised. A fall in 2024-25 is not yet a measured fall.
What we would put in a system
Where agents help is narrow. A reporting agent can read the workbook when a release lands, compare it with the stored figures, flag every revised year and draft the paragraph, and a person confirms it. No agent decides what a figure means for a site, assesses a risk or says whether any work is safe. Those are for the person conducting the business or undertaking, the regulator and your advisers.
| Field | Why it is load-bearing |
|---|---|
| Dataset and table | A fatality figure may come from the Traumatic Injury Fatalities file, the Key WHS report or the preliminary dashboard. They do not always agree. |
| Release date | The 2024 construction count was first published as 37 and is 35 now. A stored figure without a release cannot be reproduced. |
| Year basis | Construction was 41 in calendar 2025 and 32 in 2024-25. The label decides which is right. |
| Scope | Workers or workers and bystanders; industry division or subdivision; industry or occupation. |
| Published or derived | A share, a ratio or an average is someone's calculation, and should say whose. |
- SWMS and high risk construction work by state: Which work needs a safe work method statement in each state.
- QBCC notifiable incident reporting: What Queensland builders report to the regulator, and when.
- Reporting: Board and lender reporting with each figure's source and date.
- Compliance: Holds dated obligations and the records behind them.
Questions worth asking
of your own safety reporting
For a builder quoting industry figures in a safety plan or tender: does each figure name its release?
The 2023 construction count was first published as 45 and is 46 now. A figure with the release beside it stays correct when the next release changes it.
For a construction company's board paper: is the comparison with all industries on one basis?
Construction's 3.06 and the all-industry 1.52 are both from Table 1.2 for calendar 2025. A rate from one source set against a rate from another can differ at the second figure.
For a trade subcontractor: does an industry average describe your work?
Construction services had a rate of 3.49 in 2025 and Building construction 1.93, on small counts. A division average does not describe a trade, a company or a site.
For a head contractor: do your own incident records separate workers from others?
The national headline counts workers, and the dataset treats bystanders separately. Your own records and a regulator's definitions may use other tests, so the label belongs beside the number. General information, not safety or legal advice.
Questions people ask
about construction accident statistics
How many construction workers died in Australia last year?
Safe Work Australia reports 41 worker fatalities in the Construction industry in calendar 2025, 18% of the 222 worker fatalities across all industries (Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2026, released 12 October 2026). The count is traumatic injury deaths at work. It excludes disease, natural causes, suicide and commuting.
What is the construction fatality rate in Australia?
Safe Work Australia's Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2026 prints 3.0 fatalities per 100,000 workers for Construction in 2025, and Table 1.2 of its data file gives 3.06. The all-industry rate is 1.5 (1.52 in the file), so Construction is about 2.0 times the all-industry rate (our calculation).
Is construction the most dangerous industry in Australia?
Not on Safe Work Australia's 2025 rates. Agriculture, forestry and fishing had 12.96 fatalities per 100,000 workers and Transport, postal and warehousing 8.31, against 3.06 for Construction (data file, Table 1.2). By count, Construction was second with 41, after Transport, postal and warehousing with 61.
How many workplace deaths were there in Australia?
Safe Work Australia reports 222 worker fatalities from traumatic injuries in 2025, 1.5 per 100,000 workers, above the 5-year average of 197 and the highest annual number since 2012 (Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2026, released 12 October 2026).
What are the most common causes of construction deaths in Australia?
Safe Work Australia's data file publishes causes across all industries, not for construction alone. In 2025, across all industries, vehicle incidents accounted for 92 worker fatalities, falls from a height 28 and being hit by falling objects 21. The Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2026 report describes the last two as commonly associated with construction work.
What this analysis
does and does not show.
Evidence note
- What it shows
- Worker fatalities in Construction and all industries for 2025 and the 10 years to it, by subdivision and selected occupation; first-published against current figures for the 4 latest years; all-industry causes; and serious workers' compensation claims in Construction, from Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2026, released 12 October 2026, and the Traumatic Injury Fatalities detailed data file 2025 and National Dataset for Compensation Based Statistics detailed data file 2024-25, read 2 November 2026.
- Key facts quoted
- 41 Construction worker fatalities in 2025 (18%); 222 across all industries; rate 3.0 in the report and 3.06 in the file; all-industry rate 1.5; 35 in 2024 and 46 in 2023 as revised; 17,200 Construction serious claims in 2024-25 (preliminary), frequency rate 8.8.
- Fatality figures are as they stand in the release named. Safe Work Australia revises earlier years annually, so the next release can change every row.
- The workbook has no table crossing industry with state or with mechanism, so no construction count by state or by cause is given. The interactive dashboards were not read: they are embedded reports that could not be read as text.
- The preliminary 2026 count is on a dashboard and is not stated here: not verified (2 Nov 2026).
- The workbook's cover lists Tables 10.1 and 10.2 on gig worker status, but the file read has no such sheets. The separate Workers Compensation Injury Frequency Rate data file, the Denominator Impact Analysis and the data dictionary's field detail were not used.
- Shares of subdivision sums, the 5-year average, the 10-year sum, the ratio to the all-industry rate and the rate ranking are our calculation. Rates on small counts carry Safe Work Australia's caution.
- Fatality rates divide by worker counts supplied by the ABS, mainly from the Labour Force Survey, with Defence members added. Volunteers and children under 15 are in the fatality counts but not the worker estimates, and the explanatory notes state the effect is negligible.
- General information about published statistics. It is not safety, legal or insurance advice and says nothing about the safety of any business, site or trade.
What to watch next
- The next annual release: Safe Work Australia has published no date for the next Key WHS Statistics report or data files. The last four reports were released on 18 July 2023, 2 September 2024, 16 October 2025 and 12 October 2026. Each one restates earlier years.
- The preliminary count: Safe Work Australia states its preliminary fatalities data for the year to date is updated fortnightly. Those counts are usually less than the finalised counts.
Bring us one report
that quotes a safety statistic.
Send us a safety plan, tender response or board paper that cites a fatality or injury figure. We will show you which release and table each figure matches, what has been revised since, and which fields would let your records update at the next release.
General information about statistics published by Safe Work Australia, as read on 2 November 2026. Not safety, legal or insurance advice, and it does not describe any business, site or incident.
Sources
Suggested citation: Safe Work Australia, Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2026 (released 12 October 2026) and Traumatic Injury Fatalities detailed data file 2025, as read 2 November 2026. Derived figures: the ratio to the all-industry rate, the rate ranking, the 5-year average and the 10-year sums are our calculation.
- Safe Work Australia - Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2026: Released 12 October 2026 · read 2 November 2026 directly, web page and PDF · National statistical report
- Safe Work Australia - Traumatic Injury Fatalities detailed data file 2025: Published 9 October 2026 on the file's cover; dataset page shows data last updated 7 October 2026 · read 2 November 2026 directly, downloaded as XLSX · Official data file
- Safe Work Australia - National Dataset for Compensation Based Statistics detailed data file 2024-25: Published 9 October 2026 on the file's cover · read 2 November 2026 directly, downloaded as XLSX · Official data file
- Safe Work Australia - Work-related fatalities data: Data last updated 7 October 2026; temporal coverage January 2003 to December 2025 · read 2 November 2026 directly · Dataset page
- Safe Work Australia - Traumatic Injury Fatalities explanatory notes: November 2024 · read 2 November 2026 directly · Official methodology
- Safe Work Australia - Workers' compensation data: Data last updated 7 October 2026 · read 2 November 2026 directly · Dataset page
- Safe Work Australia - Key WHS Statistics Australia 2025: Released 16 October 2025 · read 2 November 2026 directly · Earlier release, for first-published figures
- Safe Work Australia - Key WHS Statistics Australia 2024: Released 2 September 2024 · read 2 November 2026 directly · Earlier release, for first-published figures
- Safe Work Australia - Key WHS Statistics Australia 2023: Released 18 July 2023 · read 2 November 2026 directly · Earlier release, for first-published figures
- Safe Work Australia - Preliminary fatalities 2026: Updated fortnightly per the dataset page · page text read 2 November 2026 directly; dashboard figures not read · Interactive dashboard
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