New Zealand’s work-related injuries on rise

WELLINGTON, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) — New Zealand saw a total of 226,600 work-related injury claims reported in 2023, up 1,200 from 2022, the statistics department Stats NZ said on Tuesday.
However, the incidence rate for claims related to work-related injuries was 86 claims per 1,000 full-time equivalent employees in 2023, which was the lowest rate since the start of the series in 2002, Stats NZ said.
The highest incidence rates of work-related injury claims in 2023 lies in the manufacturing; agriculture, forestry, and fishing; and construction industries, it said.
Trades workers had the highest number of claims by occupation in 2023, with 39,000 claims, statistics show.
The total number of fatal work-related injury claims in 2023 was 54, down from 81 in 2022, which was the lowest number of fatal claims in a single year since 2002, Stats NZ said.
Soft-tissue injuries, which include ligament, tendon, and muscle injuries in all parts of the body, were the most common type of claim in 2023, with 65 percent of all claims, similar to 2022, it said. ■