By 3 News online staff
Around 100 New Zealanders are killed at work every year, and the country’s workplace injury rate is about twice that of Australia – and nearly six times that of the UK.
The Council of Trade Unions has calls the high rate a ‘disgrace’ and is welcoming a new consultation paper on workplace health and safety.
CTU president Helen Kelly spoke to Firstline this morning, saying New Zealand’s workplace regulations are to blame.
“With the deregulated labour market that we’ve got that we don’t see as much of in Australia, for example, there is a competitive advantage in not spending money on staff, saving money on the cost of labour and we see that in a lot of different areas,” she told Firstline this morning.
Ms Kelly says with few regulators or regular safety checks in place, companies can make gains by cutting corners at the expense of their staff.
She says the fishing and forestry industries have a particularly high injury rate, with 35 injuries occurring per 1000 workers – compared to seven per 1000 in most industries.
“If you look comparatively at the UK… they do manage to keep those industries safe,” she says.
3 News