New employees accident and injury rates in Australia: A review of the literature

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS, 2018) every year in Australia there are more than half a million work related accidents and injuries. The financial, human and social costs of work related accidents and injuries are a major concern for not only individual workplaces but at all levels for International and National authorities. International research since 1917 has consistently demonstrated that, irrespective of age, experience and industry, the occupational group at greatest risk of accidents and injuries are those employees with less than 12 months experience in their current job role. Whilst the elevated risk for new employees has always been concerning, recent organisational developments such as globalisation and increased non-standard employment, as well as workers changing jobs more frequently have strengthened these concerns. A review of the Australian and International literature has shown that approximately 30% to 40% of new employees sustain an injury within the first year of employment. Research in Australia on this topic, however, appears to be lagging and is worthy of further attention and a stronger focus on how to remediate this global issue. Compared to other countries such as Canada, Italy, France, Thailand, Africa and America, Australia has limited research on new employee accident and incident rates available, reflecting a lack of focus on this issue. The Australian data shows that in general, the workforce is evolving and that the incident rates change depending on new employee rates.