300 serious work injuries in three years
More than 300 Rotorua workers have been seriously injured on the job in the past three years.
Figures released to The Daily Post by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment show nearly one in five serious injuries in Rotorua has been caused by falls, trips or slips.
Health and safety regulations define serious harm as the permanent or temporary severe loss of bodily function.
Being hit by moving objects was another common cause of serious injuries in Rotorua.
Eleven workers in the city also suffered serious injuries being trapped by moving machinery, five were badly hurt when they were "hit, struck or bitten by an animal, insect or spider", and a further two after being deprived of oxygen, or suffocating.
Carter Holt Harvey Ltd was forced to pay $47,500 three years ago after an employee died at their Kawerau Pulp and Paper Mill when he was dragged into a pulp machine. It was the largest health and safety prosecution case in the region in the three years to August 2012.
Employers and Manufacturers Association Rotorua member Clive Thomson said accident reporting protocols were important for many employers.
"The employers that I deal with are well aware of what their reporting requirements are, particularly around serious harm.
"I haven't seen any difficulties in terms of employers knowing what they have to do in respect of that."
Nationwide, 16,468 serious-harm workplace accidents have been reported during the past three years.
At least 20 workers have died on the job already this year.
New Zealand's woeful workplace health and safety record has come under fire this week after the release of a damning inquiry report into the 2010 Pike River Mine explosion, which killed 29 West Coast workers.
It blamed the mining company and the Government for health and safety failings, prompting the resignation of Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson from her portfolio.
Shell Todd Service general manager Rob Jager, who is heading a task force to improve workplace safety, described present standards as extremely poor.
"Our fatality rate is more than six times as bad as UK and nearly twice as bad as Australia."
However, EPMU health and safety co-ordinator Fritz Drissner warned that many workplace injuries probably flew under the radar.
There were disincentives in place which discouraged incident reporting, he said.
Employers often imposed drug and alcohol tests on staff when workplace accidents occurred.
"[Workers] get a lot of grief and a lot of hassle if they report an injury.
"Very few employers acknowledge they've set up a dangerous situation. There's quite a lot of disincentives that employers put in place and it's mainly around saving money on ACC."
Workplace Serious Harm Notifications in the three years to August 2012 (includes fatalities):
Rotorua total: 322
Top five accidents
1.Fall, trip or slip: 64
2.Hit by moving objects: 38
3.Hitting objects with part of the body: 29
4.Falls from a height: 24
5. Hit by falling objects: 22
National total: 16,468
Top five accidents
1.Fall, trip or slip: 4500
2.Hit by moving objects: 2804
3.Falls from a height: 1329
4.Hitting objects with part of the body: 1245
5.Falls on the same level: 885
