LAUSR

Abstract This study quantifies the incidence and characteristics of work-related injury and disease in the aquaculture and related service industries in Australia. Information on serious (i.e. one or more weeks off work) injury/disease claims was obtained from the National Data Set of Workers’ Compensation-based Statistics during 1 July 2012–30 June 2016. There were 295 serious injury/disease claims in the aquaculture industry and 1780 claims in the agriculture and fishing support service industries. The incidence rate for aquaculture workers was 16.0 per 1000 employees and the frequency rate was 8.5 per million hours worked over the four year period. Musculoskeletal disorders accounted for over one-third of all claims. There has been limited occupational health and safety (OHS) research in the aquaculture industry in Australia and this study represents a first step to quantify and describe the range of occupational hazards present in the industry.