Recent OHS performance in establishments in the Australian red meat industry

The meat industry in Australia has considerable opportunity for OHS performance improvement for workplace injury and incidence rates. Traditionally, benchmarking has been undertaken at the industry level. There is a growing need to study work-related injuries, illnesses and disease from a broader perspective, including factors relating to the employing organisation. This article provides a descriptive analysis of the recent OHS performance of the Australian red meat industry at an establishment level. It is important because the OHS performance for this industry was last compiled for the period 1994-1995 and the recent workers compensation statistics are essential for federal government, state government, insurance agents and red meat companies. This article presents the results of an analysis of workers compensation statistics for 75 Australian red meat establishments across Australia for the period 1 July 2004 to 30 June 2007.