Workplace safety report cites 74% APAC injury drop
Workplace safety improved sharply at APAC organisations using connected risk strategies, with a 74% drop in severe injury rates in Avetta’s Insights and Impact Report 2026.
Avetta released the report in Sydney on Tuesday. It examined how organisations across Asia-Pacific can improve safety in more complex global operations.
The 2026 report tied better results to stronger risk management foundations, wider supply chain visibility and layered controls across contractors, workers and worksites.
Meanwhile, Safe Work Australia recorded 188 worker deaths from work-related injuries in 2024.
The agency also logged 146,700 serious workers’ compensation claims in 2023-24. Each claim involved at least 1 week of lost time. That equals more than 400 serious claims a day.
GSIR and ASTM E2920-26
Avetta based its analysis on 3 years of data from 2022 to 2024. The report also introduced the global severe injury rate, or GSIR.
GSIR is a normalised measure that addresses differences in how regions define and report severe injuries. It adds context alongside fatality rates while reporting standards move toward a global baseline.
That shift gathered pace with ASTM E2920-26, a new global standard for recording and benchmarking priority occupational health and safety incidents.
Avetta helped develop and maintain ASTM E2920-26. The company has started adding the framework to its platform to support broader adoption over time.
The report found that core capabilities such as prequalification, safety audits, insurance verification, worker management and worksite controls were linked to lower GSIR and fatality rates.
In APAC, organisations that completed Avetta’s insurance verification process improved GSIR by 36% and fatality rates by 16%.
Arshad Matin, Avetta’s chief executive, said: “Supply chains have become increasingly distributed and unpredictable, forcing organisations to navigate risk faster than ever before.”
The strongest results came when organisations moved away from siloed programmes and built a connected risk system across operations.
Matin said organisations with the most dramatic results “aren’t just managing compliance, they’re cultivating a state of readiness.”
