Vic employers fined more than $17 million for workplace safety violations in 2025

WorkSafe Victoria fined Victorian employers a cumulative total of $17,391,325 during 2025, following 137 prosecutions and enforceable undertakings for non-compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and the Dangerous Goods Act 1985.

2025 enforcement snapshot

• 137 prosecutions and enforceable undertakings finalised
• $17,391,325 in fines issued to Victorian employers
• 64 enforcement matters in the construction industry
• 30 matters recorded across the manufacturing industry
• 8 involving transport, postal and warehousing operators

These figures are not a random sample. Regulators concentrate resources where serious harm is most likely, so the split reveals which sectors sit under sustained scrutiny.

Construction remains Victoria’s deadliest industry

WorkSafe Chief Health and Safety Officer Sam Jenkin said the focus highlighted the areas where the greatest risk of harm was expected to arise.

“Construction remains Victoria’s deadliest industry with 69 fatalities in the last five years, largely due to preventable falls from height, but we also continue to see significant workplace harm in both the manufacturing and transport sectors,” Mr Jenkin said.

Falls from height continue to dominate fatality statistics. Any industry that puts people above ground level — roofing, scaffolding, façade maintenance, warehouse racking — needs verified edge safeguards, trained spotters and documented rescue arrangements before boots reach site.

Manufacturing and transport carry comparable risk

Thirty manufacturing matters typically trace back to unguarded plant, weak isolation practices and machinery kept in service beyond its safe life. Transport, postal and warehousing operators recorded eight, frequently involving traffic management, load restraint or mobile plant interaction. Each industry shares one thread: a hazard someone had already spotted, yet nobody controlled.

Why OHS compliance matters more than penalties

Fines are a lagging measure of performance. A documented OHS management system gives supervisors practical tools to identify hazards early, assign controls and prove that duties were met. Paperwork alone achieves nothing; a written policy only works when crews apply it daily and leaders verify what happens on the floor.

Practical steps for high-risk industry sectors

• Update your risk register quarterly — hazards shift as jobs progress
• Maintain a current safety policy naming who owns each control measure
• Check contractor documentation, including SWMS for high risk construction work, before anyone starts
• Refresh OHS training for supervisors and new starters, then keep attendance evidence
• Close out every improvement notice or prohibition order within the timeframe an inspector sets
• Apply simple verification tools such as pre-start checklists and toolbox talk sign-offs

How WorkSafe decides where to focus

Inspectors target industry sectors with the highest rate of serious injury claims. Manufacturing, construction and transport dominate industry data year after year, which explains why compliance campaigns keep returning to the same gates. Safe Work Australia publishes national fatality and injury statistics at safeworkaustralia.gov.au, while WorkSafe issues industry-specific guidance for Victorian duty holders.

Penalties are climbing year on year

Comparison with the previous period tells the real story. Victorian employers faced $13.3 million in penalties for safety violations in 2024, meaning last year’s total climbed by roughly $4 million. Enforcement pressure on every industry is trending upward, and boards should read that trajectory as a warning rather than a statistic.

Similar patterns appear across the Tasman, where a New Zealand meatworks was fined $280,000 for workplace safety violations after guarding failed. Regulators in both countries now treat documented occupational health and safety duties as a minimum industry benchmark, not an aspiration.

Turning enforcement data into action

Every employer can lift workplace safety performance without waiting for an inspector to arrive. Talk with industry associations, benchmark against peers, and send supervisors to events such as the Workplace Health and Safety Show, where industry leaders share what genuinely reduces harm.

Full details appear in the regulator’s annual enforcement summary.