Safe Work Australia has launched the Deliver yourself home safely campaign this week focusing on the safety of food delivery workers which will run until September 2023.
Food delivery workers are at risk of physical and psychological harm at work with Safe Work Australia data showing there have tragically been 10 fatalities of food delivery workers since 2019.These deaths and injuries focused national attention on safety issues in the food delivery industry.
Australian Labour Market Insights indicate that there were 72,500 food delivery drivers in Australia in 2020, with strong growth expected in this industry, increasing to more than 90,000 jobs by 2026.
Given the high proportion of food delivery workers who have English as a second language, the campaign will communicate in Mandarin, Punjabi, Nepali, Vietnamese, Hindi, and Urdu. All materials will also be available in English.
The Deliver yourself home safely campaign website www.swa.gov.au/deliversafely is the central information hub with resources on work, health and safety- risks and hazards, rights and duties, what food delivery workers can do to keep safe, dealing with abuse and extreme weather conditions, work health and safety consultation, and workers’ compensation.
For more information visit the Deliver yourself home safely – Hindi resource page and view the website in-language.
Safe Work Australia urges all food delivery workers across Australia to check the resources and equip themselves with knowledge of safety practices and deliver themselves home safely.
Michelle Baxter, Chief Executive Officer, Safe Work Australia, said: “All workers, regardless of the work they do or how they are engaged have a right to a healthy and safe working environment. This includes food delivery workers who encounter a range of hazards in their jobs that pose risks to both physical and psychological safety.
“It’s important food delivery workers understand what they can do to be safe at work, as well as who they can talk to about work health and safety, so they can get home safely.
“They are, after all, the most valuable package.”
Safe Work Australia
Safe Work Australia is a national policy body with Members representing the Commonwealth, states, and territories, as well as workers and employers.
“Our Members are supported by our small Commonwealth agency. We work to achieve healthier, safer, and more productive workplaces through improvements to Work Health and Safety (WHS) and workers’ compensation arrangements. As a national policy body, we are not a regulator and do not enforce WHS or have a role in relation to compliance,” said a statement by the organisation.
Commonwealth, states, and territories regulate and enforce WHS laws and administer workers’ compensation schemes in their jurisdictions.